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[[fa:استان تهران]]
[[fa:استان تهران]]
[[de:Teheran (Provinz)]]
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[[ja:テヘラン州]]

Revision as of 20:20, 27 August 2005

Map showing Tehran in Iran
Map showing Tehran in Iran
Tehran province has been the seat of Iran's capital, Tehran, since 1778.

The Tehran Province is one of the thirty provinces of Iran. It covers on area of 18,909 square kilometers and is located to the north of the central plateau of Iran. This province has common borders with the Mazandaran province from north, Qom province from south, Semnan province from east and Qazvin province from west. The metropolis of Tehran is not only the capital city of the province, but is also the capital of Iran. As of June 2005, this province includes thirteen townships, forty-three municipalities, and 1358 villages.

The province gained importance when Tehran was claimed the capital by the Qajar dynasty in 1778. Today Tehran ranks in the top 20 metropolitan cities of the world in size.

Geography

The Achaemenid collection of The National Museum of Iran in Tehran.

The province of Tehran has over 12,000,000 inhabitants and is Iran's most densely populated region. Approximately 84.15% reside in urban areas and 15.85% in rural areas of the province.

The highest point of the province is Mount Damavand at an elevation of 5,678 m, and the lowest point of the province being the plains of Varamin, 790 m above sea level.

The largest rivers of this province are Karaj River and Jajrud River.

Mountain ranges such as The Alborz span the north; Savad Kooh and Firooz Kooh are located in the north east; Lavasanat, Qarah Daq, Shemiranat, Hassan Abad and Namak Mountains are in the southern areas; Bibi Shahr Banoo and Alqadr are situated in the south east and the heights of Qasr-e-Firoozeh being located to the east of the province.

Environmentally speaking, the climate of Tehran province in the southern areas is warm and dry, but in the mountain vicinity is cold and semi-humid, and in the higher regions is cold with long winters. The hottest months of the year are from mid-July to mid-September when temperatures range from 28°-30° C and the coldest months experience 1° C around December-January. Tehran city has moderate winters and hot summers. Average annual rainfall is approximately 400 mm, the maximum being during the winter season.

History and Culture

Tehran province has several archeological sites clearly indicating settlements several thousand years old. Until 300 years ago, Ray was the most prominent of the cities of the province.

However, the city of Tehran rose to become the larger city and capital of Iran by 1778, and since then has been the political, cultural, economical, and commercial nucleus of Iran. During the past 200 years it has been home to many reputed scholars, writers, poets and artists, both those who have lived here and those who are born here.

Tehran has over 1500 historical sites of cultural significance registered with Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization. The oldest of these in Tehran province are the remains of two sites in Firouzkuh region that date back to the 4th millenia BC.

Divisions

Tehran province today

File:Keshavarz.jpg
Tehran province enjoys the benefits of having Iran's largest and commercially most developed city.

Tehran is the commercial heart of Iran. Tehran province has over 17,000 industrial units employing 390,000 people, 26% of all units in Iran. The province contains 30% of Iran's economy, and comprises 40% of Iran's consumer market. The province has three hydro dams namely Latiyan, Lar, and Amir Kabir as well as two natural lakes, providing the water supply of Tehran and the province.[1]

The province contains 170 mines, over 330 square kilometres of forests, and over 12800 square kilometres of pasture.[1]

Generally speaking, year round, regions such as the southern slopes of the Alborz Mountains, especially in the mountains, valleys, and rivers and artificial lakes formed behind the great dams of Amir Kabir, Latiyan and Lar along with natural lakes of Jaban and Tarr provide considerable recreation for the province.

Moreover, due to excessive snowfall in the northern areas of the province during the winter season, the Alborz mountains form an excellent environment for winter sports such as skiing. Dizin, Shemshak, and Tochal are the most popular skiing resorts.

Attractions

Tehran's popular attractions are:

Palaces

Galleries, theaters, and museums

Parks and Recreation

The towering Alborz mountains in Tehran rising above modern high rises of Elahiyeh district.

