Kerman Province

Kerman Province (Persian: استان کرمان‎‎, Ostān-e Kermān) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Kerman is in the southeast of Iran with its administrative center in the city of Kerman. In 2014 it was placed in Region 5. Mentioned in ancient times as the Achamenid satrapy of Carmania, it is the second largest province of Iran with an area of 180,726 km², that encompasses nearly 11 percent of the land area of Iran. The population of the province is about 3 million (9th in the country). The main townships of Kerman province are Baft, Bardsir, Bam, Jiroft, Rafsanjan, Zarand, Sirjan, Shahr-e-Babak, Kerman, Mahan, Rayen, Kahnuj, Ghale-Ganj, Manujan, Roodbar-e-Jonob, Anbar Abad, and Ravar.

History and culture

Kerman province is considered a paradise for palaeontologists because of an abundance of vertebrate fossils from different geological eras. Fossils include Placodermi, jawed and jawless armoured fish dating back to the Devonian period (395 to 365 million years ago), dinosaurs (195 to 66 million years ago) and mammals from the Tertiary period (ranging from two to seventy million years ago).

Kerman

Kerman ( pronunciation ) (Persian: كرمان‎‎, also Romanized as Kermān, Kermun, and Kirman; also known as Carmania) is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 821,374, in 221,389 households, making it the 10th most populous city of Iran.

It is the largest and most developed city in Kerman Province and the most important city in the southeast of Iran. It is also one of the largest cities of Iran in terms of area. Kerman is famous for its long history and strong cultural heritage . The city is home to many historic mosques and Zoroastrian fire temples. Kerman is also on the recent list of the world's 1000 cleanest cities. Kerman became capital city of Iranian dynasties several times during its history. It is located on a large, flat plain, 1,036 km (643 mi) south of Tehran, the capital of Iran.

History

Kerman was founded as a defensive outpost, with the name Behdesīr, by Ardeshir I, founder of the Sassanid Empire, in the 3rd century AD. After the Battle of Nahāvand in 642, the city came under Muslim rule. At first the city's relative isolation allowed Kharijites and Zoroastrians to thrive there, but the Kharijites were wiped out in 698, and the population was mostly Muslim by 725. Already in the eighth century the city was famous for its manufacture of cashmere wool shawls and other textiles. The Abbasid Caliphate's authority over the region was weak, and power passed in the tenth century to the Buyid dynasty, which maintained control even when the region and city fell to Mahmud of Ghazna in the late tenth century. The name Kerman was adopted at some point in the tenth century.

Iran

Iran (/aɪˈræn/ or ⁱ/ɪˈrɑːn/;Persian: Irān – ایران‎‎ [ʔiːˈɾɒːn]), also known as Persia (/ˈpɜːrʒə/ or /ˈpɜːrʃə/), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (جمهوری اسلامی ایران – Jomhuri ye Eslāmi ye Irān [d͡ʒomhuːˌɾije eslɒːˌmije ʔiːˈɾɒːn]), is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia, the de facto Nagorno-Karabakh, and Azerbaijan; with Kazakhstan and Russia across the Caspian Sea; to the northeast by Turkmenistan; to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan; to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; and to the west by Turkey and Iraq. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km² (636,372 sq mi), it is the second-largest country in the Middle East and the 18th-largest in the world. With 78.4 million inhabitants, Iran is the world's 17th-most-populous country. It is the only country that has both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. Iran has long been of geostrategic importance because of its central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian calendars

The Iranian calendars (Persian: گاه‌شماری ایرانی‎‎ Gâhshomâriye Irâni) are a succession of calendars invented or used for over two millennia in Iran (Persia). One of the longest chronological records in human history, the Iranian calendar has been modified time and again during its history to suit administrative, climatic, and religious purposes.

The modern Iranian calendar is now the official calendar in Iran. It begins at the midnight nearest to the instant of the vernal equinox as determined by astronomical calculations for the Iran Standard Time meridian (52.5°E or GMT+3.5h). It is, therefore, an observation-based calendar, unlike the Gregorian, which is rule-based.

The Iranian year usually begins within a day of 21 March of the Gregorian calendar. To find the corresponding year of the Gregorian calendar, add 621 or 622 (depending on the time of the year) to a solar hijri year. A short table of year correspondences between the Persian and Gregorian calendars is provided below.