Regions of Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran has been divided into regions in a number of different ways historically.[1] It has been divided into five administrative regions[a] since 2014.

Current administrative regions

Iran's thirty-one provinces were grouped into five regions on 22 June 2014, based on a decision by the Ministry of Interior.[2] In this change, the adjacency, geographical location and similarities of the provinces were considered.[2]

The Constitution of Iran does not provide for regions and they are not the constituent units of the country but exist purely for the convenience of governmental administration.

According to Javad Naserian, the Ministry of Interior's Management Development and Human Resources Vice-Minister, the purpose of this grouping of provinces was the creation of synergy, transfer of experience, information exchange, and regional development. Also, it now provides an intermediate level where provinces can discuss their problems among themselves, instead of going immediately to Tehran.[2]

The intention was for each region to have regularly scheduled meetings of the constituent provinces' governors-general, rotating the meeting place through the provincial capitals. The host province would provide the chairman of each meeting. A regional secretariat would be established in the capital city of the main province of each region, with a coordinating bureau in the Ministry of Interior headquarters in Tehran.[2]

Region Capital Provinces Population Area (km2)
Region 1
۱ منطقه		 Tehran Alborz province
Golestan province
Mazandaran province
Qazvin province
Qom province
Semnan province
Tehran province		 23,343,033 193,109
Region 2
۲ منطقه		 Isfahan Bushehr province
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province
Fars province
Hormozgan province
Isfahan province
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province		 12,973,089 354,885
Region 3
۳ منطقه		 Tabriz Ardabil province
East Azerbaijan province
Gilan province
Kurdistan province
West Azerbaijan province
Zanjan province		 12,782,820 165,839
Region 4
۴ منطقه		 Kermanshah Hamadan province
Ilam province
Kermanshah province
Khuzestan province
Lorestan province
Markazi province		 11,739,552 185,978
Region 5
۵ منطقه		 Mashhad Kerman province
North Khorasan province
Razavi Khorasan province
Sistan and Baluchestan province
South Khorasan province
Yazd province		 13,145,227 734,576

Historical regions

Map of provinces of Iran, 1937–1960

In 1937 the territory of Iran was divided into ten administrative regions: Region 1, Region 2, Region 10, etc.(پیشینه تقسیمات کشوری ایران) For example, Region 7 or "Seventh Province" corresponded to present-day Fars province per the "Territorial Subdivision Act of 1316 Š./1937 (Qānūn-e taqsīmāt-e kešvar)."[3]

Histories, travel books and economic analyses often refer to less formal, more historical or geographical, Iranian regions. The borders of these are not fixed and often have changed over time, and even overlapped at the same time.

  • Alamut – in the Alborz mountain range of northern Iran;
  • Central Iran: Known as Iraq-i Ajam (Persian Iraq)
  • Baluchistan (Southeastern Iran) – sometimes just Sistan and Baluchestan province and sometimes all of Baluchistan;
  • Caspian Iran (Northern Iran, Tabaristan or "Mardi and Hyrcania"[4]) – Gilan province, Mazandaran province, and Golestan province,[5] and historically sometimes northern Semnan
  • Eastern Iran
  • Iranian Azerbaijan – approximately the current provinces of Region 3, but often excluding Kurdistan province and often excluding the Caspian province of Gilan;[6]
  • Iranian Kurdistan – including Kurdistan province, Kermanshah province and parts of Ilam province and parts of West Azerbaijan province;
  • Khorasan – consisting of North Khorasan province, Razavi Khorasan province, South Khorasan province, and sometimes eastern Semnan province
    • Quhistan – southern Khorasan;[7]
  • Southern Iran (also known as the Persian Gulf region of Iran) – Fars, Kohgiluyeh and Buyer Ahmad, Hormozgan and Bushehr provinces;
  • Southeastern Iran (Carmania)[4] – mostly Kerman province, but often extending to the coast;
  • Western Iran (Khuzestan, Elam) – the 'birthplace of Iran', similar to Region 4 (Hamadan province, Ilam province, Kermanshah province, Khuzestan province, Lorestan province, Markazi province), but often including all of or some of Qazvin province, Kurdistan province, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province;[8]

See also

  • Geographic history of Iran

Notes

  1. ↑ Persian: منطقه‌ها mantaqehâ, sg. منطقه mantaqe

References

  1. ↑ In general see Mojtahed-Zadeh, Pirouz, ed. (2007). Boundary Politics and International Boundaries of Iran: A Study of the Origin, Evolution, and Implications of the Boundaries of Modern Iran. Boca Raton, Florida: Universal-Publishers. ISBN 978-1-58112-933-5.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "همشهری آنلاین-استان‌های کشور به ۵ منطقه تقسیم شدند (Provinces were divided into 5 regions)". Hamshahri Online (in Persian). 22 June 2014. Archived from the original on 23 June 2014.
  3. ↑ "Fars: Population". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  4. 1 2 Ramirez-Faria, Carlos, ed. (2007). "Iran". Concise Encyclopedia of World History. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers. pp. 351–355, page 354. ISBN 978-81-269-0775-5.
  5. ↑ Iran Travel Guide. Tiki Travel (FB Editions). p. 11.
  6. ↑ Minahan, James (1998). Miniature Empires: A Historical Dictionary of the Newly Independent States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-313-30610-5.
  7. ↑ Bosworth, C. Edmund (9 May 1996). "The Ismaʻilis of Quhistan and the Maliks of Nimruz or Sistan". In Daftary, Farhad (ed.). Mediaeval Ismaʻili History and Thought. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-521-45140-6.
  8. ↑ "Map of Iran (Regions)". World of Maps (Weltkarte.com). Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.

Further reading

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