Neka () is a city in the Central District of

Neka County Neka County () is in Mazandaran province, Mazandaran province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Neka. Demographics Population At the time of the 2006 National Census, the county's population was 104,753 in 26,723 households. The following c ...

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

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 ...

, serving as capital of both the county and the district.

History

Not much is known about this area in geographical or historical accounts of the past, until the

Qajar era The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic peoples, Turkic origin,Cyrus G ...

. However, in the geographical records of the early Islamic period, the name Mirdan of a city near the current city of Neka has been mentioned. Deh Khoda has mentioned the River Neka in his encyclopedia. It seems that Neka was a vicinity or 'block' comprising various rural settlements. The present Neka has sprung up from the village of 'Naranj', alongside a bridge on Neka River within the past 70 years.

Demographics

Population

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 46,152 in 11,941 households. The following census in 2011 counted 50,680 people in 14,795 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 60,991 people in 19,357 households.

Geography

Neka is located at the foot of and up into the northern

Alborz mountain range The Alborz ( ) 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 northeast and merge ...

, south of and near the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

coast. It is close to the city of

Behshahr Behshahr () is a city in the Central District of Behshahr County, Mazandaran province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is located at the foot of the Alborz mountains, approximately east of Sari and west of ...

, and southeast of the coastal city of

Sari A sari (also called sharee, saree or sadi)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * is a drape (cloth) and a women's garment in the Indian subcontinent. It consists of an un-sti ...

. It is noted for its

destination spa A destination spa or health resort is a resort centered on a spa, such as a mineral spa. Historically, many such spas were developed at the location of natural hot springs or mineral springs. In the era before modern biochemistry and pharma ...

s at natural

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

s, and the nearby Caspian coastline and Peninsula of Miankaleh. It is a tourist destination of

Economy

Due to the railway line running across this area, and suitable network of communications, together with the establishment of the wood industry, oil reservoirs and an electric power plant, the area is one of the important developing centers of the province. The said city is also considered as an industrial locality in the northern region

Neka Power Plant

The Neka Power Plant provide energy to the province and some northern parts of the country. It is one of the biggest steam powered

thermal power plant A thermal power station, also known as a thermal power plant, is a type of power station in which the heat energy generated from various fuel sources (e.g., coal, natural gas, nuclear fuel, etc.) is converted to electrical energy. The heat ...

s in the Middle East, Its nominal capacity is 2035 MW . The main components are : steam pot, middle house, turbine place, converters and auxiliary houses. The main fuel for steam production is

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

, with light fuel oil a secondary source, both supplied by the

Iranian Central Oil Fields Company The Iranian Central Oil Fields Company (ICOFC; Persian: شرکت نفت مناطق مرکزی ایران) is one of the five major production companies of the National Iranian Oil Company. Established in 1999, it is responsible for production of ...

Notes

References

Cultural heritage news agency

Photos of Sari and Suburbs as taken in the spring of 2003
{{Neka County, state=collapsed Cities in Mazandaran province Populated places in Neka County Populated places on the Caspian Sea Settled areas of Elburz