نام شهرهای ایران به انگلیسی: Iranian Cities in English and Persian (Spellings, Pronunciation, Provinces)

Here are the names of Iran’s cities in English, with the Persian spelling beside each one: تهران is Tehran, مشهد is Mashhad, اصفهان is Isfahan (also written Esfahan), شیراز is Shiraz and تبریز is Tabriz. Below you will find 46 cities with every common English spelling, pronunciation, province and what each city is known for.

The page is written for two kinds of readers: Iranians who need the correct English spelling of a city (for a CV, an address, a school essay or a form), and learners of Persian who want to read city names on signs and say them the way Iranians do. If you are new to the script, our Persian alphabet guide will help you read the Persian column.

The 27 main cities of Iran in English and Persian

The table lists Iran’s largest cities and provincial capitals, plus a few smaller cities that everyone knows, such as Kashan and Shush. The first English spelling is the one most English-language newspapers, maps and travel books use. Pronunciation uses our simple system: â is the long “aa” in “father”, a is the short “a” in “cat”, kh is a throaty sound like the “ch” in Scottish “loch”, and gh is a sound made at the back of the throat. In Persian, the stress of a city name usually falls on the last syllable: teh-RÂN, shi-RÂZ, mash-HAD.

Two of the cities have their own lessons on this site: read a short Persian text about Isfahan or about Susa (Shush) to see the names used in real sentences.

One saying worth knowing

Iranians often describe Isfahan with the rhyme اصفهان نصف جهان Listen (esfahân nesf-e jahân), “Isfahan is half the world”. You will hear it from guides, taxi drivers and almost anyone from Isfahan.

More cities and towns travelers ask about

These towns are smaller, but they come up in travel plans, history books and conversation. The last five are provincial capitals that complete the list of all 31.

Many of the towns in the Caspian provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran are covered in more detail in our guide to Shomal, the north of Iran.

Why one city has several English spellings

There is no single official way to write Persian in Latin letters. Iran’s own agencies, the United Nations, Western governments, libraries and travel writers all use slightly different systems, and some spellings are simply old European habits. Once you know the reasons, the variants stop being confusing. These are the six that cause almost all of them.

1. The letter ق can be Q, Gh or G

Persian has one sound for both ق and غ, a deep “gh” at the back of the throat. Most international spellings use Q for ق and Gh for غ, so you see Qom, Qazvin and Qeshm. Iranians writing in Finglish (Persian in Latin letters) usually use Gh, so the same places appear as Ghom, Ghazvin and Gheshm. Both are understood; Q is more common in English texts. Our guide to Finglish explains this habit in detail.

2. A word-initial ا can be E or I

The first vowel of اصفهان is pronounced “e” in Persian, which gives Esfahan. English has used Isfahan for a long time, and older books even write Ispahan. All three mean the same city. Isfahan is the most common in English today; Esfahan is closer to the Persian sound.

3. Short vowels are not written in Persian

Persian script usually leaves out the short vowels a, e and o, so writers have to choose. That is why همدان appears as Hamadan and Hamedan, and اردبیل as Ardabil and Ardebil. In Hamadan’s case the formal pronunciation is hamadân, while most Iranians say hamedân in everyday speech.

4. و can be V, W, U or O

The letter و is a consonant (v) or a vowel (u or o). Persian pronounces the consonant as v, but spellings influenced by Arabic use w, so اهواز is Ahvaz or Ahwaz. As a vowel it can be u or o, which is why ارومیه is written Orumiyeh, Orumieh, or in its older international form, Urmia.

5. The ezâfe -e and the endings -eh or -e

Some names contain the linking vowel ezâfe, as in بندر انزلی (bandar-e anzali, “the port of Anzali”). In English it is often dropped: Bandar Anzali. The same goes for Shahr-e Kord, which is now usually written as one word, Shahrekord. A final silent ه is written -eh (Maragheh, Orumiyeh) or left out (Maragha).

