Regions of Iran

Historically and geographically Iran has been divided into a number of different regions.^[1] In 2014, Iran was administratively divided into five regions.

Administrative regions

Iran's thirty-one provinces were divided into five regions on 22 June 2014, based on a decision of Ministry of Interior.^[2] In the division, 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.

Roles and Purpose

According to Javad Naserian, Ministry of Interior's Management Development and Human Resources Vice-Minister, the purpose of this division of provinces was 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]

Function

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	Notes	Map
	Region 1	Tehran	Alborz Province Golestan Province Mazandaran Province Qazvin Province Qom Province Semnan Province Tehran Province	23,343,033	193,109	Persians (50-55%), Azeris (30%), Turkmens (4%) and others(kurds, tats, arabs)
	Region 2	Esfahan	Bushehr Province Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province Fars Province Hormozgan Province Isfahan Province Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province	12,973,089	354,885	Majority of population are persians (70-75%), other peoples are Qashqai (10%) and Lurs (15-20%)
	Region 3	Tabriz	Ardabil Province East Azerbaijan Province Gilan Province Kordestan Province West Azerbaijan Province Zanjan Province	12,782,820	165,839	Majority of population are Azeris (90%)
	Region 4	Kermanshah	Hamadan Province Ilam Province Kermanshah Province Khuzestan Province Lorestan Province Markazi Province	11,739,552	185,978	Population of province are Lurs (35%), Azeris (30%), Kurds (20%) and Arabs(15%)
	Region 5	Mashhad	Kerman Province North Khorasan Province Razavi Khorasan Province Sistan and Baluchestan Province South Khorasan Province Yazd Province	13,145,227	734,576	Population of province are mainly Persians (60%), in some counties live Balucs , Azeris and Turkmens.

Historical and geographical regions

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;
• Abadeh region - the area of the Qashqai people and their Abadeh rugs, northern Fars Province centered around Abadeh County and usually including parts of far southern Isfahan Province, used both ethnographically and geographically;^[3]
• 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
• 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]
• Persian Gulf Iran (Persian Gulf region of Iran, Southern 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]

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. "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. Shamsnia, S. A.; Shahidi, N.; Liaghat, A.; Sarraf, A. P. and Vahdat, S. F. (2011). "Modeling of Weather Parameters Using Stochastic Methods, ARIMA Model, Case Study: Abadeh Region, Iran" (PDF). IPCBEE. International Conference on Environment and Industrial Innovation (Singapore) 12: 282–285.
4. Ramirez-Faria, Carlos, ed. (2007). "Iran". Concise Encyclopeida 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. "The Ismaʻilis of Quhistan and the Maliks of Nimruz or Sistan". In Daftary, Farhad. 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 25 June 2014.