SHIRAZ

Shiraz is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province. At the 2016 census, the population of the city was 1,869,001. Shiraz is located in the southwest of Iran. It has a moderate climate and has been a regional trade center for over a thousand years. Shiraz is one of the oldest cities of ancient Persia.

Shiraz is known as the city of poets, literature, wine (despite Iran being an Islamic republic since 1979), and flowers. It is also considered by many Iranians to be the city of gardens, due to the many gardens and fruit trees that can be seen in the city, for example, Eram Garden. Shiraz has had major Jewish and Christian communities. The crafts of Shiraz consist of inlaid mosaic work of triangular design; silver-ware; pile carpet-weaving and weaving of kilim, called gilim and jajim in the villages and among the tribes. In Shiraz industries such as cement production, sugar, fertilizers, textile products, wood products, metalwork, and rugs dominate. Shiraz also has a major oil refinery and is a major center for Iran’s electronic industries: 53% of Iran’s electronic investment has been centered in Shiraz. Shiraz is home to Iran’s first solar power plant.

Shiraz is located in the south of Iran and the northwest of Kerman Province. It is built in a green plain at the foot of the Zagros Mountains 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) above sea level. Shiraz is 800 kilometers (500 mi) south of Tehran.A seasonal river, Dry River, flows through the northern part of the city and on into Maharloo Lake as of 1920, the area had a large forest of oak trees.

Shiraz’s climate has distinct seasons, and is overall classed as a cold semi-arid climate, though it is only a little short of a hot semi-arid climate or a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. Summers are hot, with a July average high of 38.8 °C (101.8 °F). Winters are cool, with average low temperatures below freezing in December and January.