View source for Rasht

{{About||the administrative subdivision|Rasht County|the valley in Tajikistan|Rasht Valley}}
{{Refimprove|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name          =Rašt
|native_name            = Rəsht
|settlement_type        =City
|image_skyline          =Rasht Montage 1.png
|imagesize              =300
|nickname               =Rain City, Rasht-Heaven
|dialect                =Rashti(kind of Gilaki)
|image_caption          = 
|pushpin_map            =Iran
|mapsize                =150px
|subdivision_type       = [[List of countries|Country]]
|subdivision_name = {{flag|Iran}}
|subdivision_type1 =[[Provinces of Iran|Province]]
|subdivision_name1 =[[Gilan Province|Gilan]]
|subdivision_type2 =[[Counties of Iran|County]]
|subdivision_name2 =[[Rasht County|Rasht]]
|subdivision_type3 =[[Bakhsh]]
|subdivision_name3 =[[Central District (Rasht County)|Central]]
|leader_title           = 
|leader_name            = 
|established_title      =
|established_date       = 
|area_total_km2           =180
|area_footnotes           = 
|population_as_of         =2012
|population_total         =622,209
|population_density_km2   =auto
|timezone               = [[Iran Standard Time|IRST]]
|utc_offset             = +3:30
|timezone_DST           = [[Iran Daylight Time|IRDT]]
|utc_offset_DST         = +4:30
|coordinates            = {{coord|37|16|51|N|49|34|59|E|region:IR|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_m            = 
|website                ={{URL|http://www.rasht.ir}} 
|area_code              =013  
|footnotes              =
}}
'''Rasht''' ({{lang-fa|{{big|رشت}}}} ''{{Transl|fa|Rašt}}''<span style="margin-left:2px">;</span> {{lang-glk|''Rəsht''}}<span style="margin-left:2px">;</span> also [[Romanize]]d as '''Resht''' and '''Rast''', and  often spelt ''Recht'' in [[French language|French]] and older [[German language|German]] manuscripts)<ref>{{GEOnet3|-3080876}}</ref> is the [[capital city]] of [[Gilan Province]], [[Iran]].  As of the 24 October 2011 census, its population was 639,951.<ref>http://www.citypopulation.de/php/iran-gilan.php?cityid=010505</ref>

Rasht is the largest city on Iran's [[Caspian Sea]] coast. It is a major trade center between [[Caucasus|Caucasia]], [[Russia]] and Iran using the port of [[Bandar-e Anzali]]. Rasht is also a major tourist center with the resort of [[Masouleh]] in the adjacent mountains and the beaches of Caspian as some of the major attractions.

Historically, Rasht was a major transport and business center which connected Iran to Russia and Europe, and because of this was known as the "Gate of [[Europe]]". The city has a history that goes back to the 13th century but its modern history dates back to the [[Safavid]] era during which Rasht was a major silk trade center with numerous textile workshops.

==History==
[[File:Dana Ali in Rasht.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Dana ye Ali, a famous resident of the Black Stalk Village in Rasht.]]
{{Unreferenced section|date=June 2014}}
''For a more comprehensive treatment of the region, see the [[Gīlān Province#History|history]] section of [[Gīlān Province|Gilan]].''

===Timeline===

*682: Rasht was first mentioned in historical documents.
*1669: [[Stenka Razin]], a [[Cossack]] warlord, plundered the city.
*1714: Rasht destroyed by earthquake.
*1722–1732: [[Capture of Rasht|Occupation]] by the [[Russian Empire|Russians]] due to the [[Russo-Persian War, 1722-1723|Russo-Persian War]].
*1901: A major epidemic plague devastates the city.
*1917–1920: The Russian and British armed forces fight in the port city of [[Bandar-e Anzali]] and Rasht. The British retreat and the Russians occupy the area.
*1920–1921: The short-lived [[Persian Soviet Socialist Republic]] was established with its capital in Rasht.
*1937: A revolt, sparked by the desire to collect a "road tax" from the Russians, was suppressed.
*1974: First university established in Rasht.

[[File:Rasht mosque.png|thumb|left|An old mosque in Rasht, 1886.]]

Rasht was first mentioned in historical documents in 682 CE, but it is certainly older than this and appears on the [[Peutinger Map]] of [[late antiquity]]. It has seen the [[Sassanid]] era, the armies of [[Peter I of Russia|Peter the Great]] and later Russian rulers, and British colonialism. The people of Rasht also played a major role in the [[Constitutional Revolution of Iran]].

