, settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Sangesar(A H)1.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Sangesar district of Mehdishahr , pushpin_map = Iran , mapsize = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name =

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 ...

, subdivision_type1 =

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

, subdivision_name1 = Semnan , subdivision_type2 =

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, subdivision_name2 = Mehdishahr , subdivision_type3 =

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

, subdivision_name3 =

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

, leader_title = , leader_name = , established_title = , established_date = , area_total_km2 = , area_footnotes = , population_as_of = 2016 , population_footnotes = , population_total = 24485 , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone =

IRST An infrared search and track (IRST) system (sometimes known as infrared sighting and tracking) is a method for detecting and tracking objects which give off infrared radiation, such as the infrared signatures of jet aircraft and helicopters. IR ...

, utc_offset = +3:30 , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , elevation_m = , area_code = +98 (232) , website = , footnotes = Mehdishahr ( fa, مهدی‌شهر, 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 Mehdīshahr; formerly, Sang-e Sar ( fa, سَنگِ سَر, also Romanized as Sang-i-Sar and Sangsar) is a city in the Central District of Mehdishahr County, Semnan province,

, serving a capital of both the county and the district. At the 2006 census, its population was 20,581 in 5,473 households, when it was in the former Mehdishahr District of

Semnan County Semnan County ( fa, شهرستان سمنان) is located in Semnan 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 ...

). The following census in 2011 counted 19,854 people in 5,705 households, by which time the district had been separated from the county in the establishment of Mehdishahr County, with Mehdishahr as its capital. The latest census in 2016 showed a population of 24,485 people in 7,679 households. Mehdishahr is located on the southern slopes of the Alborz mountains. Here, the chain of

Alborz The Alborz ( fa, البرز) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs nort ...

mountains is very close to the

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

Dasht-e Kavir Dasht-e Kavir ( fa, دشت كوير, lit=Low Plains in classical Persian, from ''khwar'' (low), and ''dasht'' (plain, flatland)), also known as Kavir-e Namak () and the Great Salt Desert, is a large desert lying in the middle of the Iranian Plat ...

. Sangsar, specially the northern part of it, is completely mountainous with cold winters, heavy snowfalls but with mild summers. The distance between Sangsar city and Semnan city is 20 kilometers. The altitude is about 1630 meters above sea level. Mahdishahr-2009

The primary religious belief in the area now is Shi‘ite Islam, but before the

Islamic Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

, there were many followers of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

in Sangsar, who had to migrate from the city after the revolution, due to a wide range of persecutions. As for other towns of Iran, the name has thus been changed by the Islamic authorities into Mahdishahr as if to signal its imposed pure Muslim identity. Mahdi is the Shia Muslim hidden Imam and Shahr means town in Persian, so Mahdishahr literally means town of Mahdi. The most important network of roads consists of Semnan to Sangsar to Shahmirzad to Fooladmahale axis which connects these places with the city of

Sari A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std= ...

. This road connects the two provinces of Mazandaran and Semnan.

History

Sangsar area has an old history which goes back to 1st millennium BC. First inhabitants of Sangsar used to worship moon and stars. There are some theories about Sangsar name; One of them emphasizes about a

Saka The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...

origin and suggests the name used to be Sakasar or Saksar which means Saka (scythian) settlement.

Notable residents

Majid Derakhshani Majid Derakhshani (Persian: مجید درخشانی) (born 13 September 1957 in Sangesar, Imperial State of Iran) is an Iranian musician and composer. He was born into a family of artists from the Iranian province Semnan, Sangesar. Subsequen ...

, musician and composer *

Parviz Sabeti Parviz Sabeti (Persian: پرویز ثابتی; born March 25, 1936 Sang-e Sar) is an Iranian lawyer, former SAVAK deputy under the regime of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Born in Sang-e Sar, Semnan Province. Sabeti received a law degree from the Univ ...

, deputy of

SAVAK SAVAK ( fa, ساواک, abbreviation for ''Sâzemân-e Ettelâ'ât va Amniat-e Kešvar'', ) was the secret police, domestic security and intelligence service in Iran during the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty. SAVAK operated from 1957 until prime ...

Sister cities

Sangesar has signed the treaty of city twinning with the following cities: * Flag of Canada

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Mörön Mörön ( mn, Мөрөн;, lit=river), also spelled Murun, is the administrative center of Khövsgöl Aimag (province) in northern Mongolia. Before 1933, Khatgal had been the aimag capital. It has 12,286 families and a population of 46,918, an ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

References

{{Semnan Province, state=collapsed Cities in Semnan Province Populated places in Mehdishahr County

History

Notable residents

Sister cities

See also

References