Northern Iran


Northern Iran, is a geographical term that refers to a relatively large and fertile area, consisting of the southern border of the Caspian Sea and the Alborz mountains.
It includes the provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan. The major provinces, Gilan and Mazandaran, are covered with dense forests, snow-covered mountains and impressive sea shores.
The major cities are Rasht, Gorgan, Sâri, Bâbol, Babolsar Amol, 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.
CityProvincePopulationNo. of households
RashtGilan679,995228,142
GorganGolestan350,676111,099
SariMazandaran309,820101,932
BabolMazandaran250,21781,572
AmolMazandaran237,52878,597
Qaem ShahrMazandaran204,95368,407
Gonbad-e KavusGolestan151,91044,731
Bandar-e AnzaliGilan118,56441,053
LahijanGilan101,07334,497
BehshahrMazandaran94,70231,022
LangarudGilan79,49527,318
ChalusMazandaran65,19622,166
NekaMazandaran60,99119,357
BabolsarMazandaran59,96619,576
TonekabonMazandaran55,43418,878
TāleshGilan54,17816,832
Bandar TorkamanGolestan53,97014,512
Aliabad-e KatulGolestan52,83816,655
AstaraGilan51,57916,696
NowshahrMazandaran49,40316,287
Sowme'eh SaraGilan47,08315,331
Astaneh-ye AshrafiyehGilan44,94115,675
AzadshahrGolestan43,76013,206
KordkuyGolestan39,88112,971
FereydunkenarMazandaran38,15412,606
RudsarGilan37,99813,191
KalalehGolestan36,17610,346
RamsarMazandaran35,99712,153
FumanGilan35,84111,849
AqqalaGolestan35,1169,498
JuybarMazandaran32,92410,480
MahmudabadMazandaran31,84410,399
AmirkolaMazandaran30,47810,120
MinudashtGolestan30,0858,980
NurMazandaran26,9478,597
GalikeshGolestan23,3946,996
GalugahMazandaran21,3526,898
KhomamGilan20,8977,143
Bandar-e GazGolestan20,7426,715
Ketalem and Sadat ShahrMazandaran20,7167,163
SiahkalGilan19,9246,796
RezvanshahrGilan19,5196,212
FazelabadGolestan19,4615,869
GomishanGolestan19,1915,129
MasalGilan17,9015,330
SiminshahrGolestan17,2054,493
ZirabMazandaran16,1915,037
ManjilGilan15,6304,950
AmlashGilan15,4445,268
KiashahrGilan14,0225,037
RostamabadGilan13,7464,312
AbbasabadMazandaran13,4824,500
KelardashtMazandaran13,4014,565
LowshanGilan13,0323,958
SangarGilan12,5834,288
RamianGolestan12,4263,772
KelachayGilan12,3794,329
RostamkolaMazandaran11,6863,979
KhorramabadMazandaran11,5423,902
ShirudMazandaran11,3773,851
LavandevilGilan11,2353,318
ChamestanMazandaran11,1943,492
Khalil ShahrMazandaran11,0323,298
Khan BebinGolestan10,8783,328
AsalemGilan10,7203,271
RahimabadGilan10,5713,507
Lasht-e NeshaGilan10,5393,742
RudbarGilan10,5043,559
HachirudMazandaran10,3983,471
AratehMazandaran10,3273,301
KuchesfahanGilan10,0263,450
Salman ShahrMazandaran9,6563,057
SurakMazandaran9,2083,087
Chaf and ChamkhalehGilan8,8403,137
ShirgahMazandaran8,6712,869
Maraveh TappehGolestan8,6712,072
Pol-e SefidMazandaran8,2942,680
ChaboksarGilan8,2242,750
ShaftGilan8,1842,691
DalandGolestan8,1842,453
NeginshahrGolestan8,1382,344
KiakolaMazandaran8,0402,691
Pareh SarGilan8,0162,536
BahnemirMazandaran7,9062,541
HadishahrMazandaran7,8892,549
RuyanMazandaran7,7312,461
IzadshahrMazandaran7,4392,514
LulemanGilan7,4262,677
GatabMazandaran7,3742,340
Khoshk-e BijarGilan7,2452,470
Anbar OlumGolestan7,0031,960
Galugah, BabolMazandaran6,9082,138
MarjaghalGilan6,7352,244
SorkhrudMazandaran6,6992,248
MarzanabadMazandaran6,6981,841
Now KandehGolestan6,6502,316
KumelehGilan6,4572,255
NashtarudMazandaran6,3942,109
KelarabadMazandaran6,2672,099
FaraghiGolestan5,7771,610
Emamzadeh AbdollahMazandaran5,7681,809
Khush RudpeyMazandaran5,7421,906
DowzeynGolestan5,7371,681
Bazar JomehGilan5,7291,762
KorandGolestan5,6161,530
ChubarGilan5,5541,604
Pir BazarGilan5,3731,761
ShalmanGilan5,1021,855
Gurab ZarmikhGilan4,8401,610
AlqajarGolestan4,7801,428
VajargahGilan4,5371,563
BabakanMazandaran4,4991,462
HaviqGilan4,2611,169
SangdevinGolestan4,2031,255
MazraehGolestan4,0091,352
ZargarMazandaran3,9911,311
YanqaqGolestan3,9191,143
Si JovalGolestan3,747976
LisarGilan3,6471,163
ZiabarGilan3,6031,193
RudbonehGilan3,4411,220
KiasarMazandaran3,3841,084
PulMazandaran3,1501,064
KojurMazandaran3,1201,052
ChukamGilan3,0961,019
Now Deh KhanduzGolestan2,989959
Incheh BorunGolestan2,494593
JirandehGilan2,320791
Kuhi KheylMazandaran2,242736
FarahabadMazandaran2,217762
RankuhGilan2,154749
AhmadsargurabGilan2,128727
TabaqdehMazandaran2,023723
OtaqvarGilan1,938662
DabudashtMazandaran1,758572
DeylamanGilan1,729564
MaklavanGilan1,635536
BarehsarGilan1,612559
SadeqabadGolestan1,593488
TutkabonGilan1,510493
AkandMazandaran1,416485
AlashtMazandaran1,193436
Taher GurabGilan1,168396
RinehMazandaran982352
BaladehMazandaran970353
Pain HularMazandaran956332
MarzikolaMazandaran868301
MasulehGilan393147
FarimMazandaran369127
GazanakMazandaran319103