The name Rasht comes most plausibly from the verb ''reshtan'', weaving. Rasht has, along with regions around Tabriz and Tehran, one of the earliest industry plants during the last quarter of the 19th century, prominently in fields such as fishing, caviar production, the Caspian sea oil pipeline construction and textiles. During the 20th century, until the mid-70s, Gilan and the Rasht region was the third-ranking industrial city in Iran by number of workers and per capital productivity. It lost its cultural and industrial status to a large extent after the 1970s.

The people of Rasht played a prominent role in instigation and radicalization of the [[Persian Constitutional Revolution]] (1905–1907). Rasht is the birthplace of [[Mīrzā Kūchak Khān]], one of the leading figures of the Constitutional Revolution. His own movement in [[Gilan]], which went by the name of [[Jangalihã|Jangalis]], represented a pro-modern and social democratic program for reformation of Muslim rituals and traditions. Mirza established the short-lived [[Persian Socialist Soviet Republic]] in 1920 after the defeat of the constitutional forces and in coalition with Iranian communists. The republic had the support of the newly established Russian Red Army. The Soviet Government, after a turn of military and political strategy proposed by Trotsky, withdrew its support and the republic itself was tormented by the inner conflicts between the newly established [[Iranian Communist Party]] (1919) and the Jangalis and other factions. The republic was finally defeated by the Iranian army under the command of Reza Shah.

The first national library of Iran was established in Rasht under the [[Qajar dynasty]]. Furthermore, Nasim e Shomal as the first modern newspaper of Iran after the constitutional revolution has been published in Rasht, but later moved its headquarters to [[Qazvin]]. First Public Library of Iran was built in Rasht City.<small>[http://www.nlai.ir/Default.aspx?tabid=466]</small> First Branch of the First Iranian Bank (Sepah Bank) was located in Rasht City.[http://www.banksepah.ir/default.aspx?tabid=160]</small> First branch of 24/7 pharmacy (Karoon pharmacy) was built in Rasht City. First school for girls and first fire station in Iran were also built in Rasht City.

===Modern day===
[[File:Municipality of Rasht.jpg|1000px|thumbnail|center]]
Rasht is growingly turning into an industrialized town like most of the Iranian large cities and province capitals. Enjoying the Kadus International Hotel and hundreds of tourist attractions, Rasht receives thousands of foreign tourists annually, mostly from [[Austria]], [[Germany]], [[Netherlands]], [[France]], [[Australia]], [[Japan]] and [[List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa|African]] countries like [[Senegal]] and [[Cameroon]] as well as countries from [[Oceania]] like [[Micronesia]]. Rasht is known for its famous building of municipality located in a square called the Square of Municipality which was constructed circa 1900 but being renovated each year. Due to the high amount of humidity in Rasht which damages and destroys the aged buildings, the native, older architectural texture of Rasht is gradually being replaced with the modern skyscrapers and apartments.

[[File:Panorama of boosar neighberhood in Rasht.tif|1000px|thumbnail|center]]

The culture of [[consumerism]] is prevalent among the people of Rasht as a cultural and urban center which is historically engaged in close commercial and political ties with the [[United Kingdom]], [[Russia]] and [[France]]. Due to this background which makes the inhabitants much familiar with the industrial, cultural and political developments of the west, the finance and credit institutions are more willing to open representative offices and bureaus in Rasht and it has made the city a center of various banks and financial organizations. There are many commercial centers, malls and financial institutions in Rasht including one branch of the Exports Development Bank of Iran which is an international bank dealing with the Iranian exports. The organizers and directors of national Iranian or non-Iranian banks afford to spend considerable amounts of budgets to construct attractive and modern buildings for their offices in Rasht.

Since the [[Islamic Revolution]] of 1979 in Iran, there have always been requests on behalf of Russian, [[Turkey|Turkish]] and [[Azeri]] banks to open branches in Rasht and that is why the city is endowed as the "gate of Europe" in Iran. The head consulate of the [[Russian Federation]] government is located in Rasht and some of the other [[Caspian region]] countries are also keen to establish representative headquarters in Rasht alongside their embassies in [[Tehran]]. Some evidences are the [[University of Gilan]] which was constructed jointly by the governments of [[Iran]] and [[West Germany]] about 40 years ago, the building of [[IRIB]] representatives in Rasht which was constructed jointly by the Iranian and [[Belgium|Belgian]] engineers.

