Editing Regions of Iran

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The [[Islamic Republic of Iran]] has been divided into regions in a number of different ways historically.<ref>In general see {{Cite book|editor=Mojtahed-Zadeh, Pirouz|editor-link=Pirouz Mojtahedzadeh|year=2007|title=Boundary Politics and International Boundaries of Iran: A Study of the Origin, Evolution, and Implications of the Boundaries of Modern Iran|publisher=Universal-Publishers|location=Boca Raton, Florida |isbn=978-1-58112-933-5}}</ref> It has been divided into five administrative regions{{efn|{{Langx|fa|منطقه‌ها}} {{Lang|fa-latn|mantaqehâ}}, {{abbr|sg.|singular}} {{Lang|fa|منطقه}} {{Lang|fa-latn|mantaqe}}}} since 2014.

==Current administrative regions==
Iran's [[Provinces of Iran|thirty-one provinces]] were grouped into five regions on 22 June 2014, based on a decision by the [[Ministry of Interior (Iran)|Ministry of Interior]].<ref name="MoI">{{Cite news|date=22 June 2014|title=همشهری آنلاین-استان‌های کشور به ۵ منطقه تقسیم شدند (Provinces were divided into 5 regions)|language=Persian|newspaper=Hamshahri Online|url=http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/details/263382/Iran/-provinces |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140623191332/http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/details/263382/Iran/-provinces |archivedate=23 June 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> In this change, the adjacency, geographical location and similarities of the provinces were considered.<ref name="MoI" />

The [[Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran|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]].<ref name="MoI" />

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.<ref name="MoI" />

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
|colspan="8" | [[File:Regions of Iran.svg|center|400px]]
|-
|-bgcolor=#ACE1AF
!colspan="2" |Region
!Capital
!Provinces
!data-sort-type="number"|Population
!data-sort-type="number"|Area ([[square kilometre|km<sup>2</sup>]])
|-
| style="background:#fc8b8b; width:3em;"| || '''Region 1'''<br />۱ منطقه
| [[Tehran]]
| [[Alborz province]]<br />[[Golestan province]]<br />[[Mazandaran province]]<br />[[Qazvin province]]<br />[[Qom province]]<br />[[Semnan province]]<br />[[Tehran province]]
| 23,343,033
| 193,109
|-
| style="background:#37ce04; width:3em;"| || '''Region 2'''<br />۲ منطقه
| [[Isfahan]] 
| [[Bushehr province]]<br />[[Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province]]<br />[[Fars province]]<br />[[Hormozgan province]]<br />[[Isfahan province]]<br />[[Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province]]
| 12,973,089
| 354,885
|-
| style="background:#c7cb8f; width:3em;"| || '''Region 3'''<br />۳ منطقه
| [[Tabriz]]
| [[Ardabil province]]<br />[[East Azerbaijan province]]<br />[[Gilan province]]<br />[[Kurdistan province]]<br />[[West Azerbaijan province]]<br />[[Zanjan province]]
| 12,782,820
| 165,839
|-
| style="background:#62d2c5; width:3em;"| || '''Region 4'''<br />۴ منطقه
| [[Kermanshah]]
| [[Hamadan province]]<br />[[Ilam province]]<br />[[Kermanshah province]]<br />[[Khuzestan province]]<br />[[Lorestan province]]<br />[[Markazi province]]
| 11,739,552
| 185,978
|-
| style="background:#fece2c; width:3em;"| || '''Region 5'''<br />۵ منطقه
| [[Mashhad]]
| [[Kerman province]]<br />[[North Khorasan province]]<br />[[Razavi Khorasan province]]<br />[[Sistan and Baluchestan province]]<br />[[South Khorasan province]]<br />[[Yazd province]]
| 13,145,227
| 734,576
|}

