Tehran is the capital and largest city of Iran, 
and the administrative center of Tehran Province. Tehran is a sprawling city at the foot of the Alborz mountain range (the highest point in the Middle East (18,000 ft).
Tehran is famous for its numerous ski resorts on the Alborz slopes, large museums, art centers, and palace complexes equal to the ancient Iranian/Persian cities of Isfahan, Shiraz, and Tabriz. Tehran is the largest city in the Middle East and is the most populated city in South Western Asia with a population of 7,404,515 and approximately 15 million in Greater Tehran.
The industries include the manufacturing of automobiles, electrical equipment, military weaponry, textiles, sugar, cement, and chemical products. It is also a leading center for the sale of carpets and furniture. There is also an oil refinery located in south of the city.
In the 20th century, Tehran faced a large migration of people from all around Iran. Today, the city contains a mix of various ethnic and religious minorities, and is filled with many historic mosques, churches, synagogues and Zoroastrian fire temples.
Green Palace at the Sadabad Palace complex. Excavations place the existence of settlements in Tehran as far back as 6000 BCE. Tehran was well known as a village in the 9th century, but was less well-known than the city of Rhages (Ray) which was flourishing nearby in the early era. In the 13th century, following the destruction of Ray by Mongols, many of its inhabitants escaped to Tehran. In some sources of the early era, the city is mentioned as "Rhages's Tehran" . The city is later mentioned in Hamdollah Mostowfi's Nuz'hat al-Qulub (written in 1340) as a famous village.
Tehran became a residence of the Safavid rulers in the 17th century. Tahmasp I built a bazaar and a wall around the city, but it somewhat fell out of favor after Abbas I turned sick when he was passing the city to go to a war with the Uzbeks.
In the early of 18th century, Karim Khan Zand ordered a palace, a harem, and a government office to be built in Tehran, possibly to declare the city his capital, but later moved his government to Shiraz. Tehran finally became the capital of Persia in 1795, when the Qajar king Agha Mohammad Khan was crowned in the city. It remains the capital to this day.
During World War II, British and Soviet troops entered the city. Tehran was the site of the Tehran Conference in 1943, attended by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin.
Following the war, the city's older landmarks suffered under the rule of Mohammad Reza Shah. The Shah believed that ancient buildings such as large parts of the Golestan Palace, Takieh-ye Dowlat, the Toopkhaneh Square , the magnificent city fortifications and the old citadel among others should not be part of a modern city. They were systematically destroyed and modern 1950s and 1960s buildings were built in their place. Tehran bazar was divided in half and many historic buildings were destroyed in order to build wide straight avenues in the capital. Many excellent examples of Persian Gardens also became targets to new construction projects. The decision to carry these out is presently largely seen as a foolish mistake that hurt the visual fabric and the cultural identity of the city beyond repair. Apartment blocks are introduced in this period.
During the 1980–88 Iran–Iraq War, Tehran was the scene of repeated Scud missile attacks and air strikes against random residential and industrial targets within the city, resulting in thousands of civilian casualties. Material damage was repaired soon after each strike. Tehran attracted war refugees by the millions.
At present, little is left of Tehran's old quarters. Instead, modern high-rise buildings dominate the city's skyline and new modern apartments have and are replacing the few remaining old houses at a rapid pace. Tehran-style home architecture has almost vanished completely.
Northern part of Tehran with Tochal mountain on the background.Tehran's climate is largely defined by its geographic location, with the towering Alborz Mountains to its North and the central desert to the South. It can be generally described as mild in the spring, hot and dry in the summer, cool and rainy in autumn and cold in the winter. As a large city with a significant differences in elevation among various districts, the weather is often cooler in the hilly north as compared to the flat southern part of Tehran. Summer is usually hot and dry with very little rain. The majority of precipitation occurs from mid-autumn to mid-spring. The hottest month is July (mean minimum temperature 23°C, mean maximum temperature 36°C) and the coldest is January (mean minimum temperature -1°C, mean maximum temperature 8°C)[4]
Today the majority of Tehran residents are known as Persians who speak many different dialects of Persian corresponding to their hometown, including Esfahani, Shirazi, Yazdi, Khuzestani, Dari, Judeo-Persian, etc. The second largest linguistic group is that of the Azeri-speakers.
Other minority linguistic groups include Kurds, Baluch, Qashqa'i, Turkmen, Armenian, Bakhtiari, Assyrian, Talysh, etc.
The Azadi Tower has been the longstanding symbol of Tehran. It was constructured to commemorate the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian empire, and was originally named "Shahyad Tower"; after the Iranian revolution, its name changed to "Azadi Tower," meaning "Freedom Tower." The recently constructed Milad Tower may eventually replace the Azadi Tower as Tehran's new symbol. The Milad complex contains the world's fourth tallest tower, several restaurants, a five star hotel,a convention center, a world trade center, and an IT park.
The tallest residential building in Iran is a 54-story building located North of Youssef Abad district, the Tehran International Tower. It is architecturally designed similar to Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, USA. Appealing to the principle of vertical rather than horizontal expansion of the city, the Tehran International Tower is bound to the North by Youssef Abad, to the South By Hakim Highway, to the East by Kordesstan Highway and to the West by Sheikh Bahai Highway, all of which facilitate access to various parts of the city.