{|
|[[File:Kolah Farangi in Rasht.jpg|thumb|x220px|Bigler Beigi Pavilion ([[Qajar dynasty]])]]

|[[File:Mohtasham park in Rasht.jpg|thumb|x220px|Mohtasham Park in Rasht City]]

|[[File:Panorama of Rasht municipality 1.jpg|x220px|thumbnail|Rasht municipality]]

|}

==Climate==
Rasht has a [[humid subtropical climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]]: Cfa), with warm summers and cool winters that is one of the wettest in Iran.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=407190&cityname=Rasht%2C+Gilan%2C+Iran&units=|title=Rasht, Iran Climate Summary|publisher=Weatherbase|accessdate=1 April 2015}}</ref> It is also relatively continental with cooler winters and higher seasonal temperature variation than in much of Iran, despite its marine position. The average humidity is 81.2%, contrasting heavily with cities in many other parts of Iran. Sunshine hours, averaging roughly 1,520 per year, are lower than in most places in Iran and also compared to most places at this latitude.

{{Weather box
|location=Rasht
|metric first=yes
|single line=yes
|Jan record high C = 30
|Feb record high C = 31
|Mar record high C = 34.6
|Apr record high C = 37
|May record high C = 37.6
|Jun record high C = 37
|Jul record high C = 37
|Aug record high C = 37.2
|Sep record high C = 40
|Oct record high C = 37.4
|Nov record high C = 36
|Dec record high C = 32
|year record high C = 40
|Jan high C = 10.8
|Feb high C = 10.9
|Mar high C = 13.1
|Apr high C = 19.0
|May high C = 24.2
|Jun high C = 28.3
|Jul high C = 30.5
|Aug high C = 29.9
|Sep high C = 26.8
|Oct high C = 21.7
|Nov high C = 17.7
|Dec high C = 13.6
|Jan low C = 1.9
|Feb low C = 2.5
|Mar low C = 5.1
|Apr low C = 9.3
|May low C = 14.2
|Jun low C = 18.0
|Jul low C = 20.2
|Aug low C = 19.8
|Sep low C = 17.2
|Oct low C = 12.8
|Nov low C = 8.3
|Dec low C = 4.2
|Jan record low C = -19
|Feb record low C = -18
|Mar record low C = -6.4
|Apr record low C = -2
|May record low C = 3.6
|Jun record low C = 5
|Jul record low C = 11
|Aug record low C = 9
|Sep record low C = 7
|Oct record low C = 1
|Nov record low C = -4
|Dec record low C = -10
|year record low C = -19
|rain colour=green
|Jan rain mm = 147.9
|Feb rain mm = 119.2
|Mar rain mm = 111.3
|Apr rain mm = 61.6
|May rain mm = 53.3
|Jun rain mm = 38.7
|Jul rain mm = 40.2
|Aug rain mm = 73.8
|Sep rain mm = 142.6
|Oct rain mm = 130.2
|Nov rain mm = 170.7
|Dec rain mm = 166.0
|Jan rain days = 11.7
|Feb rain days = 10.7
|Mar rain days = 12.0
|Apr rain days = 8.6
|May rain days = 7.7
|Jun rain days = 4.3
|Jul rain days = 3.7
|Aug rain days = 6.8
|Sep rain days = 9.5
|Oct rain days = 12.3
|Nov rain days = 10.7
|Dec rain days = 11.4
|year precipitation days = 109.4
|Jan humidity = 84
|Feb humidity = 85
|Mar humidity = 84
|Apr humidity = 80
|May humidity = 78
|Jun humidity = 74
|Jul humidity = 74
|Aug humidity = 77
|Sep humidity = 82
|Oct humidity = 86
|Nov humidity = 85
|Dec humidity = 85
|year humidity = 81.2
|Jan sun = 89.9
|Feb sun = 79.1
|Mar sun = 71.3
|Apr sun = 114.0
|May sun = 161.2
|Jun sun = 204.0
|Jul sun = 210.8
|Aug sun = 167.4
|Sep sun = 138.0
|Oct sun = 108.5
|Nov sun = 93.0
|Dec sun = 86.8
|year sun = 1524.0
|source 1 = World Climate <ref>Rasht, Iran: Climate, Global Warming, and Daylight Charts and Data [http://www.climate-charts.com/Locations/i/IR40719.php]. Retrieved on: June 16, 2013.</ref>
|source 2 = Shahrekord Meteorology Database <ref>Climatological Norms of Iran synoptic stations [http://chaharmahalmet.ir/stat/archive/iran/gil/RASHT/5.asp]. Retrieved on: September 12, 2011.</ref>
|date=September 2011}}

