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ThePersian wordFârs (فارس), derived from the earlier formPârs (پارس), which is in turn derived fromPârsâ (𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿), theOld Persian name for thePersis region. The namesParsa andPersia originate from this region.[13]
Fars is the historical homeland of thePersian people.[14][15] It was the homeland of theAchaemenid andSasanian Persian dynasties of Iran, who reigned on the throne by the time of the ancientPersian Empires. The ruins of the Achaemenid capitalsPasargadae andPersepolis, among others, demonstrate the ancient history of the region. Due to the historical importance of this region, the entire country has historically been also referred to asPersia in the West.[15][16] Prior tocaliphate rule, this region was known asPars.[17]
The Achaemenid Empire was defeated byAlexander the Great in 333 BC, incorporating most of their vast empire. Shortly after this theSeleucid Empire was established. However, it never extended its power in Fars beyond the main trade routes, and by the reign ofAntiochus I or possibly later Persis emerged as an independent state that minted its own coins.[19]
The Seleucid Empire was subsequently defeated by theParthians in 238 BC, but by 205 BC, the Seleucid kingAntiochus III had extended his authority into Persis and it ceased to be an independent state.[20]
Babak was the ruler of a small town called Kheir. Babak's efforts in gaining local power at the time escaped the attention ofArtabanus IV, the ParthianArsacid Emperor of the time. Babak and his eldest sonShapur I managed to expand their power over all of Persis.
The subsequent events are unclear. Following the death of Babak around 220,Ardashir who at the time was the governor of Darabgird, got involved in a power struggle of his own with his elder brotherShapur. The sources tell us that in 222, Shapur was killed when the roof of a building collapsed on him.[citation needed]
At this point, Ardashir moved his capital further to the south of Persis and founded a capital atArdashir-Khwarrah (formerly Gur, modern dayFirouzabad).[21] After establishing his rule over Persis,Ardashir I rapidly extended the territory of hisSassanid Persian Empire, demanding fealty from the local princes of Fars, and gaining control over the neighboring provinces ofKerman,Isfahan,Susiana, and Mesene.
Artabanus marched a second time against Ardashir I in 224. Their armies clashed atHormizdegan, whereArtabanus IV was killed. Ardashir was crowned in 226 atCtesiphon as the sole ruler of Persia, bringing the 400-year-oldParthian Empire to an end, and starting the virtually equally long rule of theSassanian Empire, over an even larger territory, once again making Persia a leading power in the known world, only this time along with its arch-rival and successor to Persia's earlier opponents (theRoman Republic and theRoman Empire); theByzantine Empire.
The Sassanids ruled for 425 years, until theMuslim armies conquered the empire. Afterwards, the Persians started to convert toIslam, this making it much easier for the new Muslim empire to continue the expansion of Islam.
Persis then passed hand to hand through numerousdynasties, leaving behind numerous historical and ancient monuments; each of which has its own values as a world heritage, reflecting the history of the province,Iran, andWest Asia. The ruins ofBishapur,Persepolis, andFirouzabad are all reminders of this. The Arab invaders brought about an end to centuries Zoroastrian political and cultural dominance over the region; supplanted as the faith of the ruling class in the 7th century by Islam, which and over the next 200 years gradually expanded to include a majority of the population.
Due to the geographical characteristics of Fars and its proximity to thePersian Gulf, Fars has long been a residing area for various peoples and rulers of Iran. However, the tribes of Fars including,MamasaniLurs,Khamseh and Kohkiluyeh have kept their native and unique cultures and lifestyles which constitute part of the cultural heritage ofIran attracting manytourists.Kurdish tribes include Uriad,Zangana,Chegini,Kordshuli andKuruni.[22]
Among the hundreds of thousands ofGeorgians andCircassians that were transplanted toPersia underShah Abbas I, his predecessors, and successors, a certain amount of them were to guard the main caravan routes; many were settled aroundĀspās and other villages along the oldIsfahan-Shiraz road. By now the vast majority Caucasians that were settled in Fars have lost their cultural, linguistic, and religious identity, having mostly been assimilated into the population.[22]
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the province's population was 4,220,721 people in 1,014,690 households.[23] The following census in 2011 counted 4,596,658 people in 1,250,135 households, of whom 67.6% were registered as urban dwellers (urban/suburbs), 32.1% villagers (small town/rural), and 0.3% nomadtribes.[24] The 2016 census measured the population of the province as 4,851,274 people in 1,443,027 households.[3]
The population history and structural changes of Fars province's administrative divisions over three consecutive censuses are shown in the following table.
