Iran
The provinces of Iran are further subdivided into counties called shahrestan (Persian: شهرستان shahrestān), an area inside an ostan, and consisting of a city centre, a few bakhsh (Persian: بخش bakhsh), and many villages around them. There are usually a few cities (Persian: شهر shahar) and rural agglomerations (Persian: دهستان dehestān) in each county. Rural agglomerations are a collection of a number of villages. One of the cities of the county is appointed as the capital of the county.
Each shahrestan has a government office known as Farmandari, which coordinates different events and government offices. The Farmandar, or the head of Farmandari, is the governor of the Shahrestan.
Fars Province has the highest number of Shahrestans, with 23, while Semnān and South Khorasan have only 4 Shahrestans each; Qom uniquely has one, being coextensive with its namesake county. Iran had 324 Shahrestans in 2005.
Read more about this topic: County
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