==Demography==
===Language===
The people of Rasht speak [[Gileki]] as their mother tongue and [[Persian language]] as of the official language of Iran. [[Gileki]] is spoken by more than 3 million people. The vast majority of Gileki speakers live in the [[Gilan Province]] of [[Iran]]. It belongs to the northwestern branch of the [[Iranian languages]]. The Iranian languages form a top-level constituent of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] language family. Gileki is closely related to [[Mazanderani language|Mazanderani]] and is subdivided into two main dialects: Bie-pas and Bie-pish. Bie-pas dialect is mainly spoken in west of Sepidroud including Rasht and Fuman while Bie-pish dialect belongs to eastern part of Gilan including Lahijan and Langrud.

In some rural areas near the Rasht, school teachers give their courses in [[Gileki]] rather than Persian.

==Culture==

Rashti people are said to spend much on books, clothes and food. They spend the leisure times going to cinemas, art exhibitions, music concerts and international book fairs that are being held in the city most of times in a year. Also the municipality kicks off sports, cultural or IT-related competitions to involve the youth in healthy and constructive activities. The most beloved competition is the annual [[blogging]] competition which awards the top young bloggers each year.

===Cuisine===

The dominant cuisine of Rasht people is the various types of fish. [[Mirza-Qasemi]], Vavishka (a type of [[Haggis]]), [[Nargesi (food)|Nargesi]], [[Baghala ghatogh|Baqala Qatoq]] and [[Roe|Ashpal]] are some other popular local dishes of this city. Between the local cookies of Rasht, [[Reshteh khoshkar|Reshte Xoshkar]] is a well-known one. Zeitoun Parvarde is a kind of delicacies prepared from olive and it is a popular seasoning in Rasht City.

===Sports===

The people of Rasht have always been regular fans of football which is the beloved sport in the city. Most are fans of [[Damash Gilan F.C.|Damash Gilan]] who play in the [[Azadegan League]] or [[Sepidrood Rasht F.C.|Sepidrood Rasht]] who play in the [[Iran Football's 2nd Division|2nd Division]]. [[Damash Gilan F.C.|Damash Gilan]] is the newer version of former [[Pegah FC|Pegah]] football club that belonged to the municipality of Rasht, but was purchased later by the mineral water factory of Damash and changed its name and properties to '''Damash Gilan'''. The home stadium of Damash Gilan is [[Dr. Azodi Stadium]] which is an old stadium dating back to almost 40 years ago and its capacity is 11,000 people. Sardar Jangal Stadium is the cities second stadium.

[[File:Sardar Jangal Stadium of Rasht.jpg|700px|thumbnail|center|Sardar Jangal Stadium of Rasht]]

Following football, [[wrestling]], [[judo]] and [[Olympic weightlifting|weightlifting]] are the most popular sports of youth in Rasht and that is due to the enchanting appearance of Iranian wrestlers and weightlifters in the international competitions like [[Olympics]]. The outstanding figure of world weightlifting and the two-time olympics Gold medal winner [[Hossein Rezazadeh]] is a main inspirer of Rasht youth to try [[Olympic weightlifting|Weightlifting]] as their professional job. [[Asghar Ebrahimi]] who was the squad captain of Iranian weightlifting team at the [[2008 Olympics]] is from Rasht and a successful example of those youth from Rasht who tried this national field of sport after [[Hossein Rezazadeh]].

==Colleges and universities==
# [[University of Gilan]]
# [[Gilan university of medical sciences]]
# [[Islamic Azad University of Rasht]]
# Jaber ebn Hayyan Institute of Higher Education
# [[Payame Noor University]]
# Institute of Higher Education for Academic Jihad of Rasht 
# [http://www.guilantvto.ir Guilan Technical & Vocational Training Organization] 
# [http://www.gilastc.ir Gilan Advanced Skills Training Center]
# [http://www.afr.ac.ir/home/index Rasht Technical and Vocational Institute]
#[http://guilan.uast.ac.ir Guilan University of Applied and Scientific Technology]

==Transportation==

===Railway===

Rasht is served by [[Rasht railway station]].