Mosques, shrines, mausoleums, and tombs

Toghrol Tower, a 13th century monument, is one of the historical structures still standing today in Tehran.
  • Soltani Mosque, built by Fath Ali Shah
  • Atiq Mosque, built in 1663.
  • Mo'ezz o-dowleh mosque, built by Fath Ali Shah
  • Haj Seyd Azizollah mosque, built by Fath Ali Shah
  • Al-javad mosque, Iran's first modernist design mosque.
  • The Old Sepahsalar mosque, another prominent Qajar era mosque.
  • The new Sepahsalar mosque (Madreseh e Motahari)
  • Filsuf o-dowleh Mosque, Qajar era
  • Moshir ol-Saltaneh Mosque, Qajar era
  • Mo'ayyer ol-Mamalik Mosque, Qajar era
  • Shahr Banu Mausopleum
  • Javan-mard Qassab Mausoleum, a pre-Islamic semi-mythical hero
  • Dozens of Imam-zadeh shrines, hundreds of years old, including that of Imam Zadeh Saleh.
  • Dozens of Saqa Khanehs: traditional places of prayer
  • Several Tekyehs: traditional places for mourning Muharram ceremonies for Husayn ibn Ali.
  • Ibn Babviyeh cemetery, where many Iranian giants such as Takhti and Ali Akbar Dehkhoda are buried.
  • Zahir o-dowleh cemetary, where many Iranian giants of art and culture such as Iraj Mirza, Mohammad Taghi Bahar, Forough Farrokhzad, Abolhasan Saba, Ruhollah Khaleghi, and Darvish-khan are buried.
  • Kordan Tomb, Seljuqi era, Karaj.
  • Maydanak Tomb, 13th century, Karaj
  • The Polish cemetary north of Tehran, where numerous WW2 western allied soldiers are buried.

Churches

  • Surep Georg Church, 1790
  • Thaddeus Bartoqimus Church, 1808
  • Tatavus Church, from the Qajar era
  • Enjili Church, 1867
  • Assyrian Church

Castles and Forts

Darvazeh-e-Bagh-e-Melli; The main gates to Iran's historic Ministry of Foreign Affairs compounds.
  • Arzhang Fort, Taleqan, 1149CE
  • Iraj Fort, Varamin
  • Gol e Khandan Fort, Rudehen, Sassanid era
  • Rashkan Fort, Ray, Parthian era
  • Tabbarok Fort, Abbasid era
  • Sorkheh-Hesar Fort, Seljuqi era.
  • Kei-Ghobad Fort, Taleqan, Ismaili era
  • Gabri Fort, Parthian era, Ray.
  • Several other forts and castle ruins, such as Ghal'eh Dokhtar Tang Goseel, near Karaj. Like all the other forts of this area, these have been ruined by earthquakes. Seljuqi era.
  • Harun Prison. Sassanid era. South of Tehran.
  • Bagh e Melli foreign ministry compound.

Traditional Houses

Dozens of houses of antiquity with splendid traditional architectural design remain standing in Tehran today. Most are from the Qajar era. Some of these are:

  • Etehadiyeh House, Qajar era
  • Amir Bahador House, Qajar era
  • Emam Jomeh House, 1863CE
  • Amin ol-Soltan House, Qajar era
  • Shaghaghi (Kushak) House, Qajar era
  • Emarat e Bagh e Ferdows, Qajar era
  • Emarat Farmaniyeh, Qajar era
  • Shahid Modarres House, Uladjan district.
  • Vothuq House, 1837CE
  • Moshir o-Dowleh Pir Nia House

However, there exist plenty of houses of historical heritage also open to the public, such as: House of Nima Yooshij, House of Mohammed Mossadegh, House of Ayatollah Taleghani, House of Ghavam o-Dowleh, House of Imam Khomeini, and House of Mahmoud Hessaby.

Archeological sites

An abundance of ancient archeological historicl sites exists in and around Tehran. Some of the more prominent ones are:

  • Cheshme Ali Teppe, 5th millennium BCE. Excavated by Jaques Demorgan.
  • Shoghali Teppe, 6th millennium BCE.
  • Qeytariyeh ancient Cemetery, 2nd millennium BCE.
  • Teppe Meel, excavated by Jaques De Morgan, believed to be the temple of the legendary ancient leader Bahram Gur.
  • Vavan Teppe, Sassanid era
  • Ghareh Teppe, 6th millennium CE, excavated by the British Burton Brown.
  • Ozbaki Teppe, Hashtgerd.

Others

Tehran's WW2 Cemetery of Allied Forces

The older neighborhoods of Tehran

Tehran's old city fabric changed dramatically during the first Pahlavi era. Some of the older remaining districts of Tehran are: Uladjan, Sanglaj, Bazaar, Chaleh Meydan, Dowlat. Chaleh Meydan is the oldest neighborhood of the aforementioned.

See also

Colleges and Universities

File:UTpolitical.jpg
Tehran province's universities have played key roles in political events in recent memory of Iran.

Tehran province's major universities are:

See the city of Tehran for further information and links, also: List of the localities around Tehran

[1]: According to the information released by the Office of the provincial governor, linked above.

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