Within these 22 districts, Tehran contains the following major neighborhoods:
Abbas Abad, Afsariyeh, Amir Abad, Bagh Feiz, Baharestan, Darakeh, Darband, Dardasht, Dar Abad, Darrous, Dehkadeh Olampik, Ekhtiyariyeh, Elahiyeh, Evin, Farmanieh,Gheitariye, Gholhak, Gisha, Gomrok, Hasan Abad, Jamaran, Jannat Abad, Javadiyeh, Jomhuri, Jordan, Lavizan, Narmak, Navab, Nazi Abad, Niavaran, Park-e Shahr, Pasdaran, Punak, Ray, Sa'adat Abad, Sadeghiyeh, Seyed Khandan, Sohrevardi, Shahrara, Shahr-e ziba, Shahrak-e Gharb, Shemiran, Tajrish, Tehranpars, Tehransar, Vanak, Velenjak, Yaft Abad, Yusef Abad, Zafaraniyeh, etc.
Tehran's old city fabric changed dramatically during the Pahlavi era. Some of the older remaining districts of Tehran are: Udlajan, Sangelaj, Bazaar, Chaleh Meydan, Doulat. Chaleh Meydan is the oldest neighborhood of the aforementioned..
Current Tehran Metro coverage of the metropolitan areaThe metropolis of Tehran enjoys a huge network of highways (280 km) and of interchanges’ ramps & loops (180km). In 2007 there were 130 kilometers of highways and 120 kilometers of ramps and loops under construction. Tehran has one of the cleanest and most convenient metro systems, in terms of accessibility to different parts of the city, in the region.
Tehran is served by Mehrabad national Airport, an old airport which doubles as a military base located in the Western part of the city, and Imam Khomeini International Airport, 50 kilometers (31 mi) South, which handles international flights.
Tehran also has a central train station with connecting services round the clock to various cities in the country. There are four bus terminals that also provide connections at low fares. These are the South, East, West, and Bei-haghi Park-Drive Terminals.
Tehran is the biggest and most important educational center of Iran. Today there are nearly 50 major colleges and universities total in Greater Tehran.
Since the establishment of Darolfonoon in the mid 1800s, Tehran has amassed a large number of institutions of higher education. Some of these institutions have played crucial roles in the unfolding of Iranian political events. The University of Tehran and Tehran University of Medical Sciences are the oldest state university and the largest university of Iran. Samuel M. Jordan, whom Jordan Avenue in Tehran is named after, was also one of the founding pioneers of the American College of Tehran.
Tehran is also home to Iran's largest military academy, and several religious schools and seminaries.
A View of Azadi Stadium (former Aryamehr), Iran's national and largest stadium, located at Tehran city.
Tehran was the first city in the Middle East to host the Asian Games. The 7th Asian Summer Games in 1974, was held with the participation of 2,363 athletes and officials from 25 countries.
Tehran is also the site of Iran's national football stadium on Azadi Sport Complex with 100,000 seating capacity. Many of the top matches of Iran's Premier League are held here. Other stadiums in Tehran are Shahid Dastgerdi Stadium, Takhti Stadium, and Shahid Shirudi Stadium, among others.
International Snowboard championship in Dizin. The ski resort of Dizin is situated to the north of Tehran in the Alborz Mountains range.Within 10 minutes driving distance from Tehran lies a ski resort. Tochal is the world's fifth highest ski resort, at over 3,730 metres (12,240 ft) at its highest 7th station. The resort was completed in 1976 shortly before the overthrow of the Shah.
Here, one must first ride the eight kilometre (five mile) long gondola lift which covers a huge vertical. The 7th station has three slopes. The resort's longest slope is the south side U shaped slope which goes from the 7th station to 5th station. The other two slopes are located on the north side of the 7th station. Here, there are two parallel chair ski lifts that go up to 3,900 metres (12,795 ft) near Tochal's peak (at 4,000 m/13,125 ft), rising higher than the gondola 7th station. This altitude is higher than any of the European resorts.
From the Tochal peak, one has a spectacular view of the Alborz range, including the 5,671 metre (18,606 ft) high Mount Damavand, a dormant volcano.
At the bottom of the lifts in a valley behind the Tochal peak is Tochal hotel, located at 3,500 metres (11,483 ft) altitude. From there a T lift takes skiers up the 3,800 metres (12,500 ft) of Shahneshin peak, where the third slope of Tochal is.
Tochal 7th station has skiing eight months of the year. But there are also some glaciers and year-round snow fields near Tehran where skiing began in 1938, thanks to the efforts of two German railway engineers. Today, 12 ski resorts operate in Iran, but the most famous are Tochal, Dizin, and Shemshak, all within one to three hours of Tehran.
Lavasan is a city north east of Tehran. It is home to many upper-class and wealthy families. The city is comprised of Lavasan-e-Bozorg (which means "Great Lavasan") and Lavasan-e-Kochak (which means "Little Lavasan"). The Jajrood river flows through Lavasan.
Lavasan has an area of 13.7 square kilometres and has a population of 14,594
Tehran, as Iran's showcase and historical capital city, has a wealth of cultural attractions. The Peacock Throne of the Persian Kings (Shahs) can be found in Tehran's Golestan Palace. Some of the well-known museums are National Museum of Iran, Sa'dabad Palaces Complex, Glassware and Ceramics Museum of Iran, The Carpet Museum of Iran, Tehran's Underglass painting Museum, and Niavaran Palace Complex. The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art features the works of great artists such as Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. The collection of these paintings was selected by the former Empress Farrah Diba.
Tehran is also home to the Iranian Imperial Crown Jewels, also called the Imperial Crown Jewels of Persia, its is claimed to be the largest, most dazzling and valuable jewel collection in the world. The collection comprises a set of crowns and thrones, some 30 tiaras, numerous aigrettes, jewel-studded swords and shields, a vast amount of precious loose gems, including the largest collections of emeralds, rubies and diamonds in the world. It also includes other items collected by the Shahs of Iran during the 2,500 year existence of the Iranian Kingdom. The Imperial Crown Jewels are still on display in the Iranian Central Bank in Tehran.
