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 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 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

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

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.

Historical provinces

* Khorasan Province * Bahrain Province

Modern history

Information

Current provinces

Historical provinces

See also

References and notes

External links