Iran has been divided into regions in a number of different ways historically.[1] It has been divided into five administrative regions (Persian: منطقههاmantaqehâ, singular منطقهmantaqe) since 2014.
Iran's thirty-one provinces were grouped into five regions on 22 June 2014, based on a decision by the Ministry of Interior.[2] In this change, the adjacency, geographical location and similarities of the provinces were considered.[2]
The Constitution of Iran does not provide for regions and they are not the constituent units of the country but exist purely for the convenience of governmental administration.
According to Javad Naserian, the Ministry of Interior's Management Development and Human Resources Vice-Minister, the purpose of this grouping of provinces was the creation of synergy, transfer of experience, information exchange, and regional development. Also, it now provides an intermediate level where provinces can discuss their problems among themselves, instead of going immediately to Tehran.[2]
The intention was for each region to have regularly scheduled meetings of the constituent provinces' governors-general, rotating the meeting place through the provincial capitals. The host province would provide the chairman of each meeting. A regional secretariat would be established in the capital city of the main province of each region, with a coordinating bureau in the Ministry of Interior headquarters in Tehran.[2]
In 1937 the territory of Iran was divided into ten administrative regions: Region 1 [fa], Region 2 [fa], Region 10 [fa], etc.(fa) For example, Region 7 [fa] or "Seventh Province" corresponded to present-day Fars Province per the "Territorial Subdivision Act of 1316 Š./1937 (Qānūn-e taqsīmāt-e kešvar)."[3]
Histories, travel books and economic analyses often refer to less formal, more historical or geographical, Iranian regions. The borders of these are not fixed and often have changed over time, and even overlapped at the same time.
^In general see Mojtahed-Zadeh, Pirouz, ed. (2007). Boundary Politics and International Boundaries of Iran: A Study of the Origin, Evolution, and Implications of the Boundaries of Modern Iran. Boca Raton, Florida: Universal-Publishers. ISBN978-1-58112-933-5.
^ abRamirez-Faria, Carlos, ed. (2007). "Iran". Concise Encyclopeida of World History. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers. pp. 351–355, page 354. ISBN978-81-269-0775-5.
^Iran Travel Guide. Tiki Travel (FB Editions). p. 11.
^Minahan, James (1998). Miniature Empires: A Historical Dictionary of the Newly Independent States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 24. ISBN978-0-313-30610-5.
^Bosworth, C. Edmund (9 May 1996). "The Ismaʻilis of Quhistan and the Maliks of Nimruz or Sistan". In Daftary, Farhad (ed.). Mediaeval Ismaʻili History and Thought. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 221. ISBN978-0-521-45140-6.