==Historical regions==
{{See also|Category:Historical regions of Iran}}
[[File:Iran1934.PNG|thumb|right|200px|Map of provinces of Iran, 1937–1960]]
In 1937 the territory of Iran was divided into ten administrative regions: {{interlanguage link|Region 1 (Iran)|fa|استان_یکم|lt=Region 1}}, {{interlanguage link|Region 2 (Iran)|fa|استان دوم|lt=Region 2}}, {{interlanguage link|Region 10 (Iran)|fa|استان_دهم|lt=Region 10}}, etc.<sup>({{ill|پیشینه تقسیمات کشوری ایران|fa|vertical-align=sup}})</sup> For example, {{interlanguage link|Region 7 (Iran)|fa|استان هفتم|lt=Region 7}} or "Seventh Province" corresponded to present-day [[Fars province]] per the "Territorial Subdivision Act of 1316 [[Solar Hijri calendar|Š.]]/1937 (Qānūn-e taqsīmāt-e kešvar)."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia= [[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |title=Fars: Population |url= http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/fars-vi |accessdate= 10 February 2017 }}</ref>

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|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"<ref name="Ramirez-Faria">{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Iran|editor=Ramirez-Faria, Carlos|year=2007|encyclopedia=Concise Encyclopedia of World History|publisher=Atlantic Publishers|location=New Delhi|pages=351&ndash;355, [https://books.google.com/books?id=gGKsS-9h4BYC&pg=PA354 page 354]|isbn=978-81-269-0775-5}}</ref>) – [[Gilan province]], [[Mazandaran province]], and [[Golestan province]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=Iran Travel Guide|publisher=Tiki Travel (FB Editions)|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=GD5Ou2PJkZsC&pg=PT11 11]}}</ref> and historically sometimes northern [[Semnan province|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 province|Gilan]];<ref>{{Cite book|author=Minahan, James|year=1998|title=Miniature Empires: A Historical Dictionary of the Newly Independent States|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Connecticut|page=24|isbn=978-0-313-30610-5}}</ref>
* [[Iranian Kurdistan]] –  including [[Kurdistan province]], [[Kermanshah province]] and parts of [[Ilam province]] and parts of [[West Azerbaijan province]];
* [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] – consisting of [[North Khorasan province]], [[Razavi Khorasan province]], [[South Khorasan province]], and sometimes eastern [[Semnan province]]
** [[Quhistan]] – southern Khorasan;<ref>{{Cite book|author=Bosworth, C. Edmund |chapter=The Ismaʻilis of Quhistan and the Maliks of Nimruz or Sistan|editor=Daftary, Farhad |title=Mediaeval Ismaʻili History and Thought|date=9 May 1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8eebGQXgPcQC&pg=PA221 221]|isbn=978-0-521-45140-6}}</ref>
* [[Southern Iran]] (also known as the Persian Gulf region of Iran) – [[Fars province|Fars]], [[Kohgiluyeh and Buyer Ahmad Province|Kohgiluyeh and Buyer Ahmad]], [[Hormozgan]] and [[Bushehr province|Bushehr]] provinces;
* Southeastern Iran ([[Carmania (satrapy)|Carmania]])<ref name="Ramirez-Faria" /> – 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]];<ref>{{Cite web|title=Map of Iran (Regions)|publisher=World of Maps (Weltkarte.com)|url=http://www.worldofmaps.net/en/middle-east/map-iran/map-regions-iran.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726210140/http://www.worldofmaps.net/en/middle-east/map-iran/map-regions-iran.htm|archivedate=26 July 2014|url-status=live|access-date=25 June 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
* {{interlanguage link|Geographic history of Iran|fa|جغرافیای تاریخی ایران}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite news |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/05/iran-decentralization-strategy.html |title=New administrative regions could boost Iran's economy |date=15 May 2014 |work=[[Al-Monitor]] |location=Washington, DC |access-date=10 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211075323/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/05/iran-decentralization-strategy.html |archive-date=11 February 2017 |url-status=dead }}

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{{Asia topic|List of regions of}}

[[Category:Regions of Iran| ]]
[[Category:Provinces of Iran| ]]
[[Category:Subdivisions of Iran]]
[[Category:Lists of administrative divisions|Iran, Regions]]
[[Category:Administrative divisions in Asia|Iran 1]]
[[Category:Iran geography-related lists]]