Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province (Persian:استان چهارمحال و بختیاری)[a] is one of the 31provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city ofShahr-e Kord.[6] The province lies in the southwest of the country, with an area of 16,332 square kilometers.
The province was classified as part ofRegion 2 upon the division of the provinces into5 regions solely for coordination and development purposes on June 22, 2014.[1]
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province lies in the heart of theZagros Mountains, a mountain range that stretches across north-westernIran and forms a natural barrier betweenIran andIraq.[7]
Bakhtiāri, which belongs to theLuri language of theIranian language family, is the province's main language. Bakhtiāri is primarily spoken in the valleys of the higher areas in the western half of the province. It is also spoken in the lower areas aroundLordegān in the south, and by speakers who have moved into the cities in the north-east.[8]
Linguistic map of Chahar Mahal va Bakhtiari province
In the north-east quarter of the province, people in most cities and villages speak eitherChārmahāli (also in the Southwestern branch of Iranian) orChaharmahali Turkic. Chārmahāli is transitional betweenBakhtiari andPersian varieties ofIsfahan province, but more similar to the latter. Chārmahāli varieties spoken in cities include Dehkordi (inShahr-e Kord), Ghafarrokhi (inFarrokh Shahr), Heysheguni (inHafshejān), and Borujeni (inBorujen). There are also many other varieties of Chārmahāli spoken in rural areas.
Most types of Turkic spoken in this province are similar toQashqa'i ofFars province, but they are transitional to theĀzarbāyjāni (Azerbaijani) language of north-westIran. The Chārmahāli andTurkic language areas overlap with one another, and in the foothills of theZagros and in the larger cities, they intermingle with Bakhtiāri as well.[8]
Tehrani-type Persian is now being taught by parents to children as a first language in some parts of the province, with the highest concentrations in the cities.[8] This statistic is based on the population statistics of 2013.
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Linguistic Composition[9]
TheAtlas of the Languages of Iran (ALI) published a series of language maps for Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari province, including a point-based and polygon (area-based) language distribution maps, and several linguistic data maps.[8]
Written descriptions of some of the Bakhtiāri varieties in the province.[10][11] and a lexicon of the Bakhtiāri language[12] have also been published.
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the province's population was 843,784 in 194,171 households.[13] The following census in 2011 counted 895,263 people in 234,416 households.[14] The 2016 census measured the population of the province as 947,763 in 270,434 households.[4]
The population history and structural changes of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province's administrative divisions over three consecutive censuses are shown in the following table.
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province is the source and birthplace of many springs, rivers and waterfalls that supply the water of the two great and vital rivers of Zayanderud and Karoon and cause the development of many cities in the country. Natural attractions includeZayanderud river, Zamankhan bridge,Kouhrang 1 Dam, Dime spring, Sheik Ali Khan waterfall, Chama Ice cave, Darkesh varkesh canyon,Rostam Abad Sardab spring,Do Polan, Karoon-4 dam, Darreh Esgh (love valley),Atashgah waterfall,Choghakhor Wetland, Pire Ghar cave, Siasard spring, Helen protected area, Barm spring, Sendegan spring, Tang Sayyad national Park, Parvaz national park, Sarab cave,Gandoman wetland,Zard lime waterfall, Kordikon waterfall.[21]
^Habibi, Hassan (12 September 1990) [تاریخ تصویب (Approval date) 1369/06/21 (Iranian Jalali calendar)].تصویب سازمان و سلسله تابعیت عناصر و واحدهای تقسیمات کشوری استان چهارمحال و بختیاری به مرکزیت شهر 25 - د [Approval of the organization and hierarchy of subordination of elements and units of the national divisions of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province centered in the city of Shahr-e Kord].لام تا کام [Lam ta Kam] (in Persian).وزارت کشور [Ministry of the Interior].کمیسیون سیاسی دفاعی هیأت دولت [Political Defense Commission of the Government Board].شناسه [ID] 60A18F84-E80E-41D2-A108-62931133CA64.شماره دوره [Course number] 69,شماره جلد [Volume number] 3. Archived fromthe original on 28 August 2025. Retrieved28 August 2025.
