Administrative divisions of Iran


The first level of country subdivisions of Iran are the provinces.
Each province is further subdivided into counties called shahrestan, and each shahrestan is subdivided into districts called bakhsh. There are usually a few cities and rural districts called dehestan in each county. Rural districts are a collection of a number of villages. One of the cities of the county is appointed as the capital of the county.
According to the government of Iran, as of 2016, the figures are as follows:
EnglishPersian sing.Persian pl.number
Provincesاستان ostānاستان‌ها ostānhā31
Countiesشهرستان shahrestān429
Districtsبخش bakhsh1057
citiesشهر shahr1245
rural districtsدهستان dehestān2589

Map of Iran's Provinces
According to the Statistical Center of Iran, the figures are as follows, as of 2016 :
EnglishPersian sing.Persian pl.number
Provincesاستان ostānاستان‌ها ostānhā30
Countiesشهرستان shahrestānشهرستانها shahrestānhā429
Districtsبخش bakhshبخشها bakhshhā1057
citiesشهر shahrشهرها shahr hā1245
rural districtsدهستان dehestānدهستانها dehestānhā2589

To better understand such subdivisions, the following table may be helpful. Assume that province P is divided into two counties: A and B. County A has 3 districts: Central, X, and Y. The Central district is the district that contains City M, the capital of the county. Each district might contain one or more cities or one or more RDs. In our example, the Central district contains City M, City N, and RD T composed of the villages V1, V2, V3, and V4, in turn; district X contains City O and RD U; and district Y has no cities and one RD V. The minimal county consists of only one city as the only district, named Central, which is most common. The county B in the following table is of such type, containing only one city Q.
ProvinceCountyDistrictCity / RD*Villages
PACentralCity M
PACentralCity N
PACentralRD TV1, V2, V3, V4
PAXCity O
PAXRD UV5, V6
PAYRD VV7, V8, V9
PBCentralCity Q-