Fars

Province of southern Iran, comprising fertile valleys among mountain ranges running northwest-southeast; area 133,300 sq km/51,500 sq mi; population (1991) 3,543,800. The capital is Shiraz. The main products are dates, rice, olives, cereals, cotton, tobacco, fruit, and vines. Livestock is also raised. There are imposing ruins of Cyrus the Great's city of Parargardae and of Persepolis.

The province extends along the northern shore of the Gulf, bounded by Esfahan and Yazd on the north, on the east by Kerman, and on the west by Khuzestan. It is crossed by mountain chains running parallel with the coast, intersected by fertile valleys. The rivers are small and seldom flow into the sea. The climate varies greatly according to the altitude. The name is the same as the Greek ‘Persis’, which, originally the name of the province, came to be the name by which the whole empire was called.