Dezful ( fa, دزفول, pronounced , Dezfuli dialect: Desfil, pronounced ) also

Romanize Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

d as Dezfūl and Dezfool; also known as Dīzfūl and Ab I Diz is a city and capital of

Dezful County Dezful County ( fa, شهرستان دزفول) is located in Khuzestan province, Iran. The capital of the county is Dezful Dezful ( fa, دزفول, pronounced , Dezfuli dialect: Desfil, pronounced ) also Romanized as Dezfūl and Dezfool; also ...

Khuzestan Province Khuzestan Province (also spelled Xuzestan; fa, استان خوزستان ''Ostān-e Xūzestān'') is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it covers ...

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 ...

. At the 2011 census, its population was 420,000 people in 105,000 families. In 2006, the city had 228,507 inhabitants. Dezful is located 721 kilometers away from the national capital of

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

and 155 kilometres away from the provincial capital of

Ahvaz Ahvaz ( fa, اهواز, Ahvâz ) is a city in the southwest of Iran and the capital of Khuzestan province. Ahvaz's population is about 1,300,000 and its built-up area with the nearby town of Sheybani is home to 1,136,989 inhabitants. It is hom ...

. The city is located 300 kilometres from the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

and is at an altitude of 143 meters. The city is located at the foot of the

Zagros Mountains The Zagros Mountains ( ar, جبال زاغروس, translit=Jibal Zaghrus; fa, کوه‌های زاگرس, Kuh hā-ye Zāgros; ku, چیاکانی زاگرۆس, translit=Çiyakani Zagros; Turkish: ''Zagros Dağları''; Luri: ''Kuh hā-ye Zāgro ...

and has a history that dates back to the

Sassanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

era. The area around Dezful has been home to civilizations for 5000 years. Located in an area with a history that extends back to ancient civilization, the city houses a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

that dates back to 300 AD.

Etymology

The name Dezful has been derived from the two words ''diz'' (fortress) + ''pul'' (bridge), which in combination could stand for 'the bridge to the fortress' or 'fortified bridge'. The original name of the city was Dezhpul, but after the

Muslim conquest of Persia The Muslim conquest of Persia, also known as the Arab conquest of Iran, was carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate from 633 to 654 AD and led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire as well as the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion. Th ...

, the city was renamed Dezful, since the Arabic language does not have 'p' and 'zh' sounds.

History

Dezful is one of the oldest cities in the Khuzestan province. According to Walther Hinz excavations, Awan (capital of the first

Elam Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretc ...

empire) was located in Dezful. The bridge was built during the reign of

Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...

who used Roman prisoners of war after the

Battle of Edessa The Battle of Edessa took place between the armies of the Roman Empire under the command of Emperor Valerian and Sasanian forces under Shahanshah (King of the Kings) Shapur I in 260. The Roman army was defeated and captured in its entirety by ...

to build the bridge. Dezful-masjed-jameh

People

The people of Dezful, known as Dezfuli, Dezfoolians or Dezfulians, speak

Dezfuli Dezfuli (local names: دزفولی ezfulior دسفیلی esfili is a Persian dialect spoken in Dezful in the province of Khuzestan in Iran. It constitutes a language with the Shushtari dialect Shushtari ( fa, شوشتری �uʃtæri is a Persi ...

– a dialect distinct to Dezful – and Shushtari, which is sometimes considered the most archaic of Persian dialects.

Geography

Dezful sits close to the foothills of the

on the main north-south highway from

, the provincial capital of

Khuzestan Khuzestan Province (also spelled Xuzestan; fa, استان خوزستان ''Ostān-e Xūzestān'') is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it covers ...

. The main rail line from Tehran to the Persian Gulf is 15 km (9 mi) from Dezful, on the opposite side of the

Dez River The Dez River ( fa, دز), the ancient Coprates (;James Knowles (1835) ''A Pronouncing and Explanatory Dictionary of the English Language'' el, Κοπράτης or Κοπράτας), is a tributary of the Karun River and is 400 km long. It ...

Climate

Dezful has a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''BSh'') with extremely hot summers and mild winters. Rainfall is higher than most of southern Iran, but is almost exclusively confined to the period from November to April, though on occasions it can exceed per month or per year.

Transportation

There are direct flights from Tehran to Dezful (and reverse) at least twice a day. There are also weekly flights from Dezful to

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

(mawhad or mašhad). Dezful can also be reached by the Iranian railways. Buses are available from almost all Iranian major cities to Dezful or one of its adjacent cities. Trains of the

Trans-Iranian Railway The Trans-Iranian Railway ( fa, راه‌آهن سراسری ایران) was a major railway building project started in Pahlavi Iran in 1927 and completed in 1938, under the direction of the then-Iranian monarch Reza Shah. It was entirely built ...

serve the neighboring town of

Andimeshk Andimeshk ( fa, اندیمشک, also Romanized as Āndīmeshḵ) is a city and capital of Andimeshk County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. Andimeshk is located about north of Shush, on the main road and the rail line between Tehran and Ahvaz. The n ...

Twin towns – sister cities

* Tyre, Lebanon

References

Sources

Iran Census organization

External links

Persian Language and Dezful TourismAzarkish DezfulDezful TourismDezful News NetworkDezful MagazineDezful Unofficial Website
{{Authority control Populated places in Dezful County Cities in Khuzestan Province