History
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.
Don Ruy Gonzales de Calvino, a Castilian ambassador, was probably the first European to visit Tehran, stopping in July 1404, while on a journey to Samarkand (now in Uzbekistan) and the Mongol capital at the time. At this time, the city of Tehran was unwalled.
Tehran became a residence of the Safavid rulers in the 17th century. Tahmaps 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 place, 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.
Following the war, the city's older landmarks suffered under the rule of Mohammad Reza Shah. The Shah believed that 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 modern city. They were systematically destroyed and modern 1950s 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.
After the war, cheap Soviet-style apartments multiplied throughout the city without any plan. 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. This is often referred to as "Tehran Identity Disaster".
Climate
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 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 23ċ, mean maximum temperature 36ċ) and the coldest is January (mean minimum temperature-1ċ, mean maximum temperature 8ċ).
Although compared to other parts of the country, Tehran enjoys a moderate climate; weather conditions can sometimes be unpredictably harsh. The record high temperature is 48ċand the record low is -20ċ. on January 5 & 6, 2008, after years of relatively little snow, a wave of heavy snow and low temperatures shocked the city covering it in a thick layer of snow and ice, forcing the council of ministers to officially declare an state of emergency and calling the following two days (January 6th and 7th) off for the capital.
Demographics
The city of Tehran had a population of about 8 million people at the time of the last official census in 2008.
With its cosmopolitan air, Tehran houses diverse ethnic and linguistics groups from all over the country and represents the ethnic/linguistic composition of Iran (though with a different percentage.) more than 60 percent of Tehranis were born outside Tehran.
Today the majority of Tehran residents are known as Persians who speak many different dialects of Persian corresponding to their hometown, invluding, Esfahani, Shirazi, Yazdi, Khuzestani, Dan, Judeo-Persian, etc. the second largest linguistic group is that of the Azeri-speakers.
Other minority linguistic groups include Kurds, Baluch, Qashqai, Turkmen, Armenian, Bakhtian, Assyrian, Talysh, etc. There are also a number of a few long established linguistic minorities such as Punjab-speaking traders from Punjab (India) & Domari-speaking Romas as well as a small amount ethnic Georgians who have resided in Northern Iran for centuries. A number of Levantine Arabic speakers of Lebanese origin also live in Tehran.
Tehran saw a drastic change in its ethno-social composition in early 1980s. Following the political, social and economic consequences of the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979 and onwards, many Iranian citizens, mostly Tehranis left Iran due to mounting political, social and most importantly religious pressure. Many Iranians fled to countries such as Canada, U.S., many European countries.
With the start of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) following an Iraqi invasion, a second wave of inhabitants fled the city especially under Iraq air offensive on the capital. With most major powers backing Iraq at that time, economic isolation caused even more reasons for the inhabitants to leave the city (and the country). Having left all they ad and having struggled to adapt to a new country and build a life, most of them never came back when the war over. During the war, Tehran also received a great number of migrants from the west and the southwest of the country bordering Iraq.
The unstable situation and the war in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq prompted a rush of refugees into the country that came in millions, with Tehran being a magnet for modest workers who helped the city to recover from war wounds, charging far less than local construction workers. Many of these refugees are being repatriated with the assistance of UNHCR but there are still sizeable Afghan and Iraqi refugees in Tehran who are reluctant to leave, being pessimistic about the situation in their country. Afghan refugees are mostly Persian-speaking Hazara or Tajiks, speaking a dialect of Persian, and Iraqi refugees, who are mainly Shiite Mesopotamian Arabic-speakers of Iranian origin.
The majority of Tehranis are the followers of Twelver Shia Islam which is also the state religion. Religious minorities include followers of various sects of Sunni Islamic, Zoroastrianism, Baha'I Faith, Judaism, and Christianity (including the adtherents of the Assyrian Church, of the East, Armenian Apostolic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Chaldean Catholic Church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Iranian Protestant churches, Kelisa-ye Khanegi-ye Iraniyan, Armenian Evangelical church, Jama'at-e, Rabbani (Assemblies of god), Armenian Brotherhood church, Russian Orthodox Churtch, and the Presbyterian Church). There are also small groups of Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, mandeans, /spiritualists, Atheists, Azalis, Yazidis, Yarsan, Ismaili, Secular Muslims and the followers of Mystic Islam.
Transportation
The metropolis of Tehran enjoys a huge network of highways (280 km) and of interchanges, ramps & loops (180 km). 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. The feasibility study and conceptual planning of the construction were started in 1970s. in 2001, the first two of its seven envisaged lines of metro were opened to public usage.
Development of the Tehran metro system had been interrupted by the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. Problems arising from the late completion of the metro led to buses taking on the role of the metro lines, serving mainly long distance routes. Taxis filled the void for local journeys. The taxis only drive on main avenues, and only within the local area, so it may be necessary to take several taxis to get to ones final destination. This has all led to extreme congestion and air pollution within the city. Since the completion of the first 3 phases of the Metro, some of these above problems have been mitigated. 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.
While the center of the city houses the government ministries and headquarters, the commercial centers are more located tower Valiasr Street (formally known as Pahlavi street), Taleghani Ave, and Beheshti Ave further north. Although administratively separate, Rey Shemiran , and Karaj are often considered part of the larger Tehran metropolitan area.
