Fars province


Fars Province,, historically known as Pars, Farsistan, and Persis, is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Shiraz.
Fars province has an area of 122,400 km2 and is located in Iran's southwest, in Region 2. It neighbours the provinces of Bushehr to the west, Hormozgan to the south, Kerman and Yazd to the east, Isfahan to the north, and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad to the northwest.

Etymology

The Persian word Fârs, derived from the earlier form Pârs, which is in turn derived from , the native Old Persian name for the region and the source of the Ancient Greek word Persis. The English word Persia also originates from this region, ultimately through the Ancient Greek Persis.
Pars 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.

History

Persis

The ancient Persians were present in the region from about the 10th century BC, and became the rulers of the largest empire the world had yet seen under the Achaemenid dynasty which was established in the mid 6th century BC, at its peak stretching from Thrace-Macedonia, Bulgaria-Paeonia and Eastern Europe proper in the west, to the Indus Valley in its far east. The ruins of Persepolis and Pasargadae, two of the four capitals of the Achaemenid Empire, are located in Pars.
The Achaemenid Empire was defeated by Alexander the Great in 333 BC, incorporating most of their vast empire. Shortly after this the Seleucid Empire was established. However, it never extended its power in Pars beyond the main trade routes, and by the reign of Antiochus I or possibly later Persis emerged as an independent state that minted its own coins.
The Seleucid Empire was subsequently defeated by the Parthians in 238 BC, but by 205 BC, the Seleucid king Antiochus III had extended his authority into Persis and it ceased to be an independent state.
Babak was the ruler of a small town called Kheir. Babak's efforts in gaining local power at the time escaped the attention of Artabanus IV, the Parthian Arsacid Emperor of the time. Babak and his eldest son Shapur I managed to expand their power over all of Persis.
The subsequent events are unclear. Following the death of Babak around 220, Ardashir who at the time was the governor of Darabgird, got involved in a power struggle of his own with his elder brother Shapur. The sources tell us that in 222, Shapur was killed when the roof of a building collapsed on him.
At this point, Ardashir moved his capital further to the south of Persis and founded a capital at Ardashir-Khwarrah. After establishing his rule over Persis, Ardashir I rapidly extended the territory of his Sassanid Persian Empire, demanding fealty from the local princes of Pars, and gaining control over the neighboring provinces of Kerman, Isfahan, Susiana, and Mesene.
Artabanus marched a second time against Ardashir I in 224. Their armies clashed at Hormizdegan, where Artabanus IV was killed. Ardashir was crowned in 226 at Ctesiphon as the sole ruler of Persia, bringing the 400-year-old Parthian Empire to an end, and starting the virtually equally long rule of the Sassanian Empire, over an even larger territory, once again making Persia a leading power in the known world, only this time along with its arch-rival and successor to Persia's earlier opponents ; the Byzantine Empire.
The Sassanids ruled for 425 years, until the Muslim armies conquered the empire. Afterwards, the Persians started to convert to Islam, this making it much easier for the new Muslim empire to continue the expansion of Islam.
Persis then passed hand to hand through numerous dynasties, leaving behind numerous historical and ancient monuments; each of which has its own values as a world heritage, reflecting the history of the province, Iran, and West Asia. The ruins of Bishapur, Persepolis, and Firouzabad are all reminders of this. The Arab invaders brought about an end to centuries of Zoroastrian political and cultural dominance over the region; supplanted as the faith of the ruling class in the 7th century by Islam, which and over the next 200 years gradually expanded to include a majority of the population.

Demographics

Language and ethnicity

The main ethnic group in the province consists of indigenous Persians, while Qashqai, Lurs, Arabs, Kurds, Georgians, and Circassians constitute minorities.
Due to the geographical characteristics of Fars and its proximity to the Persian Gulf, Fars has long been a residing area for various peoples and rulers of Iran. However, the tribes of Fars including, Mamasani Lurs, Khamseh and Kohkiluyeh have kept their native and unique cultures and lifestyles which constitute part of the cultural heritage of Iran attracting many tourists. Kurdish tribes include Uriad, Zangana, Chegini, Kordshuli and Kuruni.
Among the hundreds of thousands of Georgians and Circassians that were transplanted to Persia under Shah Abbas I, his predecessors, and successors, a certain amount of them were to guard the main caravan routes; many were settled around Āspās and other villages along the old Isfahan-Shiraz road. By now the vast majority Caucasians that were settled in Pars have lost their cultural, linguistic, and religious identity, having mostly been assimilated into the population.

