Tehrān

I

Introduction

Tehrān or Teheran, capital and largest city of Iran, located in the northern part of the country. Tehrān is Iran’s administrative, economic, and cultural center as well as the major industrial and transportation center of the region. The city sits on the slopes of the Elburz Mountains at an elevation of about 1210 m (about 3960 ft), on the northwestern fringes of the Dāsht-e Kavir, a desert in central Iran. The climate has marked seasonal contrasts, with short springs and autumns separating cold winters and hot, dry summers. In July, the average temperature in the southern part of the city is 30° C (86° F), compared with 23° C (73° F) in the higher, northernmost suburbs. In the winter, temperature in the city’s southern areas average 5° C (41° F), and in the northern suburbs, 1° C (34° F). Average annual precipitation is 230 mm (9 in), again with notable differences between the northern suburbs (393 mm/16 in) and the lower southern areas (93 mm/4 in).

II

Tehrān and Its Metropolitan Area

The city of Tehrān covers about 600 sq km (about 240 sq mi) and lies within Tehrān Province, of which it is the capital. Tehrān Province has an area of about 28,000 sq km (about 11,000 sq mi) and consists of seven counties that include the capital and its more than 20 rapidly growing satellite communities. Most of the growth is channeled along an east-west axis and toward the south; to the north, the city is constrained by the steep Elburz Mountains.

Most commercial and government buildings are located in the center of the city. Residential structures predominate elsewhere. Many older houses were built for a single family, mostly from wood and brick, and were one or two stories tall. As the city grew, a few high-rise apartment complexes were built to house government employees and lower- and middle-class families. Eventually, the government allowed people to build multistory houses on smaller lots and in areas where such houses were not previously allowed. As a consequence, many owners of one-story homes have added extra stories to their homes or have replaced their homes with multistory buildings. Construction in already dense sections of the city is common, and the city’s skyline is chaotic.

Within the city, nearly all of the houses have electricity and piped water, while only about a third have access to a telephone. These percentages are typically much lower in the suburbs, and services, both inside and beyond the city, are often erratic. Water is particularly scarce in Tehrān. Nearby sources of water, including four rivers that have been dammed or diverted, are estimated to be sufficient for the needs of 5 million people, less than half the total metropolitan area population. During summer, households are encouraged to conserve water, and the flow of water is often shut off for several hours in parts of the city. The water shortage, combined with the conversion of rural land to urban uses, has hurt the surrounding farming sector.

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Tehrān also lacks an integrated sewage-disposal system. Every building has its own well, or septic tank, that discharges untreated water and human waste into the ground. Because the land is porous and generally slopes southward, water and waste can permeate the ground; however, the unsanitary process threatens the homes and health of residents in the southern districts and slums, especially when the water table rises.

III

Population

At the time of the 1991 census, Tehrān had a population of 6,475,527, and Tehrān Province had a population of 9,982,309. The estimated city population for 2002 was 11,689,000, while the province had 11.5 million inhabitants in 1996. The city has a population density of 12,000 persons per sq km (31,000 per sq mi), though population density varies widely among Tehrān’s 20 municipal districts. The wealthier districts of the northern highlands have as few as 3000 persons per sq km (7700 people per sq mi), while the poorer southern districts have as many as 67,000 persons per sq km (170,000 people per sq mi).

In the 1980s the metropolitan region grew rapidly, although the already dense city did not grow as quickly. In part, the growth was due to surging birthrates following the 1979 Islamic Revolution as well as increased migration from rural to urban areas. However, refugees also played a large part in Tehrān’s growth. Many Iranians who were driven out of their homes during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) came to the area, as did tens of thousands of Afghan refugees who fled fighting in Afghanistan. The density of the inner city forced many of these migrants to settle in outlying areas.

More than 97 percent of Tehrān’s population is Muslim. The remainder are religious minorities such as Armenian and Assyrian Christians, Zoroastrians, and Jews, who have lived in Tehrān for centuries. Persian, the national language, is the most commonly spoken language in Tehrān. Minority languages and dialects include Azeri (Azari), Kurdish, and Gilaki.

IV

Education and Culture

With 40 institutions of higher education, Tehrān has more colleges and universities than any other city in Iran. The most prominent are the University of Tehrān, Shahid Beheshti University, Sharif University of Technology, and Iran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services. About 40 percent of Iran’s university students and nearly half of its university faculty live in Tehrān. Libraries that serve the public with a large collection of historical, hand-written manuscripts as well as printed books include National Library of Iran, the two branches of the Parliament Library, and the Library of the National Treasures. Roudaki and Vahdat concert halls are the capital’s leading centers for performing arts.

Tehrān’s museums include the Iran Bastan Museum, (Museum of Ancient Iran), which houses one of the world’s best collections of archaeological artifacts, dating to 4000 bc; the Golestan Palace Museum, which holds a collection of exquisite jewelry, including the Peacock Throne, the Globe of Jewels with more than 51,000 stones, the Imperial State Crown, and the great uncut diamond Darya-e Noor; the National Arts Museum, a treasure house of works from Persian artists; the Persian Museum, housing Persian rugs; the Abgineh va Sofalineh Museum (Glass and Ceramics Museum); and several museums established by Iran’s Islamic government in the palaces once belonging to the shah, the former ruler of Iran. The capital’s most conspicuous architectural landmark is the large marble Shahyad Tower, constructed in 1971 as a gateway to the city.