Tehran, Iran - Image of the Week (2024)

Tehran is the capital of Iran and TehranProvince. With a population of around 9 million in the city and 16 millionin the wider metropolitan area, Tehran is the most populous city in Iran andWestern Asia, and the second-largest metropolitan area in the Middle East.It is ranked 29th in the world by the population of its metropolitan area.In the Classical era, part of the present-day city of Tehran was occupied bya Median city that in the Avesta occurs as Rhaga. It was destroyed by theMongols in the early 13th century, and remains now as a city in TehranProvince, located towards the southern end of the modern-day city of Tehran.

Tehran was first chosen as the capital of Iran by Agha Mohammad Khan of theQajar dynasty in 1796, in order to remain within close reach of Iran'sterritories in the Caucasus, before being separated from Iran as a result ofthe Russo-Persian Wars, and to avoid the vying factions of the previouslyruling Iranian dynasties. The capital has been moved several timesthroughout history, and Tehran is the 32nd national capital of Iran. Thecity was the seat of the Qajars and Pahlavis, the two last imperialdynasties of Iran. It is home to many historical collections, such as theroyal complexes of Golestan, Sa'dabad, and Niavaran, as well as thecountry's most important governmental buildings of the modern period. Largescale demolition and rebuilding began in the 1920s, and Tehran has been adestination for the mass migrations from all over Iran since the 20thcentury. The most famous landmarks of the city include the Azadi Tower, amemorial built during the Pahlavi period, and the Milad Tower, the world's17th tallest freestanding structure, which was built in 2007. Tabiat Bridge,which was completed in 2014, is considered the third contemporary symbol ofthe city.

The majority of the people of Tehran are Persian-speaking people, androughly 99% of the population understand and speak Persian; but there arealso large populations of other Iranian ethnicities in the city such asAzerbaijanis, Armenians, Lurs and Kurds who speak Persian as their secondlanguage. Tehran is served by the Mehrabad and Khomeini internationalairports, a central railway station, the rapid transit rail system of theTehran Metro, as well as a trolleybus and a BRT system, and has a largenetwork of highways. There have been plans to relocate Iran's capital fromTehran to another area; due mainly to air pollution and the city's exposureto earthquakes. To date, no definitive plans have been approved. A 2016survey of 230 cities by consultant Mercer ranked Tehran 203rd for quality ofliving. According to the Global Destinations Cities Index in 2016, Tehran isamong the top ten fastest growing destinations.

More information is available onWikipedia

Tehran or Teheran, capital and largest city of Iran, and capital of Tehranprovince, is located in the northern part of the country. Tehran is Iran'sadministrative, economic, and cultural centre as well as the majorindustrial and transport centre of the region. The city sits on the slopesof the Elburz Mountains, about 1,173m above sea level, on the northwesternfringes of the Kavir desert. Although the name Tehran means "warm place",the climate has marked seasonal contrasts, with short springs and autumnsseparating cold winters and hot, dry summers.

Tehran is one of the largest urban centres in the Middle East. In the 1980sthe metropolitan region grew rapidly, partly due to surging birthratesfollowing the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but also because of increasedmigration from rural to urban areas, as well as an influx of refugees fromthe Iran-Iraq War and fighting in Afghanistan. The density of the inner cityforced many of these migrants to settle in outlying areas.

The aim of these images acquired by the Landsat family, with a time window(before/after) of 28 years, is to show how Tehran has changed since 1988.The skyline of the city has developed with new areas constructed, particularlyin the north west of the city and new infrastructure; such as the area wherethe airport is now located in the south.

Another aim of these images is to promote the opportunity to download Landsat data through the ESA portals(or third party mission free catalogue), where images captured every day are made available in near real time to the users and the scientific community.

Landsat full resolution data products are freely available for immediate download at:

• LANDSAT-8 portal
• LANDSAT 1-7 portal

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View Landsat4 TM high resolution image (JPG 6.3 MB)

View Landsat 8 OLI high resolution image(JPG 6.9 MB)

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