Northern Iran
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Northern Iran (), is a geographical term that refers to a relatively large and fertile area, consisting of the southern border of 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, ...
and the Alborz mountains. It includes the provinces of Gilan,
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 ...
, and Golestan (ancient kingdom of
Hyrcania Hyrcania (; ''Hyrkanía'', Old Persian: 𐎺𐎼𐎣𐎠𐎴 ''Varkâna'',Lendering (1996) Middle Persian: 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭢𐭠𐭭 ''Gurgān'', Akkadian: ''Urqananu'') is a historical region composed of the land south-east of the Caspian Sea ...
, medieval region of Tabaristan). The major provinces, Gilan and Mazandaran, are covered with dense forests, snow-covered mountains and impressive sea shores. The major cities are
Rasht Rasht (; ) is a city in the Central District (Rasht County), Central District of Rasht County, Gilan province, Gilan province, Iran, serving as the capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is also known as the "City of ...
,
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 ...
, Sâri, Bâbol, Babolsar
Amol Amol ( ; ) is a city in the Central District (Amol County), Central District of Amol County, Mazandaran province, Mazandaran province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Amol is located on the Haraz River bank. It is ...
, Qaem Shahr, Gonbad-e Kavus, Anzali, Lahijan and Behshahr. Northern Iran has numerous villages, particularly Massulé, appreciated by travellers. Northern Iran was a trendy spot during the Pahlavi era, especially among foreign tourists. It was a luxurious place that provided all types of modern recreational facilities as well as tourism infrastructure. Today, it's mostly visited by domestic tourists.


Population

Mazandaran is the most populous of the 3 provinces of northern Iran, with 3,283,582 people at the time of 2016 census. Gilan's population in 2016 was 2,530,696 people and Golestan had the lowest population with 1,868,819 people. The total population of the 3 provinces according to 2016 census was 7,683,097 people, with 2,486,429 households.


