Hamadan province

Besides Mount Alvand, Mount Garu, and the Kharaqan range, Hamadan province contains the following major mountains:[7]

• Mount Lashgardar, southeast of Malayer; reaches a height of 2,928 m[7]
• Mount Khangurmaz, in Korzanrud rural district northwest of Tuyserkan; reaches a height of 2,868 m[7]
• Mount Siahdarreh, northwest of Tuyserkan; reaches a height of 2,818 m[7]
• Mount Safid Kuh, in Darjazin-e Olya rural district northeast of Hamadan[7]
• Mount Garma and Mount Sarma, both near Malayer[7]
• Mount Almuqulak, between Asadabad and Bahar; reaches a height of 2,997 m[7]
• Mount Buqati, about 85 km northeast of Hamadan in Sardrud district

The rivers that flow north and east from Mount Alvand are largely seasonal; they carry far less water in the summer if they flow at all.[7] The main ones are the Talvar and the Qarachay.[7] The Talvar is ultimately a tributary of the Safidrud, the longest river in Iran.[7] It begins on the slopes of the Kuh-e Safid, in the northwest of the province.[7] The Qarachay, which is also called the Siahrud, begins in the Alvand highlands between Hamadan and Malayer.[7] It receives several tributaries in the northern Alvand area, including the Siminarud, the Khaku, and the Farjin.[7] It then flows eastward and eventually reaches Lake Qom in Markazi province.[7]

The main rivers south of the Alvand range are the Gamasiab, which is another name for the Karkheh River in its upper stages, and the Qelqelrud, which is itself a tributary of the Gamasiab.[7] The Gamasiab rises southeast of Nahavand, near the lowest point in the province.[7] It crosses the Nahavand plain before receiving the Malayer and Qelqelrud as tributaries and eventually crosses the Zagros to the southwest.[7]

The most important dam in the province is the Ekbatan Dam (formerly called the Shahnaz Dam), which was built in 1963 on the Yalfan River some 10 km southeast of Hamadan.[7] Its reservoir has a capacity of 12 million cubic meters and it provides 2,400 liters of water per second, which is mostly used for agricultural irrigation.[7]

Hamadan province typically has relatively long, cold winters and mild summers.[7] There are usually between 120 and 140 days of frost throughout the year, and mountains are snow-covered for 6–8 months of the year.[7] Temperature extremes range from -32 °C in winter to 39 °C in summer, but average temperatures usually range between -4 °C in December and 25 °C in July.[7] The weather is generally milder the further south one goes.[7] During the winter, the northern plains are exposed to strong winds that blow 4 meters per second on average.[7] These winds are humid and are also accompanied by rainfall.[7] The province receives above-average rainfall, typically averaging 315 mm in a year.[7] Almost no rain falls during the summer, between June and September.[7]

In the valleys between the province's mountains, there are springs and small lakes that form "semi-autonomous ecosystems" as home for migratory birds.[7] For example, the seasonal marsh of Talab-e Aqgol, 20 km south of Malayer, is visited by 10 to 20 thousand birds every year during their route from the wetlands of Siberia and Scandinavia to warmer regions.[7] These birds live here for 4 to 5 months out of the year.[7] Among the birds that take part in this migration are geese, ducks, herons, cranes, and aigrettes.[7]

Several wildlife reserves in the province are home to other bird and mammal species.[7] Larger birds include royal eagles, golden eagles, falcons, hawks, owls, vultures; and larger mammals include wild goats, ibexes, wild boars, wolves, foxes, jackals, and hyenas.[7] There are about 100 each of wolves, foxes, and jackals in the province, and the hyena population is about 20.[7] These numbers have been fairly stable, and in general the population levels of predators and prey are balanced.[7]

As of 1996, Hamadan province had a population of 1,667,957 people, in 342,084 households.[8] A little under half these people (about 811,000, or 48.3%) lived in urban areas.[8] About half of this group lived in the city of Hamadan itself.[8] There has been increased urbanization since the 1990s.[8] About 868,000 people lived in rural villages.[8] About 10,000 people belonged to migratory tribes that spent either the summer (9,128 people) or winter (837 people) in the province.[8] The largest tribe that summers in Hamadan province is the Tork Yaram tribe, with 7,234 members, while the largest tribe that winters in the province is the Torkashvand tribe, with 608 members.[8] As of 1996, there were 1,122 rural villages in the province, with an average population of 773 people.[8] This average is over twice the national average for village size.[8] The population density was 86 people per square kilometer.[8]

Hamadan province has usually had net emigration, except for during the Iran-Iraq War when it took in a large number of refugees.[8] This continuing emigration partly offsets the natural growth rate due to births.[8]

Slightly over 77% of the province's population was literate as of 1996 (83.1% for men and 71.3% for women).[8] By this point, however, literacy was much higher in the younger population because access to primary education had increased - for example, the 6-10 age group had a literacy rate of 96.2% for boys and 94.9% for girls.[8] Of the literate population, 53.3% had attended school up to the primary level, 40.2% had attended up to high school, and 4.2% had attended higher education.[8]

The population of Hamadan province is overwhelmingly Muslim, with 99.88% of residents being Muslims as of 1996.[8]

Average household size was 4.85 members as of 1996.[8] 67.31% of sedentary, non-communal households consisted of the head of household, spouse, and children; 9.13% consisted of a married couple with no children; 5.1% consisted of a single parent with children; and the remaining 18.5% were other types of households.[8] A total of 8.9% of households had a woman as head of household, and 81.8% of heads of households were employed.[8]

As of 1996, the province had no households living in tents, barracks, or "other makeshift forms of housing".[8] 98.8% of households had access to electricity and 82.8% had access to piped water.[8] 44.2% of households had bathrooms, but there was a significant discrepancy between urban (72.1%) and rural (14.5%) households in this regard.[8] 22.7% of households had telephones in their homes; again, this was significantly higher in urban areas (38.3%) than in rural ones (14.5%).[8] In terms of homeownership, 78.8% of households owned their houses while 10.5% were lease holders.[8]

As of 1997, the average annual urban household income was 11,707,000 rials and the average expenses were 10,317,000 rials or 88% of the income.[8] For rural households, average income was 7,550,000 rials and average expenses were 6,933,000 rials or 92% of the income.[8]

In the city of Hamadan itself, most people speak Persian.[7] It is also spoken in some county centers.[9][10] Persian is also used as a lingua franca in other areas.[7] In the northern part of the province, most people speak Azerbaijani, and in the western areas near Kermanshah and Kordestan provinces, people speak Kurdish.[7] Luri and Laki are also spoken in some areas, such as around Malayer, Nahavand, and Samen.[7]

According to the 2016 census, 1,097,217 people (over 63% of the population of Hamadan province) live in the following cities: Ajin 2,738, Asadabad 55,703, Azandarian 11,171, Bahar 28,685, Barzul 2,457, Damaq 3,231, Famenin 14,208, Farasfaj 1,526, Firuzan 5,173, Giyan 8,186, Gol Tappeh 2,237, Hamadan 554,406, Jowkar 2,258, Juraqan 9,234, Kabudarahang 20,336, Lalejin 14,916, Malayer 170,237, Maryanaj 10,848, Mohajeran 7,331, Nahavand 76,162, Qahavand 2,970, Qorveh-e Darjazin 9,540, Razan 14,275, Salehabad 7,899, Samen 3,873, Sarkan 4,081, Shirin Su 2,460, Tuyserkan 50,455, and Zangeneh 621.[6]