| Counties of Iran شهرستانهای ایران | |
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شهرستان | |
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| Found in | Provinces of Iran |
| Number | 483 |
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| Government of Islamic Republic of Iran |
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Iran's counties (Persian: شهرستان, romanizedasšahrestân) are administrative divisions of larger provinces (ostan). The word shahrestan comes from the Persian words šahr ("city, town") and stân ("state, province"). "County", therefore, is a near equivalent to shahrestan.
Counties are divided into one or more districts (baxš بخش). A typical district includes both cities (šahr شهر) and rural districts (dehestân دهستان), which are groupings of adjacent villages. One city within the county serves as the capital of that county, generally in its Central District.
Each county is governed by an office known as farmândâri, which coordinates different public events and agencies and is headed by a farmândâr, the governor of the county and the highest-ranking official in the division.
Among the provinces of Iran, Fars has the highest number of shahrestans (37), while Qom has the fewest (3). In 2005 Iran had 324 shahrestans, while in as of now there are 483.
The total population of a province is the total of its counties.
The total population of a county is the total of its districts.
The total population of a district is the total of its cities and rural districts.
To better understand these subdivisions, the following table for Piranshahr CountyinWest Azerbaijan province (as it existed in 2006, 2011 and 2016) is an example showing the hierarchy of a county's divisions:
| Administrative Divisions | 2006[1] | 2011[2] | 2016[3] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central District | 84,920 | 99,205 | 115,200 |
| Lahijan Rural District | 5,509 | 5,481 | 5,183 |
| Mangur-e Gharbi Rural District | 9,120 | 8,999 | 9,090 |
| Piran Rural District | 12,599 | 15,676 | 9,412 |
| Piranshahr (city) | 57,692 | 69,049 | 91,515 |
| Lajan District | 22,757 | 24,434 | 23,664 |
| Lahijan-e Gharbi Rural District | 6,904 | 7,169 | 6,261 |
| Lahijan-e Sharqi Rural District | 14,537 | 15,592 | 13,202 |
| Gerd Kashaneh (city) | 1,316 | 1,673 | 4,201 |
| Total | 107,677 | 123,639 | 138,864 |
The counties are listed below, by province, with the capital and the county containing the capital of the provinces in bold:
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