KermanCapital: Kerman. The largest province by area.
Sistan and BaluchestanCapital: Zahedan. Called Baluchestan and Sistan until 1986.
Razavi KhorasanCapital: Mashhad. Second in population, after Tehran province.
South KhorasanCapital: Birjand. The third largest province by area.
YazdCapital: Yazd. Originally part of Isfahan province.
North KhorasanCapital: Bojnord. Made from Khorasan province on 29 September 2004.
South and center (Region 2) 6
FarsCapital: Shiraz. The fourth largest province by area.
IsfahanCapital: Isfahan. Third in population, after Tehran and Razavi Khorasan.
HormozganCapital: Bandar Abbas. Originally part of Kerman province.
BushehrCapital: Bushehr. Known as Khalij-e Pars until 1977.
Chaharmahal and BakhtiariCapital: Shahr-e Kord. Part of Isfahan province until 1973.
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-AhmadCapital: Yasuj. Originally part of Khuzestan province.
Northwest (Region 3) 6
West AzerbaijanCapital: Urmia, which was called Rezaiyeh under the Pahlavi dynasty.
East AzerbaijanCapital: Tabriz, the seat of Region 3.
ArdabilCapital: Ardabil. Part of East Azerbaijan province until 1993.
GilanCapital: Rasht. It lies along the Caspian Sea.
ZanjanCapital: Zanjan. Originally part of Gilan province.
KurdistanCapital: Sanandaj. It borders the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
West (Region 4) 6
KhuzestanCapital: Ahvaz. It borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf.
KermanshahCapital: Kermanshah. Called Bakhtaran from 1979 to 1995.
IlamCapital: Ilam. The fewest people of any province.
LorestanCapital: Khorramabad. In the Zagros Mountains.
HamadanCapital: Hamadan. Originally part of Kermanshah province.
MarkaziCapital: Arak. Markazi means central in Persian.
Around Tehran (Region 1) 7
SemnanCapital: Semnan. It stretches along the Alborz mountain range.
MazandaranCapital: Sari. On the southern coast of the Caspian Sea.
GolestanCapital: Gorgan. Separated from Mazandaran province on 31 May 1997.
QazvinCapital: Qazvin. Separated from Zanjan province on 31 December 1996.
TehranCapital: Tehran, also the national capital. The most people of any province.
QomCapital: Qom. A county of Tehran province until 1995.
AlborzCapital: Karaj. Part of Tehran province until 23 June 2010.
How this list was compiled: The 31 provinces, the capital of each, the 2023 populations and the areas behind 'largest', 'third largest', 'fourth largest', 'most people', 'second in population', 'third in population' and 'fewest people' (Kerman 183,285 square km, Sistan and Baluchestan 180,726, South Khorasan 151,913, Fars 122,608, Alborz 5,833; Tehran 13,323,000 people, Razavi Khorasan 6,444,000, Isfahan 5,136,000, Ilam 591,000), the earlier names and the dates on which provinces were made or renamed (Alborz 23 June 2010, the three Khorasan provinces 29 September 2004, Golestan 31 May 1997, Qazvin 31 December 1996, Qom 1995, Ardabil 1993, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari 1973, Bushehr and Sistan and Baluchestan renamed in 1977 and 1986, Kermanshah called Bakhtaran from 1979 to 1995, Urmia called Rezaiyeh), the governor-general of each province, and the ten provinces of 1937: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_Iran (lead and the table of current provinces), read 2026-10-14. The five regions of 22 June 2014, the provinces in each and the city each region is run from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_of_Iran, read 2026-10-14. The second fact of seven detail lines is from the lead of that province's own article, each read 2026-10-14: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilan_province, /Mazandaran_province, /Kurdistan_province, /Khuzestan_province, /Lorestan_province, /Semnan_province and /Markazi_province (the meaning of Markazi is in its note on the name). The map was drawn for this site from Natural Earth 5.1.2, a public-domain map dataset; where a part lies on the map (a coast, a corner, a neighbor) was read from that drawing, and the typed spellings that count are Natural Earth's. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_admin_1_states_provinces (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_admin_1_states_provinces.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Surrounding land from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_admin_0_countries (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_admin_0_countries.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Capitals from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_populated_places_simple (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_populated_places_simple.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection centred on 33.3°N 52.4°E. Outlines simplified; small islands are left out. Licence: public domain (Natural Earth terms of use: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/)
How it works
This Iran map quiz asks for the 31 provinces, ostan in Persian, on a blank map. Iran has no states, so an Iran states map quiz is this one: five rounds, from the large provinces of the east to the small ones around Tehran.
Read the full guide
Five rounds, five regions
Each round is one of Iran's five administrative regions. Region 5, the east, comes first: six provinces from Kerman to North Khorasan. Then Region 2, from Isfahan down to the Gulf coast, Region 3 in the northwest, Region 4 in the west, and Region 1, the seven provinces of the north around Tehran, Alborz last.
Capitals with another name
Thirteen provinces are named after their capital, Tehran, Isfahan and Yazd among them. The other eighteen are not: Fars is run from Shiraz, Khuzestan from Ahvaz, Hormozgan from Bandar Abbas and Gilan from Rasht. The labels view gives every capital: open Show me the labels first and tap a province.
Kerman and Kermanshah sit at opposite ends: Kerman is the largest shape, in the southeast, and Kermanshah a small one on the western border.
Three provinces carry the name Khorasan: North on the northern border, Razavi below it, and South farther down the eastern border.
Typed answers take other spellings too: Esfahan for Isfahan, Kordestan for Kurdistan, Teheran for Tehran.
Questions and answers
Does Iran have states or provinces?
Provinces. Iran is divided into 31 of them, its first-level divisions, and each is governed from a capital city by a governor-general the interior minister appoints.
Why are there three Khorasan provinces?
Until 29 September 2004 they were one province, Khorasan, one of the ten provinces of 1937. It was then divided into North Khorasan, Razavi Khorasan and South Khorasan, run from Bojnord, Mashhad and Birjand.
What are the five regions of Iran?
On 22 June 2014 the interior ministry grouped the 31 provinces into five numbered regions, run from Tehran, Isfahan, Tabriz, Kermanshah and Mashhad. They exist for administration only, and the constitution does not provide for them.
Which province of Iran has the most people?
Tehran province, with about 13.3 million people in the 2023 figures, about twice as many as Razavi Khorasan, the second. Ilam, on the western border, has the fewest, about 591,000.