Population

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the province's population was 4,220,721 people in 1,014,690 households. The following census in 2011 counted 4,596,658 people in 1,250,135 households, of whom 67.6% were registered as urban dwellers, 32.1% villagers, and 0.3% nomad tribes. The 2016 census measured the population of the province as 4,851,274 people in 1,443,027 households.

Administrative divisions

The population history and structural changes of Fars province's administrative divisions over three consecutive censuses are shown in the following table.
Counties200620112016
Abadeh87,20398,188100,831
Arsanjan40,91641,47642,725
Bakhtegan———
Bavanat44,06948,41650,418
Beyza———
Darab172,938189,345201,489
Eqlid99,00393,97593,763
Estahban66,39166,17268,850
Evaz———
Farashband38,67942,76045,459
Fasa188,189203,129205,187
Firuzabad111,973119,721121,417
Gerash—47,05553,907
Jahrom197,331209,312228,532
Juyom———
Kavar—77,83683,883
Kazerun258,097254,704266,217
Khafr———
Kharameh—61,58054,864
Khonj37,97841,13341,359
Khorrambid44,66950,25250,522
Kuhchenar———
Lamerd76,97183,91691,782
Larestan223,235226,879213,920
Mamasani162,694116,386117,527
Marvdasht294,621307,492323,434
Mohr54,09459,72764,827
Neyriz105,241113,750113,291
Pasargad29,82531,50430,118
Qir and Karzin61,43265,04571,203
Rostam—46,85144,386
Sarchehan———
Sarvestan—40,53138,114
Sepidan87,80189,39891,049
Shiraz1,676,9271,700,6871,869,001
Zarqan———
Zarrin Dasht60,44469,43873,199
Total4,220,721 4,596,6584,851,274

Cities

According to the 2016 census, 3,401,675 people live in the following cities:
CityPopulation
Abadeh59,116
Abadeh Tashk7,379
Ahel3,179
Alamarvdasht4,068
Ardakan14,633
Arsanjan17,706
Asir3,042
Bab Anar7,061
Baba Monir1,379
Bahman7,568
Baladeh5,972
Banaruiyeh9,077
Beyram7,300
Beyza7,252
Darab70,232
Darian10,037
Dehram3,468
Dezhkord3,924
Do Borji2,907
Dobiran13,809
Duzeh1,348
Efzar2,657
Emad Deh4,235
Emam Shahr5,803
Eqlid44,341
Eshkanan9,115
Estahban36,410
Evaz19,987
Fadami4,097
Farashband20,320
Fasa110,825
Firuzabad65,417
Galleh Dar13,448
Gerash34,469
Hajjiabad21,675
Hamashahr3,852
Hasanabad2,045
Hesami3,131
Ij6,246
Izadkhast5,910
Jahrom141,634
Jannat Shahr13,598
Juyom8,010
Kamfiruz3,713
Karzin8,841
Kavar31,711
Kazerun96,683
Khaneh Zenyan4,027
Khaniman3,020
Khavaran4,332
Kherameh18,477
Khesht9,599
Khonj19,217
Khumeh Zar6,220
Khur7,338
Khuzi3,245
Konartakhteh6,081
Korehi3,954
Kuhenjan3,281
Kupon3,237
Lamerd29,380
Lapui8,985
Lar62,045
Latifi7,300
Madar-e Soleyman1,546
Marvdasht148,858
Masiri9,031
Mazayjan3,567
Meshkan4,617
Meymand10,120
Miyan Deh5,912
Mobarakabad4,707
Mohr7,784
Neyriz49,850
Now Bandegan2,410
Nowdan2,892
Nujin3,769
Nurabad57,058
Qaderabad14,973
Qaemiyeh26,918
Qarah Bolagh6,772
Qatruyeh2,895
Qir20,010
Qotbabad7,476
Ramjerd2,550
Runiz5,760
Saadat Shahr17,131
Safashahr26,933
Sarvestan18,187
Sedeh6,747
Seyyedan8,574
Shahr-e Pir8,927
Shahr-e Sadra91,863
Sheshdeh5,960
Shiraz1,565,572
Soghad12,582
Soltanabad1,928
Surian9,776
Surmaq3,050
Varavi4,622
Zahedshahr9,719
Zarqan32,261