There are three distinct climatic regions in the Fars province. First, the mountainous area of the north and northwest with moderate cold winters and mild summers. Secondly, the central regions, with relatively rainy mild winters, and hot dry summers. The third region located in the south and southeast has cold winters with hot summers. The average temperature of Shiraz is 16.8 °C, ranging between 4.7 °C and 29.2 °C.[38]
The geographical and climatic variation of the province causes varieties of plants; consequently, variation of wildlife has been formed in the province. Additional to the native animals of the province, many kinds of birds migrate to the province every year.[39] Many kinds of ducks, storks and swallows migrate to this province in an annual parade. The main native animals of the province are gazelle, deer, mountain wild goat, ram, ewe and many kinds of birds. In the past, like inKhuzestan Plain, thePersian lion had occurred here.[40][41]
The province of Fars includes many protected wildlife zones. The most important protected zones are:
Toot Siah (Black Berry) Hunt Forbidden Zone, which is located at the end of Boanat region.
Basiran Hunt Forbidden Zone, which is located 4 kilometers south to Abadeh;
Agriculture is of great importance in Fars.[42] The major products include cereal (wheat and barley), citrus fruits, dates, sugar beets and cotton. Fars has major petrochemical facilities, along with an oil refinery, a factory for producing tires, a large electronics industry, and a sugar mill.Tourism is also a large industry in the province. UNESCO has designated an area in the province, calledArzhan (known asDasht e Arjan) as a biosphere reserve. Shiraz, provincial capital of Fars, is the namesake ofShirazi wine. A large number of wine factories existed in the city.
Shiraz Airport is the main international airport of the province and the second in the country. The cities of Jahrom, Lar and Lamerd also have airports linking them with Shiraz and Tehran and nearbyPersian Gulf countries such as theUAE andBahrain. Shiraz is along the main route fromTehran to southern Iran.[citation needed]
^Alsoromanized asOstân-e Fârs (pronounced[ˈfɒː(ɾ)s]), also known asParsProvince (استان پارس), also romanized asOstân-e Pârs; also known asPersis (the origin of the name "Persia"), andFarsistan (فارسستان)[6][7][8][9][10]
^abXavier de Planhol (24 January 2012)."FĀRS i. Geography".Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. IX. pp. ?–336.The name of Fārs is undoubtedly attested in Assyrian sources since the third millennium B.C.E. under the form Parahše. Originally, it was the "land of horses" of the Sumerians (Herzfeld, pp. 181-82, 184-86). The name was adopted by Iranian tribes which established themselves there in the 9th century B.C.E. in the west and southwest of Urmia lake. The Parsua (Pārsa) are mentioned there for the first time in 843 B.C.E., during the reign of Salmanassar III, and then, after they migrated to the southeast (Boehmer, pp. 193-97), the name was transferred, between 690 and 640, to a region previously called Anšan (q.v.) in Elamite sources (Herzfeld, pp. 169-71, 178-79, 186). From that moment the name acquired the connotation of an ethnic region, the land of the Persians, and the Persians soon thereafter founded the vast Achaemenid empire. A never-ending confusion thus set in between a narrow, limited, geographical usage of the term—Persia in the sense of the land where the aforesaid Persian tribes had shaped the core of their power—and a broader, more general usage of the term to designate the much larger area affected by the political and cultural radiance of the Achaemenids. The confusion between the two senses of the word was continuous, fueled by the Greeks who used the name Persai to designate the entire empire. It lasted through the centuries of Arab domination, as Fārs, the term used by Muslims, was merely the Arabicized version of the initial name.
^Rahimi, Mohammad Reza (c. 2021) [Approved 11 November 2018].Creation of Gerash County in the center of Gerash city in Fars province.qavanin.ir (Report) (in Persian). Ministry of the Interior, Board of Ministers. Proposal 156861/42/4/1. Archived fromthe original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved29 September 2024 – via Laws and Regulations Portal of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
^Rahimi, Mohammad Reza (c. 2023) [Approved 21 September 1389].Letter of approval regarding the national divisions in Fars province.qavanin.ir (Report) (in Persian). Ministry of the Interior, Cabinet of Ministers. Proposal 1/4/42/65970. Archived fromthe original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved23 September 2023 – via Laws and Regulations Portal of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
^Davodi, Parviz (c. 2021) [Approved 18 September 1386].Reforms of the national divisions in Fars province.qavanin.ir (Report) (in Persian). Ministry of the Interior, Political-Defense Commission of the Council of Ministers. Proposal 123436/42/1/4. Archived fromthe original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved20 November 2023 – via Laws and Regulations Portal of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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