===International airport===

The [[Rasht Airport|Rasht International airport]] is the only airport in the small province of Gilan and was established in 1969 with an approximate area of 220 hectares. At first, the airport just handled domestic flights to [[Tehran]] and [[Mashhad]], but after it was renamed to Sardar Jangal International airport in 2007, additional routes were established.

The airport is in close affiliation with hundreds of flights by national and international airlines, including [[Mahan Air]], [[Iran Air]], [[Iran Aseman Airlines]], [[Kish Air]] and receives more than 2000 flights annually.

==Notable citizens==

*[[Aydin Aghdashloo]] (Born 1940)
*[[Mahmoud Behzad]] The father of modern biology of Iran
*[[Mir Abdolrez Daryabeigi]] Painter
*[[Hushang Ebtehaj]] The intellectual poet of 20th century in Iran
*[[Khosrow Golsorkhi]]
*[[Alexander Kasimovich Kazembek]] Orientalist, historian and philologist 
*[[Muhammad Amir Khatam|Mohammad Khatam]]
*[[Hamideh Kheirabadi]] Former Actress
*[[Mīrzā Kūchak Khān]] One of the  martyrs of freedom in Iran
*[[Arsen Minasian]] The Armenian founder of the first modern sanatorium in Iran
*[[Mohammad Moein]] Linguistics and literature researcher
*[[Ardeshir Mohassess]] A cartoonist from Rasht
*[[Youcef Nadarkhani]] Christian pastor sentenced to death for apostasy from Islam
*[[Mahmoud Namjoo]] The world's weightlifting champion
*[[Ardeshir Ovanessian]], Communist leader
*[[Ebrahim Poordavood]] (Born 1885)
*[[Dariush Ramezani]], Cartoonist
*[[Fazlollah Reza]] Former Iran's ambassador to [[UNICEF]]
*[[Anoushiravan Rohani]] Musician
*[[Sadeq Saba]] Head of [[BBC]] Persian Service
*[[Marjane Satrapi]] World award-winning film director
*[[Susan Taslimi]] Actress

==Suburbs==

*[[Golsar, Gilan|Golsar]]
*Manzarie
*Driving Tips
*Safi Mosque
*Diyanati
*Chomar Saray
*Lakan Shahr
*House of Challe
*Silver Desert
*Ostad Saray
*Pirsara
*Rashtian
*Sagharisazan
*Andishe Complex
*City Park
*Takhti
*Tazeh Abad
*Sabze Meydan
*Lakani
*Ziabari
*Sam
*Moalem
*Estakhr
*Hamidian
*Bisotun
*Motahari
*Shahrak e Qods
*Ab-o-Bargh

==Twin towns – Sister cities==
Rasht has signed the treaty of city twinning with the following cities:
*{{flagicon|BIH}} - [[Sarajevo]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
*{{flagicon|RUS}} - [[Moscow]], [[Russia]]
*{{flagicon|RUS}} - [[Astrakhan]], [[Russia]]
*{{flagicon|TUR}} - [[Trabzon]], [[Turkey]]
*{{flagicon|GEO}} - [[Kutaisi]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]
*{{flagicon|GER}} - [[Schwaebisch Hall]], [[Germany]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|Iran}}
{{Wikivoyage|Rasht}}
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.rasht.ir/ Rasht Municipality Organization شهرداري رشت]
* [http://www.damash.asia/fans Damash Rasht Football Team Fans Site]
* [http://www.irancaravan.com/GPR.htm Gilan Province]
* [http://www.iranchamber.com/cities/rasht/rasht.php/ Iran Chamber Society: Rasht]
* [http://www.iccim.org/English/Iran/gilan/ Iran Chamber of commerce, Industries & Mines: Gilan]
* [http://lexicorient.com/e.o/rasht.htm Encyclopedia of the Orient]
* [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0841175.html Info Please]
* [http://www.panoramio.com/user/3074930/tags/Rasht Photos of Rasht in Panoramio]
{{Gilan Province}}
{{Rasht County}}

[[Category:Populated places in Rasht County]]
[[Category:Cities in Iran]]
[[Category:Cities in Gilan Province]]
[[Category:Iranian provincial capitals]]
[[Category:Populated places on the Caspian Sea]]
[[Category:Populated places along the Silk Road]]
[[Category:Rasht]]