Shirvan ( fa, شيروان, also

Romanize Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

d as Shīrvān) is a city and capital of Shirvan County,

North Khorasan Province North Khorasan Province ( fa, استان خراسان شمالی, ''Ostān-e Khorāsān-e Shomālī'') is a province located in northeastern Iran. Bojnord is the capital of the province. The counties of North Khorasan Province are Shirvan Co ...

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 Turkm ...

. At the 2006 census, its population was 162,790, in 70,878 families.

Etymology

The name of this city branches from the

old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as ( ...

word, ''Shīr'' ( fa, , '

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

'). It might be because of the mountain in the south of the city which looks like a big

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

at rest. The history of Shirvan is more than 7000 years old, as archaeologists found some graves in Gelian an Khanlogh (Villages of Shirvan) which are related to

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...

era.

Geographical location

Shirvan is located at a latitude of 37 degrees and 40 minutes and a longitude of 57 degrees and 93 minutes with an altitude of 1097 meters

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. The ...

and an area of 3789 square meters. The city of

Ashgabat Ashgabat or Asgabat ( tk, Aşgabat, ; fa, عشق‌آباد, translit='Ešqābād, formerly named Poltoratsk ( rus, Полтора́цк, p=pəltɐˈratsk) between 1919 and 1927), is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies ...

is bounded on the north by the capital of

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the s ...

, on the south by the city of Esfarayen, on the east by the city of Farooj and on the west by

Bojnourd Bojnord ( fa, ; also romanized Bojnūrd, Bujnūrd, Bojnoord, Bojnord or Bujnurd), known in the Middle Ages as Buzanjird, is the capital city of North Khorasan Province, Iran. It is about from Tehran. and It is located 237 km away from Mashhad, ...

. The city of Shirvan is located near the

Atrak River The Atrek ( fa, اترک, ku, Etrek, tk, Etrek derýasy), also known as the Attruck, Atrak, and Etrek, is a fast-moving river which begins in the mountains of north-eastern Iran (), and flows westward draining into the south-eastern corner of th ...

. Shirvan, 22 km away, is the closest city to Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.

Significance

The city has been significant industrially with sugar beet factories. It is also significant historically (Nader hill), geographically (

Honameh Honameh ( fa, هنامه, also Romanized as Honāmeh; also known as Honāmeh-ye Bozorg and Honnāmeh-ye Bozorg) is a village in Sivkanlu Rural District, in the Central District of Shirvan County, North Khorasan Province, Iran Iran, ...

), and anthropologically (caves around the city).

Universities

Shirvan Higher Education Complex Shirvan Health Higher Education Complex Islamic Azad University, Shirvan Branch Professor Hesabi Boys' Technical School

References

Populated places in Shirvan County Cities in North Khorasan Province {{Shirvan-geo-stub pnb:شیروان (شہر)

Etymology

Geographical location

Significance

Universities

See also

References