Provinces of Iran

Iran is subdivided into thirty-one provinces (Persian: استان, romanized: Ostân), which are the first-level administrative divisions of the country. Each province is governed from a local centre, usually the largest local city, which is called the capital (Persian: مرکز, romanized: Markaz) of the province. The provincial authority is headed by a governor-general (Persian: استاندار, romanized: Ostândâr), who is appointed by the Minister of the Interior subject to approval of the cabinet. The provinces are subdivided into counties, districts (Persian: بخش, romanized: bakhsh) and villages.