Gorgan

For the village in Azerbaijan, see Gürgan. For the village in Alba County, Romania, see Cenade.

Gorgan گرگان
Country	Iran
Government
• Governor of Gorgan	Jaafar Gorzin
Area
• Total	1,700 km2 (656 sq mi)
Population  (2005)
• Total	241,177
• Density	141.47/km2 (367.65/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+3:30 (IRST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+4:30

Gorgan (Persian: گرگان, Caspian: Vergen) is the capital of the Golestan Province, Iran. It lies approximately 400 km to the north east of Tehran, some 30 km away from the Caspian Sea. It had an estimated population of 241,000 in 2005. [1] Some 150 km east of Gorgan is the Golestan National Park. The city has a regional airport and several universities. Gorgan Airport was opened in September 2005.

Etymology

The city was named Hyrcania, Hyrcani or Hyrcana in ancient Greek records, which comes from Pahlavi Varkâna -- "Land of the Wolves". Although modern Gorgan is only a city and county (sharing the same name), ancient Hyrcania was the name of a greater region on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea (encompassing all of the present day Golestan province, as well as some eastern parts of the Mazandaran province, and some southern parts of the present day Republic of Turkmenistan). In modern times and until 1937 the city used to be known as Astarabad.

Geography and climate

File:Gorgan-l.jpg

Farms, East of Gorgan

The wide Dasht-e-Gorgan (the Plains of Gorgan) are located north of the city of Gorgan and is geographically bounded by 37°00' - 37°30' north latitude and 54°00' - 54°30' east longitude and covers an area of about 1,700 square kilometres.

In general, Golestan has a moderate and humid climate known as "the moderate Caspian climate." The effective factors behind such a climate are: Alborz mountain range, direction of the mountains, height of the area, neighborhood to the sea, vegetation surface, local winds, altitude and weather fronts. As a result of the above factors, three different climates exist in the region: plain moderate, mountainous, and semi-arid. Gorgan valley has a semi-arid climate. The average annual temperature is 18.2 degrees Celsius and the annual rainfall is 556 mm.

History

Main article: Hyrcania

Gorgan Ceramic

The name "Hyrcania" is the ancient Greek record of the local name in Old Persian name Varkâna. The capital of Hyrcania was "Zadracarta", the largest city and site of the "royal palace" of Hyrcania, most probably located at the great mound of Qalʿa-ye Ḵandān, on the western fringe of present-day Gorgān city (formerly Astarābād). At the time of Sasanids Gorgan appeared as the name of a city, province capital, and a province.

Hyrcania became part of the Persian empire during the reign of Cyrus the Great (559-530 BC) - the first emperor the first Persian empire dynasty - or Cambyses (530-522 BC). It was conquered by Arabs in 8th century and by Mongols in 13th century.

Culture

Handicrafts

Gorgan (and in general, the Golestan province), has a world-famous carpet and rug industry, made by Turkmen. The patterns of these carpets are derived from the ancient Persian city of Boxârâ (Bukhara) which is now located in the Central Asian Republic of Uzbekistan. Jajim carpets are also crafted in this province.

Notables from Gorgan

See also: list of people from Gorgan

Contemporary figures

• Mohammad Reza Lotfi, Musician.
• Hojjatollah Shakiba, Artist (painter).
• Ramezan Ali Rashidi or Dr. Ali Rashidi, (b. 1935) Economist, University Professor.
• Hossein Ali Heravi, (1918–1993), Hafezologist, Writer.
• Mahmood Akhavan-Mahdavi, Expert on Repairing & Correcting Persian Manuscripts; Writer & Researcher on Gorgan Contemporary History,
• Mohammad Mohammadi or Dr. Mohammad Mohammadi Gorgani, Human Rights Activist, Former Majles MP from Gorgan, University Professor.
• Mohammad Hossein Kabir or Hossein Kabir, (b. 1957) Human Rights, Political & Social Activist, Orator, Journalist, High School Teacher.
• Maryam Zandi, Photographer.
• Ali Reza Sookhtehsaraey, World Wrestling Champion.
• Abdonnasser Mohaimeni, (b. 1957), Freelance Journalist, Translator, Interpretor & Teacher of English Language.
• Rahmatollah Rajaee, journalist, writer, researcher and teacher of culture & history.
• Assadollah Maatoofi, (b. 1957) writer, researcher and teacher of culture & history.
• Abolfazl Tirandaz, (M.Sc. in Wood & Paper Industries), Researcher & Chief of Gorgan Technical & Vocational Training Center.
• Abbas Ali Zamani, (b. 1977) Chemist (PhD Candidate in Analytical Chemistry)
• Abdol Ghayoom Ebrahimi (b. 1932), holder of Doctorate in plant pathology, retired professor of Gorgan (Golestan) Agricultural & Natural Resources University, also founder of Gorgan Branch of Islamic Azad University.
• Ayatollah Seyyed Ziaoddin Esterabadi, Scholar in islam
• Seyed Mehdi Hosseini, Researcher in Telecommunication Systems
• Nasser Ghasemi, Researcher in Power Systems
• Ali Abdolahian, Researcher in Robotic Sciences
• Mohammad Katouli, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia

Historical figures

• Abd al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī, 5th century grammarian and literary theorist
• Abu Sa'id al-Darir al-Jurjani, 9th century astronomer and mathematician
• Abu Sahl al-Masihi al-Jurjani (al-Masihi), 10th century physician and teacher of Avicenna
• Zayn al-Din al-Jurjani, 12th century royal physician
• Fażlu l-Lāh Astar-Ābādī, 14th century mystic and founder of Hurufism
• Rustam Gorgani, 16th century physician
• Mir Damad, 17th century Islamic scholar and Neoplatonic philosopher
• Mirza Mehdi Khan Astarabadi, 18th century chief minister to Nader Shah
• Bibi Khatoon Astarabadi, a notable writer, satirist, and one of the pioneering figures of the women's movement of Iran

Colleges and universities

• Islamic Azad University of Gorgan
• Golestan University of Medical Sciences [2]
• Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources
• Mirdamad Institute of Higher Education
• Lamei Gorgani Institute of Higher Education
• Hakeem Jorjani Institute of Higher Education

Governors General (Ostandars) of the Golestan Province

• Yahya Mahmoodzadeh is the current, (April 2008), governor general of Golestan province. He has been in office since April 2007 to present, i.e. April 2008.

Previous governors general

Other governors general of the province prior to Mr Y. Mahmoodzadeh, and since the foundation of the province (Feb. 1998), and in the order of taking office, have been as follows:

• 1- Seyyed Ebrahim Derazgissoo.
• 2- Ali Asghar Ahmadi.
• 3- Hadi Pazhoohesh-Jahromi (Acting Governor General for 5 months).
• 4- Mohammad Hashem Mohaymeni (or Mohaimeni).
• 5- Ali Mohammad Shaeri.
• 6- Reza Anjom-Shoaa (Acting Governor General for 4 months).

Sister cities

• Aktau, Kazakhstan

External links

• Gorgan Homepage by Tirdad Gorgani
• A Gorgani folk-song sung by Shusha Guppy in the 1970s: Lullaby.