Fars

Fars is located north of Hormozgan and south of Esfahan. Geographically, the region is divided in two parts, the garmsir (warm area, sparsely settled) and the sardir (cold area). It was part of the ancient Achaemenid Empire (559-330 BCE) with Pasargadae as capital until Darius I the Great made Persepolis capital in the late 6th or early 5th century BCE. In 331, Alexander the Great defeated the Achaemenid army at Arbela and destroyed Persepolis. Fars becomes part of Seleucid kingdom in 312 BCE. The region was ruled by the Arsacids from 170-138 BCE, and was part of the Sasanid Empire from 224-651 CE. Under the Zard dynasty (1750-1794), Fars, with Shiraz as its capital, became a central part of the empire. In 20th century, the Trans-Iranian railway, as well as the discovery of oil in the province of Khuzestan, dramatically reduced the role of the Fars within Îrân.