Portal:Iran/Featured article

Iran is subdivided into thirty provinces ( ostān, plural: استان‌ھا ostān-hā), each governed from a local center, usually the largest local city, which is called the capital (مرکز markaz) of that province. The provincial authority is headed by a governor (استاندار ostāndār), who is appointed by the Minister of the Interior subject to approval of the cabinet.

Until 1950, Iran was divided into twelve provinces: Ardalan, Azarbaijan, Baluchestan, Fars, Gilan, Araq-e Ajam, Khorasan, Khuzestan, Kerman, Larestan, Lorestan, and Mazandaran. In 1950, Iran was reorganized to form ten numbered provinces with subordinate governorates: Gilan; Mazandaran; East Azarbaijan; West Azarbaijan; Kermanshah; Khuzestan; Fars; Kerman; Khorasan; Isfahan. From 1960 to 1981 the governorates were raised to provincial status one by one. Since then several new provinces have been created, most recently in 2004 when the province of Khorasan was split into three new provinces.

Each province is further subdivided into sub-provinces called shahrestan (شهرستان shahrestān), and each shahrestan is subdivided into counties called bakhsh (بخش bakhsh). There are usually a few cities (شهر shahr) and villages (دهستان dehestān) in each sub-province or county, one of which appointed as the capital of the sub-province or county. According to the website of the Statistical Center of Iran, the figures are as follows, as of March 2005 (end of Iranian Calendar 1383):
 * Number of Ostans (provinces): 30
 * Number of Shahrestans (districts): 324
 * Number of Bakhshes (counties): 865
 * Number of Shahrs (townships): 982
 * Number of Dehestans (rural agglomerations): 2378