Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

is subdivided into thirty-one

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

s ( ''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 Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

(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 in 1857. Prior to 1937, Iran had maintained its feudal administrative divisional structure, dating back to the time the modern state was centralized by the

Safavid dynasty The Safavid dynasty (; , ) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from Safavid Iran, 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of History of Iran, modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder em ...

in the 16th century. Although the boundaries, roles, and rulers changed often. On the eve of the

Persian Constitutional Revolution The Persian Constitutional Revolution (, or ''Enghelāb-e Mashrūteh''), also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911 during the Qajar Iran, Qajar era. The revolution led to the establishment of a Majl ...

in 1905, Iran was composed of

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, being directly ruled by the monarch; four '' eyalats'' ( ''elâyât'' pl., ''elayat'' sin.), ruled by Qajar princes; and various ''

velayat A velayat (also spelled vilayat; ) was a type of administrative division within Safavid Iran, which functioned as a semi-autonomous province. The velayats were situated in the frontier of the country, mainly in its mountainous areas. In order of ...

s'' ( ''velâyât'' pl., ''velayat'' sin.). Nomadic tribal confederations, such as the

Bakhtiari people The Bakhtiari (also spelled Bakhtiyari; Persian language, Persian:بختیاری) are a Lurs, Lur tribe from Iran. They speak the Bakhtiari dialect of the Luri language. Bakhtiaris primarily inhabit Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Chaharmaha ...

and

Qashqai people Qashqai people ( ; ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic tribal confederation in Iran. Almost all of them speak Qashqai language, Qashqai, an Oghuz language they call ''Turki'', as well as Persian language, Persian in formal use. The Qashqai mainly live ...

, were largely independent of the domestic administrative divisions and were autonomous. With the Constitutional Revolution, and the formation of the first

National Consultative Assembly The National Consultative Assembly (), or simply Majles, was the national legislative body of Iran from 1906 to 1979. It was elected by universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people ...

, Iran's administrative subdivisions were legally defined in 1907. Any change in the boundaries of ''eyalats'', ''velayats'', or their respective sub-districts was banned as per the Iranian constitution, except with the passage of a new law by the assembly. As per the 1907 law, the following were defined: On 22 October 1911, Iranian

passed another law, titled "The law of Election of National Consultative Assembly" (). This law presented a complete list of all ''Eyalats'' and ''Velayats'' of the country, as well as their constituent districts and cities. This list presented the grouping of various towns and districts into

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

s for the purpose of the election. According to this law, in 1911, Iran was made up of 27 administrative subdivisions, the region of

, 4 ''eyalats'', and 22 ''velayats''. Below is a list: ;Capital city *

;''Eyalats'' #

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

# Pars #

Kerman Kerman (; ) is a city in the Central District (Kerman County), Central District of Kerman County, Kerman province, Kerman province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. History Kerman was founded as a def ...

and

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of de ...

# Khorasan and

Sistan Sistān (), also known as Sakastān (, , current name: Zabol) and Sijistan (), is a historical region in south-eastern Iran and extending across the borders of present-day south-western Afghanistan, and south-western Pakistan. Mostly correspond ...

;''Provinces'' #

Khuzestan Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahvaz. Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's ...

# Astarabad (

Gorgan Gorgan (; ) is a city in the Central District (Gorgan County), Central District of Gorgan County, Golestan province, Golestan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It lies approximately to the nor ...

) # Damavand # Gerrus ( Bijar) #

Gilan Gilan Province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, in the northwest of the country and southwest of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is the city of Rasht. The province lies along the Caspian Sea, in Iran's Region 3, west of the province of ...

# Golpayegan #

Hamadan Hamadan ( ; , ) is a mountainous city in western Iran. It is located in the Central District of Hamadan County in Hamadan province, serving as the capital of the province, county, and district. As of the 2016 Iranian census, it had a po ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

( Arak) #

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

Kashan Kashan (; ) is a city in the Central District (Kashan County), Central District of Kashan County, in the northern part of Isfahan province, Isfahan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. History Earlies ...

#Khamseh ( Zanjan) # Kermanshahan (

Kermanshah Kermanshah is a city in the Central District (Kermanshah County), Central District of Kermanshah province, Kermanshah province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is from Tehran in the western pa ...

