Shahr-e Kord


Shahr-e Kord is the capital city of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran. It is the largest city in the province, and is 90 km away from Iran's third largest city, Isfahan. At the time of the 2006 census, Shahrekord had a population of about 148,464 and the Shahrekord metropolitan area had a population of 380,312.
Shahr-e Kord is known for its natural environment, cold winters, waterfalls and rivers. Shahr-e Kord is Iran's highest capital city at above the sea level. This led the city to be known as “Roof of Iran”. Shahr-e Kord is at a distance of southwest from Tehran.
Its weather is cold in winter and mild in summer. The town has a ski resort located about away and several natural lagoons and small lakes for outdoor activities.

Etymology

Shahr-e Kord, at face value, seems to mean "City of the Kurds". In antiquity, the place had been called "Dezh Gord", where dezh means "fortress" and gord means "hero". After the Muslim conquest of Persia, the name changed to "Deh Kord" ; dezh was reinterpreted as deh meaning "village" and gord became kord because the Arabic alphabet lacks the letter "g". Other examples of cities whose names changed partly due to the influence of the Arabic language are Chamgordan, Boroujerd and Dezful, which were called Chamgord, Borougord and Dezhpol, respectively, before the Islamic conquest. In 1935, the name was finally changed to its present form with deh being replaced with shahr meaning "city", which better reflects the size of Shahr-e Kord.

History

Coins have been found in Shahr-e Kord dating back to the Sassanian and Parthian era.

Demographics

Currently, people living in Shahr-e Kord are of three major backgrounds: Bakhtiari, Qashqai and indigenous Persian speakers of Shahr-e Kord; however, the people of Shahr-e Kord speak Persian as a lingua franca. Shahr-e Kord is assumed to be first developed by nomadic farmers because it encompasses vast meadows and several springs. Deh Kord was gradually founded by the immigrants from Isfahan, its suburbs, and the villages around Shahr-e Kord, most of whom started to run businesses such as agriculture, horticulture, hat making, felt making, oil and wool trading, and other industries.

Geography

Shahr-e Kord is located about southwest of Isfahan and of Tehran. It is topographically situated in the north of the Zagros Mountains. Being located above the sea level, Shahr-e Kord is the most elevated among the centers of the provinces of Iran, known as the Roof of Iran.

Climate

Shahr-e Kord enjoys a cold semi-arid climate with hot summer days, mild summer nights, cool winter days and cold winter nights. The annual average temperature in Shahr-e Kord is about 11 °C but the minimum and maximum absolute temperatures recorded in Shahr-e Kord during the last 30 years have been -32 °C and 42 °C, respectively. January is the coldest month and July is the hottest month. Although the humidity level is moderate or high in winter, the amount of rainfall is close to zero in planting seasons, except for April and May.

Business and industry

Bus Service

The Shahr-e Kord Bus Organization has 150 buses in its fleet which operate different routes throughout the city.

Airport

is a domestic airport located to the south of the city. It currently has flights to and from two cities: Tehran and Mashhad.

Education

There are three universities in the city of Shar-e Kord, Public and state university is Shahr-e Kord University with
5,713 students. The other universities are Shahr-e Kord University of Medical Sciences with 1,690 students and Islamic Azad University of Shahr-e Kord Branch with 7,400 students that is the one of most popular universities in Iran with talented faculty members and students.

Sister cities