Tehrān

V

Recreation

The city has several public parks, including the popular Eram, Mellat, and Laleh parks. Tehrān’s largest sports facilities are Amjadieh Stadium and the 100,000-seat Azadi Sports Arena, which was built for the 1974 Asian Games. The city also has several athletic clubs known as zurkhanehs (houses of strength), where men go to practice an ancient form of Iranian athletics involving weight-lifting and gymnastics. Ski resorts lie on the slopes of Elburz ranges about 60 km (38 mi) from central Tehrān.

VI

Economy

More than 25 percent of Iran’s public-sector workforce and 40 percent of large industrial firms are located in Tehrān. Almost half of all workers in Tehrān work for the government. Most of the remainder work as shopkeepers, peddlers, factory workers, construction laborers, and transportation workers. Modern industries include several plants that make automobiles, electrical products, household appliances, plastics, cement, textiles, and processed foods. Private enterprise and investments are limited, despite recent promotional efforts by the government. Few foreign companies operate in Tehrān. Before the 1979 revolution many United States and other Western companies were active in the city. However, the revolution, subsequent nationalization of industries, and the Iran-Iraq War has driven both foreign and domestic investment from the city.

Tehrān is the hub of transportation in Iran. Several major highways converge on the city, and expressways link Tehrān with its suburbs. Rail lines radiate from Tehrān to all parts of the country. Three of these lines connect Tehrān with Europe (via Turkey), Russia (via Azerbaijan), and the ports of the Persian Gulf. The city has two airports, including Mehrabad International Airport, but both are inadequate for the amount of air traffic to and from Tehrān. A third airport is under construction in nearby Alīābād.

Tehrān relies heavily on private cars, taxis, transit buses, and motorcycles, and is one of the most car-dependent cities in the world. Air pollution from vehicle emissions is a serious problem in Tehrān, and since 1979 the government has restricted private cars from entering the city center during peak traffic hours. It has also encouraged taxis and buses to convert from engines that use gasoline to engines that use compressed natural gas. Congestion is also an issue, despite the addition of new expressways and overpasses. Tehrān is currently building a metro-rail system, which will likely open after the year 2000.

---

---

VII

History

Tehrān is the latest and the largest capital city in the 5000-year history of Persia, as Iran was called by many people in the West before 1935. The original settlement of Tehrān, north of the ancient city of Ray, may have been founded as early as the 4th century. By the early 13th century it was a small village. In 1221 invading Mongols led by Genghis Khan destroyed Ray, but Tehrān survived and grew slowly in the following centuries. During the reign of the Safavid shah Tahmasp (1524-1576) a wall and four watchtowers were built around the city, and by the early 17th century Tehrān had about 3000 houses. In the 1720s Afghan invaders attacked Tehrān. The town defeated the initial Afghan force but fell to the main Afghan army and suffered tremendously under their occupation from 1723 to 1729. Nadir Shah freed Tehrān in 1729.

In 1788 Agha Mohammad Khan, founder of the Qajar dynasty, made Tehrān his capital, inaugurating the modern history of Tehrān. At this time Tehrān’s population was estimated to be 15,000. Under the Qajar dynasty (1786-1925), Tehrān grew in population and size, and new administrative buildings, palaces, mosques, and garrisons were constructed.

In 1925 Reza Shah Pahlavi seized control of Iran and accelerated the gradual concentration of government functions and commerce in Tehrān. The city walls were torn down, wide streets were cut through the old districts, and commercial strips grew along the new streets, challenging Tehrān’s once-dominant bazaar. A newer, wealthier section of the city developed on the north, and a distinct rift was created between modern, northern Tehrān and traditional, southern Tehrān. This trend continued through the rule of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, who ruled Iran from 1941 to 1979.

In 1979 Tehrān was at the center of the uprisings that toppled the shah (see Islamic Revolution of Iran), and the city suffered minor physical damage from the unrest. Revolutionaries held more than 50 U.S. citizens hostage in the U.S. embassy in Tehrān from November 1979 until January 1981. The capital was also the target of numerous Iraqi strikes during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).

	More from Encarta
	•  Presidential Myths Quiz •  Coffee break: Recharge your brain