"Astarabad" redirects here. For the administrative division of Golestan province, seeGorgan County. For other places with the same name, seeAstarabad andGorgan.
According to the Greek historianArrian,Zadracarta was the largest city ofHyrcania and the site of the "royal palace".[10] The term means "the yellow city", and it was given to it from the great number of oranges, lemons, and other fruit trees which grew in the outskirts of that city.[11]
"Old Gorgan" was destroyed during theMongol invasion in the 13th century, and the center of the region was moved to what was called "Astarabad", which is currently called "Gorgan".
Gorgan with its surrounding regions was sometimes considered part of theTabaristan region.
Astarabad was an important political and religious city during theQajar era.
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 269,226 in 73,702 households.[15] The following census in 2011 counted 329,536 people in 98,019 households.[16] The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 350,676 people in 111,099 households.[5]
The wideDasht-e Gorgan (Plains of Gorgan) is located north of the city and geographically bounded by 37°00' - 37°30' north latitude and 54°00' - 54°30' east longitude, covering an area of about 170 square kilometres (66 sq mi).
Gorgan has a subtropicalmediterranean climate (Köppen:Csa,Trewartha:Cs), with hot, humid summers and cool, wet winters. In general, Golestan has a moderate and humid climate known as "the moderate Caspian climate". The effective factors behind such a climate areAlborz mountain range, the direction of the mountains, the height of the area, the neighborhood to the sea, vegetation surface, local winds, altitude, and weather fronts. As a result of the above factors, three different climates exist in the region: plain moderate, mountainous, and semi-arid. Gorgan valley has a semi-arid climate. The average annual temperature is 17.8 °C (64.0 °F).
The annual precipitation is roughly 584 millimetres (23.0 in), and usually does not exceed 700 millimetres (28 in) or dip below 350 millimetres (14 in). The driest year on record was 1953 with only 182.7 millimetres (7.19 in) of precipitation, while the wettest year was 1959 with 1,579.9 millimetres (62.20 in).[18]
Highest recorded temperature:46.2 °C (115.2 °F)
Lowest recorded temperature:−11.8 °C (10.8 °F) on 7 January 2008.[19]
^abسرشماري عمومي نفوس و مسكن 1395 : استان گلستان [General Population and Housing Census 2016: Golestan Province].مرکز آمار ایران [Statistical Centre of Iran] (in Persian). Archived fromthe original(Excel) on 29 March 2019. Retrieved19 December 2022.
^Gorgan can be found atGEOnet Names Server, atthis link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3064853" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".
^قانون تأسیس استان گلستان [Law on the establishment of Golestan province].لام تا کام [Lam ta Kam] (in Persian).وزارت کشور [Ministry of the Interior].هیات وزیران [Council of Ministers]. 7 December 1997 [تاریخ تصویب (Approval date) 1376/09/16 (Iranian Jalali calendar)].شناسه [ID] C28BD963-7CDE-4006-8DA9-E1DDA258246E.شماره ثبت روزنامه رسمی [Official Gazette Registration Number] 15412. Archived fromthe original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved5 December 2025.
^Habibi, Hassan (12 September 1990) [تاریخ تصویب (Approval date) 1369/06/21 (Iranian Jalali calendar)].تصویب سازمان و سلسله تابعیت عناصر و واحدهای تقسیمات کوری استان مازندران به مرکزیت شهر ساری [Approval of the organization and chain of citizenship of the elements and units of the divisions of Mazandaran province, centered in Sari city].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] 6BCA9E6B-F7AD-441C-8A24-47D38564A5F5.شماره دوره [Course number] 69,شماره جلد [Volume number] 3. Archived fromthe original on 14 January 2024. Retrieved5 December 2025.
^سرشماري عمومي نفوس و مسكن 1385 : استان گلستان [General Population and Housing Census 2006: Golestan Province].مرکز آمار ایران [Statistical Centre of Iran] (in Persian). Archived fromthe original(Excel) on 20 September 2011. Retrieved25 September 2022.
^سرشماري عمومي نفوس و مسكن 1390 : استان گلستان [General Population and Housing Census 2011: Golestan Province].Iran Data Portal—Syracuse University (in Persian).مرکز آمار ایران [Statistical Centre of Iran]. Archived fromthe original(Excel) on 17 January 2023. Retrieved19 December 2022.
^"Repeating the memory of Guangzhou with Novorossiysk"تکرار خاطره گوانگ ژو با نووروسیسک.mehrnews (in Persian). Mehr news agency. 11 May 2023. 5777121. Retrieved7 April 2024.fa: شهر گرگان هم از قرارداد خواهرخواندگی عقب نمانده و در سال ۹۷ با شهر گوانگ ژو چین عقد پیمان خواهرخواندگی بست [The city of Gorgan did not lag behind the sisterhood and in 2018 it signed an agreement with the Chinese city of Guangzhou]
