Arak (; ) is a city in the Central District of Arak County, Markazi province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district.
The city is nicknamed the "Industrial Capital of Iran". Industrial factories include Machine Sazi Arak and the Iranian Aluminium Company, which produce nearly half of the needs of the country in the steel, petrochemical, and locomotive industries.
Etymology
Arâk
Arâk, as the city has been known since the Middle Ages, derives from Arabic al-ʿIrāq, meaning "root", itself derived possibly from Akkadian Uruk (, Erech). According to Ali Nourai, Arak comes from the same root as Iran and Arran, and Iraq is an Arabicized Persian word.
During the Seljuk era, a region comprising the whole territory of Media (northwestern Iran) and the lower part of Mesopotamia was referred to as Iraq; with the Median part called ʿErâq-e ʿAjam ("Iraq of the Ajam [non-Arabic speakers]"), and the Mesopotamian part called ʿErâq-e ʿArab ("Iraq of the Arabs").
Soltân Âbâd
The term Soltân Âbâd is a Persian compound word.
Soltân, deriving from Arabic sulṭān ("power", "authority"), is a Near Eastern noble title given to a powerful governor. Modern Persian âbâd, meaning "settlement" or "abode", derives from Middle Persian āpāt ("populous"). However, according to linguist Sasha Lubotsky, the Persian term ābād might derive from Proto-Iranian *āpāta ("protected"), rooting from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- ("to protect").
History
thumb|Bowl, Sultanabad ware, first half of the 14th century, fritware, underglaze-painted, Iran. [[Metropolitan Museum of Art.]]
Originally named Soltan Abad, the modern-day city of Arak was founded in 1808 by Yusef Khan-e Gorji, a pro-Iranian warlord of Georgian Muslim origin who was given refuge by Qajar ruler Agha Mohammad Khan following a territorial dispute with his cousins, who were supported by Russian empress Catherine the Great.
Between 1795 and 1797, Yusef Khan-e Gorji, renamed Yusef Khan-e Sepahdar by the Qajar ruler, settled his army in the fertile but poorly-controlled territory that would become the modern-day Arak. Hostile tribes in the region had operated autonomously from the Qajar rule. With the Shah's approval, Yusef Khan diverted the main river to drive out the hostiles and build the war fortress of Soltan Abad to act as a buffer. Until 1892, the town remained a military base and fortress. The fortress of Soltan Abad had a thick wall surrounded by 7-meter-deep moats. Eight towers were constructed around the town and the governmental building was established in its northern part.
In 1891, shops, gardens, and government buildings of Soltan Abad were repaired by the order of deputy governor Mirza Hasan (Etemad os-Saltane). Large parts of the city were formerly annexed as personal property to the pre-existing army commanders, and were then ultimately turned over to the state around 1918–1922.
Beginning by the last quarter of the 19th century, the city achieved major developments in carpet industry, and eventually became Iran's most important center of carpet production for export markets, continuing up until at least 1940.
thumb|left|National Garden Square in 1969
Under the reign of Reza Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty, the city was renamed Arak. Modern factories for vegetable oil, soap, sugar beet, and wool industries were established within the city. Arak also became an important station for the Trans-Iranian Railway, a major railway project directed by Reza Shah which was completed in 1938.
In 1972, two major state-owned enterprises were established in the city, including an aluminum smelter and a heavy engineering plant. The aluminum smelter was built under the Regional Cooperation for Development project of the Central Treaty Organization, in cooperation with the company of Reynolds and Reynolds. The engineering plant was processed with equipment and technical advice from the Soviets, in return of gas sales to the Soviet Union.
The city officially became a metropolis on April 6, 2013, after the merger with Karahrud and Senjan.
In June 2025, during the Twelve-Day War, Israel told residents of Arak to evacuate prior to an Israeli strike on the Arak heavy water reactor.