Gorgan

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Gorgan

Gorgan (Persian

Persian language

Caspian languages

Caspian languages are a branch of List of Northwestern Iranian languages spoken in northern Iran, south of the Caspian Sea.Caspian languages include:...
: Vergen) is the capital of the Golestan Province

Golestan Province

Golestan is one of the 30 provinces of Iran of Iran. It is in the north-east of the country, south of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is Gorgan....
, Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
. It is approximately 400 km from Tehran

Tehran

Tehran is the capital and largest city of Iran, and the administrative center of Tehran Province. Tehran is a sprawling city at the foot of the Alborz mountain range with an immense network of highways unparalleled in Western Asia....
. It had an estimated population of 241,177 in 2005. Some 150km east of Gorgan is the Golestan National Park. The city has a regional airport and several universities.

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Encyclopedia

Gorgan (Persian

Persian language

Caspian languages

Golestan Province

Golestan is one of the 30 provinces of Iran of Iran. It is in the north-east of the country, south of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is Gorgan....
, Iran

Iran

Tehran

Etymology

The city was named Hyrcania
Hyrcania

Hyrcania was the name of a satrapy located in the territories of present day Golestan Province, Mazandaran, Gilan and part of Turkmenistan, lands south of the Caspian Sea....
, Hyrcani or Hyrcana in ancient Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
records, which comes from Pahlavi Varkâna -- "Land of the Wolfs". 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

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the List of lakes by area or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers ....
(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

Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan is a Turkic peoples country in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic ....
). In modern times and until 1937 the city used to be known as Astarabad.

Geography and climate

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

Alborz

Alborz , also written as Alburz or Elburz, is a mountain range in northern Iran stretching from the borders of Armenia in the northwest to the southern end of the Caspian Sea, and ending in the east at the borders of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan....
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

The name "Hyrcania" is the ancient Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
record of the local name in Old Persian name Varkâna. 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

Cyrus the Great

Cyrus the Great , , also known as Cyrus II of Persia and Cyrus the Elder, was a Persian people Shah . He was the founder of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty, an empire, perhaps the most wealthy and magnificent in history....
(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

Mongols

The name Mongol specifies one or several ethnic groups, now mainly located in Mongolia, China, and Russia....
in 13th century.

Culture

Handicrafts

Gorgan (and in general, Golestan province), has a world famous carpet and rug industry, made by Turkmans. The patterns of these carpets are derived from the ancient Persian city of Boxârâ (Bukhara

Bukhara

Bukhara , also spelled as Bukhoro and Bokhara, from the Soghdian ?uxarak , is the Capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 237,900 ....
)which is now located in the Central Asian Republic of Uzbekistan. Jajim carpets are also crafted in this province.

Notables 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
Mohammad Mohammadi

Mohammad Mohammadi is an Iranian Football Goalkeeper who plays for Iran Pro League side Paykan F.C.....
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
Maryam Zandi

Maryam Zandi is an Iranian photography. She is known for her "portraits from the Iranian literary scene" collection....
, 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
Abdol Ghayoom Ebrahimi

Abdol Ghayoom Ebrahimi , , founder of Islamic Azad University of Gorgan, has been an ex-visiting professor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the United States before....
, (also may be written as Abdol Gh. Ebrahimi or Abdolqayyoom Ebrahimi), (b. 1932 Gorgan, Iran), 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
Rasha Shidmaher (M10), (Artist) First RapStar in North of Iran, known By Tracks... Posht & Balmaske Available
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-Qahir al-Jurjani
Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani

Abi Bak'r Abd al-Qahir bin Abdu-'Rhahman bin Muhammad al-Jurjani was a renowned Persian people scholar of the Arabic language, literary theorist, grammarian and Shafi'i....
, 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)
Al-Masihi

Abu Sahl Isa ibn Yahya al-Masihi al-Jurjani was a Christian physician, from Gorgan, east of the Caspian Sea, in Iran.He was the teacher of Avicenna....
, 10th century physician and teacher of Avicenna
Avicenna

, known as Abu Ali Sina Balkhi or Ibn Sina and commonly known in English by his Latinized name Avicenna , was a Persian people polymath and the foremost Islamic medicine and Early Islamic philosophy of his time....
Zayn al-Din al-Jurjani, 12th century royal physician
Fazlu l-Lah Astar-Abadi
Fazlallah Astarabadi (Naimi)

Fazlu l-Lah Astar-Abadi , also known as Fazlullah Tabrizi Astarabadi by a pseudonym al-?urufi and a pen name Naimi, was an Iranian mystic who founded the Hurufi movement....
, 14th century mystic and founder of Hurufism
Hurufism

Hurufism was a mystical kabbalistic Sufi doctrine, which spread in areas of western Persia, Anatolia and Azerbaijan in later 14th - early 15th century....
Rustam Gorgani
Rustam Gorgani

Rustam Jurjani was a mid-16th century Persian people physician who lived in India.Rustam Jurjani was the court physician of two of the rulers of the Deccan sultanates, Malik Ahmad Shah I and Burhan Shah I , in the city of Ahmadnagar in the Deccan Plateau, India....
, 16th century physician
Mir Damad
Mir Damad

Mir Damad , known also as Mir Mohammad Baqer Esterabadi, or Asterabadi, was a Iranian Philosophy in the Neoplatonizing Islamic Peripatetic traditions of Avicenna and Suhrawardi, a scholar of the traditional Islamic sciences, and foremost figure , of the cultural renaissance of Iran undertaken under the Safavid dynasty....
, 17th century Islamic scholar and Neoplatonic philosopher
Mirza Mehdi Khan Astarabadi
Mirza Mehdi Khan Astarabadi

Mirza Mehdi Khan Esterabadi "Etemad-ed-Dowleh" "Monshi-ol-Mamalek" was the chief secretary, historian, biographer, advisor, strategist, friend and confidant of King Nadir Shah Afshar, it was him who wrote and accepted the different decisions and files related to the Empire....
, 18th century chief minister to Nader Shah
Nader Shah

Nader Shah Afshar ruled as Shah of Iran and was the founder of the Afsharid Persian Empire. Because of his military history genius, some historians have described him as the Napoleon I of France of Persia or the Second Alexander the Great....

Colleges and universities

Islamic Azad University of Gorgan
Islamic Azad University of Gorgan

Islamic Azad University of Gorgan is a campus of Islamic Azad University system in Iran....
Golestan University of Medical Sciences
Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources
Gorgan University

Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, a.k.a. Gorgan University is a university in Golestan Province of Iran....
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
Mohammad Hashem Mohaymeni

Mohammad Hashem Mohaimeni was appointed the third governor general of Golestan Province, Iran in May 2002.Mohaimeni was born to a traditionally religious middle class family, in 1955 in Gorgan....
(or Mohaimeni).
5- Ali Mohammad Shaeri.
6- Reza Anjom-Shoaa (Acting Governor General for 4 months).

Sister Cities

Aktau
Aktau

Aktau , until 1992 Shevchenko is a city in Kazakhstan's Mangyshlak Peninsula and country's only seaport on the Caspian Sea. It is the capital of Mangystau Province in the western Kazakhstan....
, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a large Eurasian country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the List of countries by area as well as the world's largest landlocked country, it has a territory of 2,727,300 km? ....

External links

by Tirdad Gorgani
A Gorgani folk-song sung by Shusha Guppy
Shusha Guppy

Shusha Guppy , n?e Shamsi Assar , was a writer, editor and - under the name of "Shusha" - a singer of Persian and Western folk-songs. She had lived in London since the mid 1960s....
in the 1970s: .