Provinces of Iran

Iran is divided into 31 provinces (Persian: استان ostān, plural استان‌ها ostānhā).  Each is ruled from a local center.  These local centers can usually be found in the biggest local city, called the capital (Persian: مرکز markaz) of that province.

Information
The following is a table with information on the provinces of Iran:
+ ProvinceCapitalArea(km²)PopulationDensity(people/km²)Shahrestans AlborzUntil 23 June 2010, Alborz was part of Tehran province.  Karaj  5,833 2,712,400 413.64 ArdabilUntil 1993, Ardabil was part of East Azarbaijan province.  Ardabil  17,800 1,257,624 70.79 Azarbaijan, East  Tabriz  45,650 3,500,183 76.719 Azarbaijan, West  UrmiaUntil 1979, the city was known as Rezaiyeh.  37,437 2,949,426 78.814 BushehrOriginally part of Fars province. Until 1977, the province was known as Khalij-e Fars (Persian Gulf).  Bushehr  22,743 816,115 35.99 Chahar Mahaal and BakhtiariOriginally part of Isfahan province. Shahrekord 16,332 842,002 51.66 Fars  Shiraz  122,608 4,385,869 35.823 Guilan  Rasht  14,042 2,410,523 171.716 GolestanOn 1997-05-31, the shahrestans of Aliabad, Gonbad-e-kavus, Gorgan, Kordkuy, Minudasht, and Torkaman were separated from Mazandaran province to form Golestan province.  Gorgan  20,195 1,637,063 81.111 HamadanOriginally part of Kermanshah province.  Hamadan  19,368 1,738,772 89.88 HormozganOriginally part of Kerman province. Until 1977, the province was known as Banader va Jazayer-e Bahr-e Oman (Ports and Islands of the Sea of Oman).Hormozgan includes several islands such as Qeshm, Lavan, Kish and Hormoz as well as Abu Musa island which is jointly administered by Iran and the United Arab Emirates.  Bandar Abbas  70,669 1,314,667 18.611 Ilam  Ilam  20,133 545,093 27.17 Isfahan  Isfahan 107,029 4,454,595 41.621 Kerman  Kerman  180,836 2,432,927 13.514 KermanshahBetween 1979 and 1995 Kermanshah province and its capital, were both known as Bakhtaran.
  Kermanshah  24,998 1,938,060 77.513 Khorasan, NorthOn 2004-09-29, Khorasan was divided into three provinces. North Khorasan; Razavi Khorasan; South Khorasan.  Bojnourd  28,434 786,918 27.76 Khorasan, Razavi  Mashhad  144,681 5,202,770 36.019 Khorasan, South  Birjand  69,555 510,218 7.34 Khuzestan  Ahvaz  64,055 4,345,607 67.818 Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-AhmadUntil 1990, the province was known as Bovir Ahmadi and Kohkiluyeh.  Yasuj  15,504 695,099 44.85 Kurdistan  Sanandaj  29,137 1,574,118 54.09 LorestanOriginally part of Khuzestan province.  Khorramabad  28,294 1,758,628 62.29 MarkaziOriginally part of Mazandaran province.In 1986, some parts of Markazi province were transferred to Isfahan, Semnan, and Zanjan provinces.  Arak  29,130 1,361,394 46.710 Mazandaran  Sari  23,701 2,818,831 118.915 QazvinOn 1996-12-31, the shahrestans of Qazvin and Takestan were separated from Zanjan province to form the province of Qazvin.  Qazvin  15,549 1,166,861 75.05 QomUntil 1995, Qom was a shahrestan of Tehran province.  Qom  11,526 1,064,456 92.41 Semnan  Semnan  97,491 589,512 6.04 Sistan and BaluchistanUntil 1986, the province was known as Baluchestan and Sistan.
  Zahedan  181,785 2,290,076 12.68 TehranUntil 1986, Tehran was part of Markazi province.  Tehran  18,814 12,150,742 645.813 YazdIn 1986, part of Kerman province was transferred to Yazd province. In 2002, Tabas shahrestan (area: 55,344 km²) was transferred from Khorasan province to Yazd.  Yazd  129,285 958,318 7.410 ZanjanOriginally part of Gilan province.  Zanjan  21,773 970,946 44.67Iran Tehran 1,628,554 68,467,413 42.0 324

References

Other websites
 Statistical Centre, Government of Iran