Kermanshah Province (Persian: استان كرمانشاه‎, Ostān-e Kermānshāh ) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. The province was known from 1969 to 1986 as Kermanshahan and from 1986 to 1995 as Bakhtaran.

Kemanshah consists of 14 shahrestans (counties): Dalaho County; Gilan-e-gharb County; Harsin County; Islamabad-e-gharb County; Javanrud County; Kangavar County; Kermanshah County; Paveh County; Qasr-e-Shirin County; Ravansar county; Sahneh County; Sarpol-e-Zahab County; Solas-e-Babajani County; Sonqor County.
Major cities and towns in Kermanshah Province: Kermanshah; Eslamabad-e Gharb; Paveh; Harsin; Kangavar; Sonqor; Javanrood; Salas-e-babajani; Ravansar; Dalahoo; Gilan-Gharb; Sahneh; Qasr-e Shirin; Sarpol-e-Zahab.

The province's capital is Kermanshah (34°18′N 47°4′E / 34.3°N 47.067°E / 34.3; 47.067), located in the middle of the western part of Iran. The population of the city is 822,921.

The city is built on the slopes of Mt.Sefid Kooh and extended toward south during last two decades. The builtup areas run alongside Sarab River and Valley. City's elevation average about 1350 meters above sea level.

Kermanshah (Kurdish: کرماشان Kirmashan, Persian: کرمانشاه Kermãnshãh‎, also Romanized as Kermânsâh; also known as Bahtaran, Bākhtarān, Kermānshāhān , and Qahremānshahr) is a city in and the capital of Kermanshah Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 784,602, in 198,117 families. The language spoken by the majority of people is Kermanshahi Kurdish and Kermanshahi Persian. Kermanshah is located 525 km from Tehran in the western part of Iran. Kermanshah has a moderate and mountainous climate. The religion of most of the people is Shia Islam.

Given its antiquity, attractive landscapes and rich culture, Kermanshah is considered as one of the cradles of prehistoric cultures such as Neolithic villages. According to archaeological surveys and excavation, Kermanshah area has been occupied by prehistoric people since the Lower Paleolithic period, and continued to later Paleolithic periods till late Pleistocene period. The Lower Paleolithic evidence consists of some handaxes found in the Gakia area to the east of the city. The Middle Paleolithic remains have been found in the northern vicinity of the city in Tang-e Kenesht and near Taqwasan. The known Paleolithic caves in this area are Warwasi, Kobeh, and Do-Eshkaft. The region was also one of the first places in which human settlements including Asiab, Qazanchi, Tappeh Sarab, Chia Jani, and Ganj-Darreh were established between 8,000-10,000 years ago. This is about the same time that the first potteries pertaining to Iran were made in Ganj-Darreh, near present-day Harsin. In May 2009, based on a research conducted by the University of Hamedan and UCL, the head of Archeology Research Center of Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization announced that the oldest prehistorian village in the Middle East dating back to 9800 B.P., was discovered in Sahneh, located west of Kermanshah.

Grand AyatollahSayyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei (Persian: سید علی حسینی خامنه ای‎, Azerbaijani: سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای – Seyyid Əli Xameneyi, pronounced [ʔæˈliː hoseiˈniː xɒːmeneˈʔiː] ( listen); born 17 July 1939) is the Supreme Leader of Iran, and a Twelver Shi'a marja. He had also served as the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran from 1981 to 1989. In 2010, Forbes selected him 26th in the list of 'World's Most Powerful People'.

Holding absolute power in his country, he has been described as one of only three people having "important influence" during the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran . Khamenei was the victim of an attempted assassination in June 1981 that paralyzed his right arm, although so far the biggest challenge to his leadership has been the mass protests following the June 2009 presidential elections during which he strongly supported president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They have had a falling out since.

Khamenei holds the title of Sayyed, which means that he claims direct patrilineal descent from Ali ibn Abi Talib. Some^[which?] of Khamenei's ancestors are from Tafresh in today's Markazi province, and had migrated from their original home in Tafresh to Tabriz. Born in Mashhad, he is second eldest of eight children, and two of his brothers are also clerics. His younger brother, Hadi Khamenei, is a renowned newspaper editor and cleric. Khamenei is Iranian Azeri on his father's side and his mother is a Yazd-native Persian.