According to a 2014 segmentation by theMinistry of Interior, it is the center ofRegion 4,[10] with the region's central secretariat located in Kermanshah.
At the top panelKhosrow II is believed to be standing here in this relief atTaq-e Bostan. On his left isAhura Mazda, on his right isAnahita, and below him is a mounted Persian knight.
In May 2009, based on a research conducted by the University ofHamedan andUCL, the head of Archeology Research Center of Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization announced that the oldest prehistoric village in theMiddle East dating back to 9800 B.C., was discovered inSahneh, located in west of Kermanshah.[16][17]
The monuments found in Kermanshah show two glorious periods, theAchaemenid andSassanid eras. The mythical ruler of thePishdadian is described as founding the city whileTahmores Divband built it. An alternative narrative is that the construction was byBahram IV of the Sassanid dynasty during the 4th century CE. Kermanshah reached a peak during the reign ofHormizd IV andKhosrau I of Sassanids, before being demoted to a secondary royal residence.
The city suffered major damage during theArab invasions but recovered in theSafavid period to make great progress. Concurrent with theAfghan attack and the fall ofIsfahan, Kermanshah was almost completely destroyed by theOttoman invasion.
During theIran–Iraq War the province suffered heavy fighting. Most towns and cities were badly damaged and some likeSar-e Pol-e Zahab andQhasr-e-Shirin were almost completely destroyed.
On 28 December 2017, Kermanshah became one of several Iranian provinces to break out into protests.The Supreme Leader of Iran has blamed western interference. Some female organizations such as The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) have taken partial credit for the organization of these protests.[18][19]
The population history and structural changes of Kermanshah province's administrative divisions over three consecutive censuses are shown in the following table.
As it is situated between two cold and warm regions, Kermanshah Province enjoys a moderate and mountainous climate. It rains most in winter and is moderately warm in summer. The annual rainfall is 500 mm. The average temperature in the hottest months is above 22 °C.[citation needed]
The province's capital isKermanshah, located in the middle of the western part of Iran. The population of the city is 946,651 as of 2016.[2] It is built on the slopes of Mt.Sefid Kooh and extended toward south during last two decades. The built-up areas run alongsideSarab River andSarab Valley. The city's elevation averages about 1,350 meters above sea level.[citation needed]
The distance between Kermanshah andTehran is 525 km. It is the trade center of rich agricultural region that produces grain, rice, vegetable, fruits, and oilseeds, and there are many industrial centers, oil and sugar refineries, and cement, textile and flour factories, etc. The airport (Shahid Ashrafi Esfahani Airport) is located in north east of the city, and the distance from Tehran is 413 km by air.
Kermanshah province has 371 km of common border with Iraq. There are five official border markets in the province. Three of these neighbor theKurdistan Region of Iraq and the other two the Iraqi central government (Khosravi, Sumar). Based on figures from 9 November 2021, with a share of 5.7 to 6 percent Kermanshah province is among the first five exporters of non-oil products of Iran. Around 30 to 35 percent of thesesexports were from the province's own products. The highest share of exports belong toParviz border which neighbors Iraqi Kurdistan followed byKhosravi andSumar.[24][25]
Exports from Kermanshah province hit $2.7 billion in the fiscal year 2021-22 (ending 20 March), registering a 15% growth compared with the previous year, according to a local official.
The province's share in Iran's total exports during the period stood at 10% in terms of tonnage and 12% in value.
Kermanshah's share in total exports to Iraq stood at 53% and share in non-oil goods reached 43%.
Non-oil exports from Kermanshah mainly include tomato and tomato paste, air conditioners, cheese, industrial oil and their derivatives, biscuit, different types of melon, watermelon, tile and ceramic, plastic bags, marble, yogurt, milk, cream, cucumber, eggplant, apple and melamine dishes.[25]
Kermanshah lends its name to a type ofPersian carpet named after the region. It also has famous sweets made of rice, locally known asNan-e berenji.[26] The other famous Kermanshahi good is a special kind of oil, locally known asRüne Dân and globally in Iran known asRoghan Kermanshahi. TheGiveh of Kermanshah known asKlash is the highest quality Giveh.