) #

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

Luristan Lorestan province () is one of the Provinces of Iran, 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Khorramabad. Lorestan is in the Western Iran, western part of the country in the Zagros Mountains and covers an area of 28,392 km2. In ...

# Malayer #

Mazandaran Mazandaran Province (; ) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Sari, Iran, Sari. Located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range and Hyrcanian forests, it is border ...

Qazvin Qazvin (; ; ) is a city in the Central District (Qazvin County), Central District of Qazvin County, Qazvin province, Qazvin province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the largest city in the provi ...

Qom Qom (; ) is a city in the Central District of Qom County, Qom province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. The city is ...

Saveh Saveh () is a city in the Central District of Saveh County, Markazi province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is about southwest of Tehran. History In the 7th century BC it was a stronghold of the Medes. ...

# Semnan and Damghan # Shahrud and Bastam #

Yazd Yazd (; ) is a city in the Central District of Yazd County, Yazd province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. At the 2016 census, its population was 529,673. Since 2017, the historical city of Yazd is rec ...

In 1937, Iran was reorganized to form ten numbered provinces with subordinate governorates: Gilan, Mazandaran, East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah, Khuzestan, Pars, Kerman, Khorasan, and Isfahan. Iran has had a historical claim to

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

as its 14th province: Bahrain province, which was under British colonial occupation until 1971. Prior to 1957, Bahrain was placed under Pars province. During

Safavid Iran The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

, Bahrain was subordinate to Bushehr governorship and Zubarah (located in modern-day country of

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

) was its capital city. In 1737, under

Afsharid dynasty The Afsharid dynasty () was an Iran, Iranian dynasty founded by Nader Shah () of the Qirqlu clan of the Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman Afshar people, Afshar tribe, ruling over the Afsharid Empire. List of Afsharid monarchs Family tree ...

Bahrain was made subject to Pars 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 gradually raised to provincial status one by one. Since then several new provinces have been created, most recently in 2010 when the new

Alborz province Alborz province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Karaj, which lies 10 km west of Tehran, at the foothills of the Alborz mountains. Alborz is Iran's smallest province in area. History In 2010, Karaj ...

was split from Tehran province, and before that in 2004 when the province of Khorasan was divided into three provinces. Country divisions in Iran to 1972 - 1351 Iranian calendar

Country divisions in Iran to 1972 - 1351 Iranian calendar

Map of Iran with province names and neighboring land

Information

Current provinces

According to '' Donya-e-Eqtesad'', 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 Kerman province () is the largest of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Kerman. The province is in the southeast of Iran. In 2014 it was placed in Region 5. Mentioned in ancient times as the Achaemenid satrapy of Carma ...

Provincial abbreviations

Table below shows the provinces' abbreviation, which can be used in postal addresses and academic affiliations for the sake of simplicity.

Historical provinces

Khorasan province Khorasan ( ; also transcribed as Khurasan, Xorasan and Khorassan), also called Traxiane during Hellenistic and Parthian Empire, Parthian times, was a Provinces of Iran, province in northeastern Iran until September 2004, when it was divided in ...

* Bahrain province

Safavid Dynasty

The ''Tadhkirat Al-Muluk'', a work made circa 1725 (1137) which details the Safavid administration mentions that Iran had four territories governed by ''

Valis ''Valis'' (stylized as ''VALIS'') is a 1981 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, intended to be the first book of a three-part series. The title is an acronym for ''Vast Active Living Intelligence System'', Dick's gnostic vi ...

'': ( Arabistan,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

). And thirteen provinces governed by '' Beglarbegis'': ( Azarbayjan (also called Tabriz Province), Chukhur-i Sa'd, Qarabagh-Ganja,

Shirvan Shirvan (from ; ; Tat: ''Şirvan'') is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, as known in both pre-Islamic Sasanian and Islamic times. Today, the region is an industrially and agriculturally developed part of the Republic of Azerbaijan ...

, Astarabad,

Mashhad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, 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. ...

, Marv,

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

, Qandahar, Kirman, Kuh-Giluya,

and

Modern history

Information

Current provinces

Provincial abbreviations

Historical provinces

Safavid Dynasty

See also

References and notes

External links