Semnan Province

Semnan Province استان سمنان
Province
Location of Semnān within Iran
Coordinates:
Country	Iran
Region	Region 1
Capital	Semnan
Counties	8
Government
• Governor	Abbās Rahī
Area
• Total	97,491 km2 (37,641 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	631,218
• Density	6.5/km2 (17/sq mi)
Time zone	IRST (UTC+03:30)
• Summer (DST)	IRST (UTC+04:30)
Main language(s)	Semnani languages, Persian

Semnan Province (Persian: استان سمنان‎‎, Ostān-e Semnān ) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the north of the country, and its center is Semnan. The province of Semnan covers an area of 96,816 square kilometers and stretches along the Alborz mountain range and borders to Dasht-e Kavir desert in its southern parts.

The province was put as part of Region 1 upon the division of the provinces into 5 regions solely for coordination and development purposes on June 22, 2014.

Counties of the province include Semnan, Aradan, Damghan, Shahrud, Mehdishahr, Meyami, Sorkheh, Garmsar, and Shahmirzad county. In 1996, the province had a population of about 501,000 (631,218 in 2011 ), and in 2005 Semnan city (the capital of the province) had a population of 119,778, and the city of Shahroud, which accounts for being the largest city of this province, had a population of 231,831. [1]

Geography

See also: Geography of Iran

The province is divided into two parts: a mountainous region, and the plains at the foot of the mountains. The former offers a scope for recreational activities as well as being a source for minerals, whereas the latter encompasses some ancient cities of Iran as one of the capitals of the Parthian empire was located there. In Semnan, people have local language with special words and slang. the base of this language which it derived from is Pahlavi language the ancient language form Parthians as well as Middle Persian. Semnani is a dialect of Standard Persian derived from middle Persian Pahlavi.

Neighbours are in the north Golestan, Mazandaran, at the west Tehran, Qom, at the South Isfahan and at the East Khorasan-e Razavi.

Abr forest

See also: Environmental issues in Iran

This forest lies in the central province of Semnan, near its border with Golestan Province. It is one of the oldest forests in Iran which is a remnant of the third geological age. The Iranian Roads Ministry's decision to build a road through the forest sparked widespread protests last year.

The environmentalists, backed by the country's media, began a wide campaign against the ministry's decision, which finally led the Prosecutor General to order a halt in the construction of the road. However, all these efforts came to naught when it was announced in April 2008 that the government granted permission to the Roads Ministry to construct the road.

Administrative divisions

Map	Shahrestan	Map Key	Bakhsh	Center
	Damghan	D	Central	Damghan
		a	Amir Abad
	Garmsar	G	Central	Garmsar
		a	Aradan
		e	Eyvanakey
	Mehdishahr	m	Central	Mehdishahr
		'	Shahmirzad
	Semnan	S	Central	Semnan
		s	Sorkheh
	Shahrud	Sh	Central	Shahrud
		bd	Biarjmand
		bm	Mayami
		m	Bastam
Neighbor Provinces: E: Esfahan, G: Golestan, M: Mazandaran, NKh: North Khorasan, Q: Qom, RKh: Razavi Khorasan, T: Tehran, Y: Yazd

History

Semnan can be divided into sixteen sectors from the old days of Avesta. During the Medes and Achaemenid periods, it accounted for being one of the largest provinces of the empire.

During the Islamic era, Semnan was part of the historical region of Gomess or Komesh, and the Silk Road paved its way from the midst of this region. Needless to say, the province was witness to numerous wars.

The Cultural Historical Heritage Organization of Iran lists 470 sites of historical and cultural heritage such as palaces, forts, castles, caravansarais, ab anbars, and badgirs, in Semnan. In addition to these there are various religious and sacred places as well.

Orbital launch site

On occasion of the 10th anniversary of the 1998 Kwangmyongsong 1 satellite launch attempt, program conducted by North Korea in close cooperation with Iran and Pakistan, the Iranian Space Agency has proceeded with its own test. According to practice also observed by North Korea, Iranian authorities announced to their Chinese allies on August 16, 2008 the imminent launch of a satellite. On August 17, 2008 on the occasion of the birthday anniversary of Shiites' 12th Imam Hazrat Mahdi, Iran proceeded as preannounced with the second test launch of a three stages Safir SLV from a site south of Semnan in the northern part of the Dasht-e-Kavir desert. Reza Taghizadeh, head of the Iranian Aerospace Organization, told state television "The Safir (Ambassador) satellite carrier was launched today and for the first time we successfully launched a dummy satellite into orbit". As reported in late 2009 and early 2010, a new, larger launch pad was under construction at

See also

• Bayazid Bastami
• Darius III
• Dasht-e Kavir
• Fath Ali Shah Qajar
• Hassan Rouhani
• Hecatompylos or Shahr-e Qumis
• Mahmud Ahmadinejad
• Manuchehri Damghani
• Parthia
• Rig-e Jenn
• Sangsar (Mahdishahr)
• Seleucids
• Semnani language
• Yadollah Royaee

External links

• History of Semnan Province
• Information on Semnan National geoscience database of Iran
• Semnan Cultual Heritage Organization
• SemnanLine NEWSPORTAL
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