People and language

The northern provinces of Iran are the motherland and fatherland of the Tabari people ( Mazandarani and Katul people),
Gilaks Gilaks ( Gilaki: گيلٚکؤن, ) are an Iranian peoples native to south of Caspian sea. They form one of the main ethnic groups residing in the northern parts of Iran. Gilak people, along with the closely related Mazandarani people, comprise ...
, Talashes, Tats, and the majority of the population of these three provinces are the Tabaris ( Mazandarani and Katul people),
Gilaks Gilaks ( Gilaki: گيلٚکؤن, ) are an Iranian peoples native to south of Caspian sea. They form one of the main ethnic groups residing in the northern parts of Iran. Gilak people, along with the closely related Mazandarani people, comprise ...
, Talashes, and Tats, who speak the language They speak Tabari ( Mazandarani and Katuli), Gilaki language, Talshi language and Tati language. In addition to their mother tongue, the people of northern Iran also speak Persian.Iran is a very diverse country. "Dialect wise" there are different sub-languages and dialects of native speakers in the north of Iran as well the rest of the country. From the east to the west there are five major languages and hundreds of local dialects. If you talk to a native Iranian "north of Iran" are only the provinces on the south side of
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, ...
which are '' Gilān, Māzandarān'' and '' Golestān, the last one'' has been separated from '' Māzandarān'' province at 1997
Here is the map of Iran with its provinces
Despite Iranian opinion of the north of Iran, ''Khorāsan'' at the east and the two '' Āzerbāijān''s at the west side of Iran are geographically at the north of Iran, therefore, their languages have been included in this article. From the northeast, Khorasan which is a large province laid out from the north to the middle south of Iran and is a neighbor to the Afghanistan border. The language from the north to the south of this province changes drastically, In the north of ''Khorāsan'' people speak “''Ghaz Turkish''” going from the north to the middle of the province, the dialect changes to some sort of Arabic which belonged to an old Iraqi Arabic language. This language has been mixed drastically with Persian language which makes it impossible for an Arab speaker to understand it. There are some ''Kurdish'' speakers in the north of ''khorāsan'' as well. From the north of Iran heading to the west, the next province is Golestān which has its own diversity in languages. until 1997 ''Golestān'' was a part of ''Māzandarān'' province. The main languages from the east to the west in this province are ''Turkmen'', ''Turkish'' and then Māzandarāni which is among the oldest written languages of the country
Māzandarāni
'' Māzandarān'' is the neighboring province which has the language of ''Māzandarāni'' all over the province which has ove
tens of different dialects in different regions.
almost all of them are sub categories of ''Māzandarāni''. Native people of ''Māzandarān'' call themselves ''Tabari'' and their
Mazanderani language Mazandarani (Mazanderani: , ''Mazeruni''; also spelled Mazani () or Tabari (); also called Taveri, Mazeruni, Tati, Geleki and Galeshi) is an Iranian language of the Northwestern Iranian languages, Northwestern branch spoken by the Mazanderani pe ...
. The name ''Tapuri'' / ''Tabari'' (which was the name of an ancient language spoken somewhere in former Tapuria) is now used in preference to the name ''Mazandarani'' by the young. The earliest references to the language of Mazandaran, called Tabari, are to be found in the works of the early Muslim geographers. Al-Muqaddasī (or Moqaisi, 10th century), for example, notes: "The languages of Komish and Gurgan are similar, they use ''hā'', as in ''hā-dih'' and ''hāk-un'', and they are sweet o the ear related to them is the language of Tabaristan, imilarsave for its speediness." The next province is '' Gilān, people of'' Gil''ā''n have three major languages:
Gilaki language Gilaki ( ) is an Iranian language belonging to the Caspian subgroup of the Northwestern branch, spoken in south of Caspian Sea by Gilak people. Gilaki is closely related to Mazandarani. The two languages of Gilaki and Mazandarani have s ...
'', Rudbāri'' and '' Tāleshi'' with some other old languages which are spoken in small region on ''Gilān'' only. In the western side of ''Gilān'' people speak some sort of '' Gilaki'' which is heavily mixed with ''Āzari Turkish'', the language of the neighboring province. After ''Gilān'' in the northwest of Iran, there are two ''Āzerbāijān'' provinces, the east and west ones, the main language is ''Āzari Turkish'' which is native language to the people of these provinces. Majority of young generations of Iranian, in all over the country, are able to speak, read, and write Persian, which is a national language of the country and they learn it in schools.


Climate

* Cold semi-arid climate: the high mountains and valleys in parts of the Alborz range. In the heights, the weather is cold mountainous and most of the precipitation is in the form of snow. Manjil is an example of semi-arid climate found in the region. *
Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...
: found in eastern parts of Mazandaran and parts of Golestan. The weather is hot and dry in summer and wet in autumn and winter. Annual precipitation is from 450mm in Gonbad-e Kavus to over 900mm in Babolsar. Other examples include
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 ...
and
Amol Amol ( ; ) is a city in the Central District (Amol County), Central District of Amol County, Mazandaran province, Mazandaran province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Amol is located on the Haraz River bank. It is ...
. *
Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
: covering central and western plains of
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 ...
and the province of Gilān. The average annual rainfall amounts to 1200 or 1300 mm or even up to 1800 mm as in Bandar-e Anzali, other examples include
Rasht Rasht (; ) is a city in the Central District (Rasht County), Central District of Rasht County, Gilan province, Gilan province, Iran, serving as the capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is also known as the "City of ...
, and Astara.


See also

* Caspian languages * Northwestern Iran *
Western Iran Western Iran consists of Armenian Highlands, northern Zagros and the rich agricultural area of the Khuzestan Plain in the south. It includes the provinces of Kordestan, Kermanshah Province, Kermanshah, Ilam Province, Ilam, Lorestan, and Hamadan ...
* Eastern Iran * Central Iran * Southern Iran


References

{{Reflist Subdivisions of Iran