An Analysis of Population Balance in the East Azerbaijan Province with the Approach of Spatial Planning between 1979 -2009

Migration and its consequences have been discussed as one of the major social issues in recent years in Iran. In all official censuses, East Azerbaijan Province has the most migrants and executive managers are faced with serious challenges. This paper has analyzed migration behavior in inside and outside of East Azerbaijan province in recent three decades. Research method is descriptive and analytical and the statistic society is East Azerbaijan province. The results show that there is a populous link between East Azerbaijan province with neighbor provinces and Tehran. The majority of whom arrive to the province are from Tehran, West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Khuzestan provinces that include more than 70% of migrants and the main sources for immigrants from the province are Tehran, West Azerbaijan, Qom, Ardebil and Khuzestan provinces that include more than 80%. Also the main sources of who migrate inside the province are Tabriz, Maragheh, Ahar and Marand cities that include more than 50% of total immigrants and the major destination for migrants are Tabriz, Maragheh, Marand and Bonab cities that include more than 66% of them. Result's analyses show that there is not a systematic population replacement and that population exchanging occurs with cities that have more facilities and offer better services.