^abسرشماري عمومي نفوس و مسكن 1390 : استان چهارمحال و بختیاری [General Population and Housing Census 2011: Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province].Iran Data Portal—Syracuse University (in Persian).مرکز آمار ایران [Statistical Centre of Iran]. Archived fromthe original(Excel) on 16 January 2023. Retrieved19 December 2022.
^Rahimi, Mohammad Reza (1 January 2013) [تاریخ ابلاغیه : 1391/10/12 (Date of Resolution: 1391/10/12) (Iranian Jalali calendar)].تصویبنامه درخصوص تقسیمات کشوری در استان چهارمحال و بختیاری [Resolution on national divisions in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province].مرکز پژوهشهای مجلس شورای اسلامی ایران [Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran] (in Persian).وزارت کشور [Ministry of the Interior].هیات وزیران [Council of Ministers].بختیاری شماره۲۰۰۶۷۱/ت۴۷۶۶۱ه [Notification Number 200671/T47661H]. Archived fromthe original on 10 January 2013. Retrieved27 August 2025.
^Habibi, Hassan (21 February 1990) [تاریخ تصویب (Approval date) 1368/12/02 (Iranian Jalali calendar)].ایجاد و تأسیس بخش فلارد ( به مرکزیت روستای مال خلیفه و دهشتان پشتکوه به مرکزیت روستای قلعه سوخته در شهرستان لردگان تابع استان چهار محال و بختیاری [Creation and establishment of the Falard District (centered on the village of Mal-e Khalifeh and the Poshtkuh Rural District centered on the village of Qaleh Sukhteh in the Lordegan County of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province].لام تا کام [Lam ta Kam] (in Persian).وزارت کشور [Ministry of the Interior].کمیسیون سیاسی دفاعی هیأت دولت [Political Defense Commission of the Government Board].شناسه [ID] C591958A-C03D-4627-8B43-4D43AA152B13.شماره دوره [Course number] 68. Archived fromthe original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved28 August 2025.
^Mokhber, Mohammad (14 August 2023) [شماره ۸۸۹۶۳/ت ۶۱۳۳۰ هـ ـ ۱۴۰۲/۵/۲۳ (No. 88963/T 61330 AH - 1402/5/23) (Iranian Jalali calendar)].تصویبنامه در خصوص تقسیمات کشوری در شهرستان شهرکرد [Resolution on the national divisions in Shahrekord County].پژوهشکده حقوقی شهر دانش [Shahr Danesh Law Research Institute] (in Persian).وزارت کشور [Ministry of the Interior].هیات وزیران [Council of Ministers].شماره ۸۸۹۶۳/ت ۶۱۳۳۰ هـ ـ ۱۴۰۲/۵/۲۳ [Number 88963/T 61330 AH]. Archived fromthe original on 11 March 2024. Retrieved29 August 2025.
^Jahangiri, Eshaq (27 February 2019) [تاریخ تصویب : 1397/12/08 (Date of approval: 1397/12/08) (Iranian Jalali calendar)].تصویب نامه در خصوص تقسیمات کشوری در استان چهار محال و بختیاری [Resolution on the national divisions in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province].مرکز پژوهشهای مجلس شورای اسلامی ایران [Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran] (in Persian).وزارت کشور [Ministry of the Interior].هیات وزیران [Council of Ministers].شماره ابلاغیه : ۱۶۴۸۸۱/ت۵۵۵۱۰هـ [Notification number: 164881/T55510 AH]. Archived fromthe original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved30 August 2025.
^Davoodi, Parviz (21 October 2007) [تاریخ تصویب (Approval date) 1386/07/29 (Iranian Jalali calendar)].تصویبنامه وزرای عضو کمیسیون سیاسی- دفاعی هیئت دولت در خصوص برخی تغییرات و تقسیمات کشوری در استان چهار محال و بختیاری [Approval of the Ministers of the Political Defense Commission of the Government Board regarding some changes and national divisions in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province].لام تا کام [Lam ta Kam] (in Persian).وزارت کشور [Ministry of the Interior].کمیسیون سیاسی دفاعی هیأت دولت [Political Defense Commission of the Government Board].شناسه [ID] 2773B618-ABF2-4EA2-A9B9-33054C181C06. Archived fromthe original on 26 August 2025. Retrieved26 August 2025.
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