Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
's counties (''shahrestan'', fa, شهرستان, also
romanized as ''šahrestân'') are
administrative divisions
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
of larger
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
(''ostan''). The word ''shahrestan'' comes from the Persian words ' ("city, town") and ' ("province, state"). "County," therefore, is a near equivalent to ''shahrestan''.
Counties are divided into one or more districts ( ). A typical district includes both cities ( ) and rural districts ( ), which are groupings of adjacent villages. One city within the county serves as the capital of that county, generally in its Central District.
Each county is governed by an office known as ''farmândâri'', which coordinates different public events and agencies and is headed by a ''farmândâr'', the governor of the county and the highest-ranking official in the division.
Among the
provinces of Iran
Iran is subdivided into thirty-one provinces ( fa, استان ''ostân''), each governed from a local centre, usually the largest local city, which is called the capital (Persian: , '' markaz'') of that province. The provincial authority is h ...
,
Fars has the highest number of ''shahrestans'' (37), while
Qom has the fewest (3). In 2005 Iran had 324 ''shahrestans'', while in 2021 there were 467.
Guide
The total population of a province is the total of its counties.
The total population of a county is the total of its districts.
The total poulation of a district is the total of its cities and rural districts.
To better understand these subdivisions, the following table for
Sepidan County
Sepidan County ( fa, شهرستان سپیدان) is located in Fars province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey ...
in
Fars province (as it existed in 2006) is an example showing the hierarchy of a county's divisions:
List
The counties are listed below, by province, with the capital and the county containing the capital of the provinces in bold:
See also
*
Ostan
*
Bakhsh
A ( fa, بخش, also romanized as ) is a third-level administrative division of Iran. While sometimes translated as "county," it is more accurately translated as "district," similar to a township in the United States or a district of En ...
*
Provinces of Iran
Iran is subdivided into thirty-one provinces ( fa, استان ''ostân''), each governed from a local centre, usually the largest local city, which is called the capital (Persian: , '' markaz'') of that province. The provincial authority is h ...
References
* [] (
Gitashenasi Province Atlas of Iran')
{{Provinces of Iran
Iran, Counties
Iran geography-related lists