Provinces of Iran by contribution to national GDP

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 ...

is subdivided into thirty-one

province 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 ...

s ( 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 headed by a governor-general (Persian: ''ostândâr''), who is appointed by the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

subject to approval of the cabinet.

Modern history

Iran has held its modern territory since the

Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...

in 1857. From 1906 until 1950, Iran was divided into twelve provinces:

Ardalan Ardalan ( ku, میرنشینی ئەردەڵان) was a hereditary Kurdish vassaldom in western Iran from around the 14th century until 1865 or 1868 with Sanandaj as capital. The territory corresponded roughly to present-day Kurdistan Province ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

, Baluchestan, Fars, Gilan, Araq-e Ajam,

Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...

, Khuzestan, Kerman,

Larestan Larestan County ( fa, شهرستان لارستان) is located in Fars province, Iran. The capital of the county is Lar. At the 2006 census, the county's population (including those portions of the county later split off to form Evaz Count ...

, Lorestan, and Mazandaran. In 1950, Iran was reorganized to form ten numbered provinces with subordinate governorates: Gilan; Mazandaran; East Azerbaijan; West Azerbaijan; Kermanshah; Khuzestan; Fars; Kerman; Khorasan; Isfahan. Iran has had a historical claim to

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

as its 14th province: Bahrain Province, until 1971 under British colonial occupation. Prior to 1957, Bahrain was placed under Fars Province. During Safavid Iran, Bahrain was subordinate to Bushehr governorship and

Zubarah Zubarah ( ar, الزبارة), also referred to as Al Zubarah or Az Zubarah, is a ruined and ancient fort located on the north western coast of the Qatar peninsula in the Al Shamal municipality, about 105 km from the Qatari capital of Doha. ...

(located in modern-day country of

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

) was its capital city. In 1737, under

Afsharid dynasty The Afsharid dynasty ( fa, افشاریان) was an Iranian dynasty founded by Nader Shah () of the Qirqlu clan of the Turkoman Afshar tribe Afshar ( az, Əfşar افشار; tr, Avşar, ''Afşar''; tk, Owşar; fa, اَفشار, Āfshār) ...

Bahrain was made subject to Fars governorship. This claim was reasserted by the new theocratic Iranian leadership after 1979 with the famous 1981 coup attempt that occurred. From 1960 to 1981, the governorates were raised to provincial status one by one. Since then several new provinces have been created, most recently in 2010 when the new Alborz Province was split from Tehran Province, and before that in 2004 when the province of

was divided into three provinces. Map of Iran with province names and neighboring land

Information

Current provinces

According to ''

Donya-e-Eqtesad ''Donya-e-Eqtesad'' ( fa, دنیای اقتصاد meaning "the World of Economics" in Persian) is an Iranian daily newspaper and book publisher. History and profile ''Donya-e-Eqtesad'' was founded in October 2002, and it has been published and ci ...

'', between 2017 and 2019, some 11 of the 20 poorest Iranian cities were in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan. Three other markedly poor cities were located in Kerman province.

Historical provinces

* Khorasan Province * Bahrain Province

References and notes

External links

*
Statistical Centre, Government of Iran

Iranian Provinces Investment
– Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, affiliated to the

Ministry of Commerce (Iran) The Ministry of Commerce of Iran was the main organ of the Government in charge of the regulation and implementation of policies applicable to domestic and foreign trade. This includes: *implementing commercial strategies and regulations, *promot ...