Various attractions exist that date from the pre-Islamic era, such as theKohneh Bridge, to contemporary parks and museums. Some of the more popular sites are:
Darius the Great's inscription at Bisotun, which dates to 522 BCE, lies some 1300 meters high in the mountains, and counts as one of the most famous sites in Near Easternarcheology. The site is aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site,[27] and has been attracting visitors for centuries. The Behistun inscription is toOld Persian cuneiform what theRosetta Stone is toEgyptian hieroglyphs: the trilingual inscription (in Old Persian,Elamite andAkkadian) was crucial in the decipherment of the script. The relief above the inscription depicts Darius facing nine rebels who objected to his crowning. At the king's feet liesGaumata. The location of this important historical document is not coincidental: Gaumata, a usurper who is depicted as lying at Darius' feet, was a Medean and in Achaemenid times Behistun lay on the Medea-Parsa highway.
Behistun is also notable for three reliefs at the foot of the hill that date from the Parthian era. Among them is a Hellenistic-era depiction of the divinityBahram as the Greek hero Hercules, who reclines with a goblet in his hand, a club at his feet and a lion-skin beneath him. Because it lies on the route of an ancient highway, this life-size rock sculpture may reflect Bahram's status as patron divinity of travelers.
The rock reliefs at Taq-e Bostan lie 6 kilometres (4 mi) northeast of Kermanshah, where a spring gushes from a mountain cliff and empties into a large reflecting pool. One of the more impressive reliefs, inside the largest grotto (ivan), is the oversized depiction of Sassanid kingKhosrau II (591–628 CE), who appears mounted on his favorite charger, Shabdiz. Both the horse and the rider are arrayed in full battle armor.
There are two hunting scenes on complementary sides of theivan: one depicts an imperial boar hunt and the other depicting the king stalking deer. Elephants flush out the boar from a marshy lake for the king who stands poised with bow and arrow in hand while he is serenaded by female musicians following in other boats. These royal hunting scenes are narrative murals in stone are count among the most vivid of all Iranian rock reliefs.
The Taq-e Bostan reliefs are not limited to the Sassanid era. An upper relief depicts the 19th centuryQajar king Fath-Ali shah holding court.
Kangavar is the site of the archaeological remains of a vast Hellenic-style edifice on a raised platform. The visible remains at the site date to early Sassanid times,[28] but the platform of the complex may be several centuries older. By the time excavation began in 1968, the complex had been preemptorily associated with a comment byIsidore of Charax who referred to a temple ofAnahita at Concobar (the Greek name of Kangavar, which was then inLower Medea). Despite archaeological findings to the contrary,[28] the association with the divinity of fertility, healing, and wisdom has made the site a popular tourist attraction. The vast edifice was built of enormous blocks of dressed stone with an imposing entrance of opposed staircases that may have been inspired by the Apadana inPersepolis.[14]
One of the renowned scientists and writers of this region isAl-Dinawari who was born atDinawar north-east ofKermanshah. He lived in the 9th century and has written many books inastronomy,botany and history.
^Alsoromanized asOstân-e Kermânšâh;Kurdish:پارێزگای کرماشان, romanized asParêzgeha Kirmaşan;[6][7] known from 1969 to 1986 asKermanshahan, and from 1986 to 1995 asBakhtaran (استان باختران)[8]
^Natiq Nouri, Ali Akbar (11 August 1391) [Approved 22 January 1372].Law on changing the name of Bakhtaran province to Kermanshah.rc.majlis.ir (Report) (in Persian). Shura Council. File 1571/4B; Newspaper 14020. Archived fromthe original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved5 March 2024 – via Research Center of the System of Laws of the Islamic Council of Farabi Mobile Library.
^"Ahmady, Kameel. A Peace-Oriented Investigation of the Ethnic Identity Challenge in Iran (A Study of Five Iranian Ethnic Groups with the GT Method), 2022, 13th Eurasian Conferences on Language and Social Sciences pp. 591–624".13th Eurasian Conferences on Language and Social Sciences.
^abAhmady, Kameel 2019:From Border to Border. Comprehensive research study on identity and ethnicity in Iran. Mehri publication, London.
