Kermān Province

Kermān is one of the 30 provinces of Iran. It is in the south-east of the country. Its center is Kerman. The province of Kerman is the second largest province in Iran, 180,836 km². The population of the province is about 2 million. The main townships of Kerman province are: Baft, Bardsir, Bam, Jiroft, Rafsanjan, Zarand, Sirjan, Shahr-e-Babak, Kerman, Mahan ,Rayen , Kahnuj, Ghale-Ganj, Manujan, Roodbar-e-Jonob, Anbar Abad,and Ravar.
In the year 1996, 52.9% of Kerman's population lived in urban areas, and 46% in the rural vicinities, the remaining 1.1% accounted as non residents. The city of Kerman (population: 400,000) embraces about 80% of the urban population, being the most developed and largest city of the province.

History and culture

Kerman province is considered a paradise for palaeontologists because of an abundance of vertebrate fossils from different geological eras. Fossils include Placodermi, jawed and jawless armoured fish dating back to Devonian era or first geological era (395 to 365 million years ago), dinosaurs dating back to the Jurassic era (195 to 65 million years ago) and mammals from the Third Geological Era (ranging from two to seven million years ago).
The history of human settlements in the territory of Kerman dates back to the 4th millennium BC. This area is considered as one of the ancient regions of Iran and valuable historical vestiges have been discovered here. Jiroft is an example, where a previously unknown settlement dating back to around 2500BC has just been established by archeologists. Kerman has an abundance of historical sites and landmarks, 283 in total, according to Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization. Ancient abandoned citadels such as Arg-é Bam and Rayen castle have been preserved in the desert for two thousand years.
Historical documents refer to Kerman as "Karmania", "Kermania", "Germania" and "Žermanya", which means bravery and combat. Geographers have recorded Kerman's ancient name as "Go'asheer" (Bardesheer).