People and language

The northern provinces of Iran are the motherland and fatherland of the Tabari people, Gilaks, Talashes, Tats, and the majority of the population of these three provinces are the Tabaris, Gilaks, Talashes, and Tats, who speak the language They speak Tabari, 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 which are Gilān, Māzandarān and Golestān, the last one has been separated from Māzandarān province at 1997. . Despite Iranian opinion of the north of Iran, Khorāsan at the east and the two Āzerbāijāns 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.
Māzandarān is the neighboring province which has the language of Māzandarāni all over the province which has over, almost all of them are sub categories of Māzandarāni. Native people of Māzandarān call themselves Tabari and their Mazanderani language . The name Tapuri / Tabari 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, 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, related to them is the language of Tabaristan, save for its speediness."
The next province is Gilān, people of Gilān have three major languages: Gilaki language, 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

ParameterRashtGorganQaem ShahrBandar-e AnzaliBabolsarNowshahrRamsarMaraveh Tappeh
WMO Station number4071940738407374071840736407344073240721
Mean daily max/min 11.6 °C/3.8 °C 12.8 °C/1.9 °C 12.6 °C/3.1 °C 10.3 °C/5.6 °C 12.6 °C/5.4 °C 11.6 °C/4.6 °C 11.4 °C/5.0 °C 11.2 °C/3.6 °C
Mean daily max/min 30.5 °C/21.8 °C 33.5 °C/22.9 °C 30.9 °C/22.2 °C 29.2 °C/23.7 °C 30.0 °C/23.4 °C 29.1 °C/22.3 °C 29.2 °C/22.9 °C 34.7 °C/23.3 °C
Average Annual Precipitation
No. of days with precipitation ≥ 1.0 mm113.863.174.9102.471.193.789.249.6
No. of days with Rain/Drizzle9877.7104.4113.789109.610358.4
No. of days with Rain Showers31.726.722.442.624.53432.416.7
No. of days with Snow depth > 0 cm81.20.92.611.61.65.9
Mean Annual Sunshine hours17482287200819202095189816582720