6. Historical and European names

Some cities have a classical or European name that is still used in history books and museums. Those names are not mistakes; they belong to a different time.

Persepolis works the same way: it is the Greek name of the site Iranians call تخت جمشید (takht-e jamshid). It is not a city, so you will find it with other monuments in our Persepolis article.

The 31 provinces of Iran and their capitals

Iran is divided into 31 provinces, called استان (ostân, plural استان‌ها, ostân-hâ). Many provinces have the same name as their capital, so “Isfahan” can mean the city or the whole province. The table is in Persian alphabetical order.

Notice the direction words in province names: شرقی (sharghi, east), غربی (gharbi, west), شمالی (shomâli, north) and جنوبی (jonubi, south). Razavi Khorasan is named after Imam Reza, whose shrine is in Mashhad, and Markazi simply means “central”.

Words you see inside city names

Many place names are built from ordinary Persian words. Knowing them helps you read a map and guess what a name means.

How to say where you are from in Persian

City names come up in the first minutes of almost any conversation in Iran. The key word is اهل (ahl), “native of”. You can practice the full dialogue in our conversation lesson on birthplace and hometown.

To say what city someone comes from, add -i to the city name: تهرانی (tehrâni, from Tehran), شیرازی (shirâzi), اصفهانی (esfahâni), تبریزی (tabrizi), مشهدی (mashhadi), یزدی (yazdi), رشتی (rashti), کرمانی (kermâni). Many of these are also common family names, which is why you meet people called Tehrani or Shirazi. In older speech, مشهدی (often said mashdi) was also a title of respect for someone who had made the pilgrimage to Mashhad.

How to pronounce Iran and Tehran

Two names are worth getting right because English speakers say them so differently from Iranians. ایران Listen is pronounced ee-RÂN, with a long “ee” and a long “aa”, not “eye-RAN”. تهران Listen is teh-RÂN, with the stress at the end and a broad “aa”, not “TEH-ran” with a flat “a”. The same pattern applies to most names in this list: say every vowel clearly and put the stress on the last syllable.

A few more traps: in Mashhad both h sounds are pronounced (mash-had), Qom starts with the throaty gh sound, and Yazd is one syllable. Kermanshah ends in shâh, the same word as “shah”. To hear the names, press the Listen buttons in the main table.

Learn the cities through reading

The best way to remember city names is to read about them in Persian. Our intermediate reading lessons each describe one city in simple Persian, with questions and answers: Shiraz is a good place to start, followed by Tabriz, Yazd, Kerman and Rasht. If you meet a word you do not know, look it up in our English-Persian dictionary.

Common questions

Is it Isfahan or Esfahan?

Both are correct. Esfahan is closer to the Persian pronunciation, اصفهان (esfahân), and Isfahan is the spelling most English books, maps and news sites use. Use Isfahan in general English writing, and whatever spelling your documents use on official forms.

What is the capital of Iran in Persian?

The capital is Tehran, written تهران and pronounced tehrân, with the stress on the last syllable. The Persian word for a capital city is پایتخت (pâytakht).

How many provinces and cities does Iran have?

Iran has 31 provinces (استان‌ها, ostân). Each has a capital city; the largest cities are Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, Shiraz and Tabriz. Iran also has hundreds of smaller cities and towns, and the exact count changes as towns are given city status.

Why is Qom sometimes written Ghom?

The Persian letter ق has no exact English equivalent. International spellings write it as Q (Qom, Qazvin, Qeshm), while Iranians typing in Finglish often write Gh (Ghom, Ghazvin, Gheshm). Both refer to the same places.

What is the old name of Urmia?

In the Pahlavi era the city was officially called Rezaiyeh. Today its Persian name is ارومیه (orumiye), written in English as Urmia or Orumiyeh.

How do you say “I am from Tehran” in Persian?

In everyday speech say من اهل تهرانم (man ahl-e tehrânam). The formal version is من اهل تهران هستم (man ahl-e tehrân hastam).

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