Architectures and landmarks
Tehran is a relatively old city; as such, it has an architectural tradition unique to itself. Archaeological investigations and excavations in Tehran demonstrate that this area was home to civilizations as far back as 6,000 years BC. Tehran served only as a village to a relatively small population for most of its history, but began to take a more considerable role in Iran after it was made the capital in the 19th century. Despite the occurrence of earthquakes during the Qajar period and before, some buildings still remain from Tehran’s era of antiquity. Today Tehran is Iran's primate city, and has the most modernized infrastructure in the country; however, the gentrification of old neighborhoods and the demolition of cultural significance have caused concerns.
The Azadi Tower (meaning "Freedom Tower") has been the longstanding symbol of Tehran. The recently constructed Mild 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 word trade center, and an IT park. Traditionally a low-lying city due to seismic activity in the region, modern high rise developments in Tehran have been undertaken in order to service its growing population.
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 Lasvegas 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 Kordestan highway and to the West by Sheikh Bahia highway, all of which facilitate access to various parts of the city.
Economy
About 30% of Iran's public-sector workforce and 45% of large industrial firms are located in Tehran and almost half of these workers work for the government. Most of the remainder of workers are factory workers, shopkeepers, laborers, and transport workers. Some foreign companies operate in Tehran too. Today many modern industries of this city include the manufacturing of automobiles, electronics and electrical equipment, textiles, sugar, cement, and chemical and polymeric products. It is also a leading center for the sale of carpets and furniture. There is an oil refinery near Ray, south of the city. Tehran has four airports, including Mehrabad international airport, Imam Khomeini international airport, Ghal'eh Morghi airfield and Doshan Tapeh airbase.
Tehran relies heavily on private cars, buses, motorcycles, and taxis, and is one of the most car-dependent cities in the world. The Tehran stock Exchange, which is a full member of the federation international des bourses de Valeurs (FIBV) and a founding member of the federation of Euro-Asian stock Exchanges, has been one of the world's best performing stock exchanges in recent years.
Tourism and attractions
Tehran, as Iran's showcase and historical capital city, has a wealth of cultural attractions. Some of the well-known museums are National Museum of Iran, Sa'dabad places Complex, Glassware and Ceramics Museums of Iran, The Carpet Museum of Iran, Tehran's Underglass painting Museum, and Niavaran place Complex. The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art features the works of great artists such as Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol.
Tehran is also home to the Iranian Imperial Crown Jewels, also called the Imperial crown Jewels of Persia, it is claimed to be the largest, most dazzling and valuable jewel collection in the word. 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. The Imperial Crown Jewels are still on display in the Iranian Central Bank in Tehran
The following list shows some places for outdoor activities in Tehran:
·Amir Kabir Lake
Azadi sport complex·
Chitgar Park·
Daneshju Park·
Darabad hiking trail·
Darakeh hiking trail·
Darband hiking trail ·
Enghelab Sports Complex and Golf course·
Farahzad·
Goft-o-gu Park·
Jahan-e Kudak Park·
Jamshidieh Park·
Kavir National Park·
Khajeer National Park·
Laleh Park·
Lar Protected Natural Habitat·
Latyan Lake·
Lavizan Forest Park·
Mellat Park·
Niavaran Park·
Pardisan·
.Sa'ei Park
Pollution
Tehran suffers from severe air pollution and the city is often covered by smog making breathing difficult and causing widespread pulmonary illnesses. It is estimated that about 27 people die each day from pollution-related diseases. According to local officials, 3,600 people died in a single month due to the hazardous air quality.
The air pollution is due to several different reasons:1) Economical: most Iranian industries are located on the outskirts of Tehran. The city is also overrun with old and aging cars which do not meet today's emission regulations. Furthermore, Iran's busiest airport, Mehrabad International Airport, is located in the west of the city; 2) Infrastructure: Tehran has a poor public transportation network. Buses and metros do not cover every areas of the city. Most people are then obliged to either use private cars or hire taxis. This has created severe traffic congestion; 3) Geographical: Tehran is bound in the north by the massive Alborz mountain range that is stopping the flow of the humid Caspian wind. As a result, thermal inversion that traps Tehran's polluted air is frequently observed. The lack of humidity and clouds makes Tehran a very sunny city. The UV radiations then combined with the existing pollutants significantly raise the level of the ozone.
The government, however, is engaged in a battle to reduce the air pollution. It has for instance encouraged taxis and buses to convert from petro engines that run on compressed natural gas. Furthermore, since 1979 the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has setup a "Traffic Zone" covering the city center during peak traffic hours. Entering and driving inside this zone is only allowed with a special permit. The government is also trying to raise people's awareness about the hazards of the pollution. One method that is currently level of particulate matter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and carbon monoxide (CO). The board also display the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), which is a general indication of air quality based on the measurements of the above-mentioned five pollutants. The Pollution indicator boards classify the level of each pollutant as safe, hazardous or dangerous. In 2007 Iran imposed fuel rations and since the use of cars has thereafter declined, streets are less congested and the air quality has improved. The main reason for this rationing was to reduce fuel consumption, so that fuel is not imported eventually.