Fars province
Fars Province (/fɑːrs/; Persian: استان فارس, Ostân-e Fârs, pronounced [ˈfɒː(ɾ)s]), also known as Pars Province (استان پارس, Ostân-e Pârs) as well as Persis (the origin of the name "Persia"), is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. The province has an area of 122,400 km2 and is located in Iran's southwest, in Region 2. Its administrative center and capital city is Shiraz. Fars neighbours Bushehr province to the west, Hormozgan province to the south, Kerman and Yazd provinces to the east, Isfahan province to the north, and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province to the northwest.
Fars Province
استان فارس | |
|---|---|
Province | |
Clockwise from top right: the Tomb of Cyrus the Great in Pasargadae; Arg of Karim Khan in Shiraz; a canola field in Alamarvdasht; Bishapur valley; Naqsh-e Rostam; and Persepolis | |
Location of Fars province within Iran | |
| Coordinates: 29°25′N 53°14′E | |
| Country | Iran |
| Region | Region 2 |
| Capital | Shiraz |
| Counties | 37 |
| Government | |
| • Governor-general | Mohammad-Hadi Imanieh |
| • MPs of Assembly of Experts | 1 Ahmad Beheshti 2 Ali Akbar Kalantari 3 Assad-Allah Imani 4 Lotfollah Dezhkam 5 Seyed Ali Asghar Dastgheib 6 Mohammad Faghie |
| • Representative of the Supreme Leader | Lotfollah Dezhkam |
| Area | |
| • Total | 122,608 km2 (47,339 sq mi) |
| Population (2016) | |
| • Total | 4,851,274 |
| • Estimate (2020) | 5,051,000 |
| • Density | 40/km2 (100/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+03:30 (IRST) |
| Area code | 071 |
| ISO 3166 code | IR-07 |
| Main language(s) |
|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 4,220,721 | — |
| 2011 | 4,596,658 | +8.9% |
| 2016 | 4,851,274 | +5.5% |
At the 2006 census, the province numbered 4,220,721 people in 1,014,690 households. As of the following census in 2011, Fars had a population of 4,596,658 people in 1,250,135 households, of whom 67.6% were registered as urban dwellers (urban/suburbs), 32.1% villagers (small town/rural), and 0.3% nomad tribes. The most recent census in 2016 counted 4,851,274 people in 1,443,027 households.
Fars is the historical homeland of the Persian people. It was the homeland of the Achaemenid and Sasanian Persian dynasties of Iran, who reigned on the throne by the time of the ancient Persian Empires. The ruins of the Achaemenid capitals Pasargadae and Persepolis, among others, demonstrate the ancient history of the region. Due to the historical importance of this region, the entire country has historically been also referred to as Persia in the West. Prior to caliphate rule, this region was known as Pars.