Global InformationMashhad information
Mashhad
مشهد (Persian) Sanabad, Tus, Alexandria | |
|---|---|
City | |
Left to right from top: bird's eye view of Mashhad; Tomb of Ferdowsi; Tomb of Nader Shah; the great museum of Khorasan; Space age memorial monument; Imam Reza Shrine; Imam Hossein square; and Mashhad at night. | |
 Seal | |
| Motto(s): Mashhad: Smart City, City of Hope and Life | |
  Mashhad Location in Iran | |
| Coordinates: 36°19′35″N 59°32′36″E / 36.32639°N 59.54333°E[1] | |
| Country | Iran |
| Province | Razavi Khorasan |
| County | Mashhad |
| District | Central |
| Mashhad-Sanabad-Tus | 818 AD |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Mohammad Reza Ghalandar Sharif [2] |
| • Chairperson of City Council | Hassan Movahedian |
| Area [3] | |
| • City | 351 km2 (136 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 995 m (3,264 ft) |
| Population (2016 census) | |
| • Urban | 3,372,090[5] |
| • Metro | 3,600,650[4] |
| • Population Rank in Iran | 2nd |
| Over 2 million pilgrims and tourists per year[6] | |
| Demonym(s) | Mashhadi, Mashadi, Mashdi (informal) |
| Time zone | UTC+03:30 (IRST) |
| Climate | BSk |
| Largest district by area | District 9 (64 km2, land area) |
| Largest district by population | District 2 (480,000) |
| Website | www.mashhad.ir |
Mashhad[a] (Persian: مشهد, romanized: Mašhad [mæʃˈhæd] ⓘ) is the second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country[11] about 900 kilometres (560 miles) from Tehran.[12] In the Central District of Mashhad County, it serves as the capital of Razavi Khorasan Province, the county, and the district.[13] It has a population of about 3,400,000 (2016 census), which includes the areas of Mashhad Taman and Torqabeh.[14]
The city was governed by different ethnic groups over the course of its history. Mashhad was previously a small village, which by the 9th century had been known as Sanabad, and which was located—along with Tus and other villages—on the ancient Silk Road connecting them with Merv to the east. Mashhad would eventually outgrow all its surrounding villages. It gained its current name meaning "place of martyrdom" in reference to the Imam Reza shrine, where the eighth Shia Imam, Ali al-Rida, is buried. The Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid is also buried within the same shrine. This shrine would become an important place of pilgrimage, nowadays visited by millions each year in what is often described as "the holiest city in Iran".[11]
Mashhad later also became associated with Ferdowsi, the Persian poet and author of the Shahnameh, who was born in Tus (with many institutions in Mashhad named after him). Mashhad enjoyed relative prosperity in the Mongol period, and continued to grow. Between 1736 and 1796, Mashhad became the capital of Afsharid Iran which was ruled by the Afsharid dynasty founded by Nader Shah, whose tomb is located in the city. In the modern era, Mashhad continued to expand and became the hometown of some of the most significant literary figures and artists of modern Iran, such as the poet Mehdi Akhavan-Sales, and the traditional Iranian singer and composer Mohammad-Reza Shajarian. On 30 October 2009 (the anniversary of Imam Reza's martyrdom), Iran's then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Mashhad to be "Iran's spiritual capital".[15][16]
- ^ OpenStreetMap contributors (4 May 2023). "Mashhad, Mashhad County" (Map). OpenStreetMap. OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 4 May 2023.[self-published source]
- ^ https://www.metropolis.org/member/mashhad
- ^ "Local Government Profile". United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
- ^ "Major Agglomerations of the World – Population Statistics and Maps". citypopulation.de. 13 September 2018. Archived from the original on 13 September 2018.
- ^ "Statistical Center of Iran > Home".
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Imam Rezawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Mashhad". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
- ^ Sharafedin, Bozorgmehr (29 December 2017). "Hundreds protest against high prices in Iran". Reuters. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^ Dockery, Wesley (3 January 2018). "Iran protests: Arab states between trepidation and glee". DW. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^ The Cosmopolitan. Vol. 6. 1889. p. 378.
- ^ a b Simigh, Agnes (29 August 2022). "THE BEST PLACES TO VISIT IN MASHHAD, THE HOLIEST CITY IN IRAN". Voice of Guides. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ^ "Kuwait to evacuate 700 citizens from Iran's Mashhad amid coronavirus fears". Al Arabiya English. 22 February 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ^ Habibi, Hassan (21 June 1369). "Approval of the organization and chain of citizenship of the elements and units of the divisions of Khorasan province, centered in Mashhad". Islamic Parliament Research Center (in Persian). Ministry of Interior, Defense Political Commission of the Government Board. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ "Razavi Khorasan (Iran): Counties & Cities – Population Statistics in Maps and Charts". citypopulation.de.
- ^ مشهد، پایتخت معنوی ایران اعلام شد [Mashhad, Iran's spiritual capital] (in Persian). Khorasan newspaper. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015.
- ^ نامگذاري مشهد به عنوان پايتخت معنوي "Nombramiento de Mashhad como capital espiritual de Irán" (in Persian). Shahr.ir. 1 November 2009. Archived from the original on 26 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
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