Kurdistan, Land of Color, Happiness & Kindness
Geographical Situation of Kurdistan Province
Kurdistan province is located at the west of Iran, with the approximate area of 29137 sqm., adjacent to Iraq border, from north, it has common border with West Azerbaijan and a part of Zanjan, from east, with Hamadan and another part of Zanjan, from south, with Kermanshah and from west, with Iraq (Kurdish province of Sulaymaneyah). According to the latest state divisions in 2005, Kurdistan province has got 10 cities, 25 towns, 23 districts, 79 rural districts and 1767 villages. The cities of Kurdistan province are: Sanandaj, Baneh, Bijar, Divandareh, Sarvabad, Saghez, Ghorveh, Kamyaran, Marivan and Dehgolan. Sanandaj is the capital city of Kurdistan province and is located at 485 Km of Tehran. According to general census of population and housing done in 2016, population of Kurdistan is 1560821 people, out of which Sanandaj with population of 492849 people is the most crowded city and Saghez stood at the second rank.
Natural and Climate Condition of Kurdistan Province:
Kurdistan province is a mountainous region, with the height of 2000 meters from sea. It is considered as one of the highest provinces throughout the country. The direction of development and establishment of heights are in a way that the first rainfall resulted from rain air mass at west would be here. At high points it would be as snow and at low points it would be as rain. The annual average of rainfall is 500 mm in the province. The most amount of rainfall is in Marivan (800 mm a year).
The difference between the highest and the lowest point in the province is 2400 meters. Mount Shaho, with the height of 3390 meters, is the highest point located at southwest of the province and Alout region in Baneh, with the height of 900 meters, is the lowest point. This difference in height is the reason of various climates in this province, which is important in terms of tourism. Kurdistan province has various and valuable attractions in terms of climate diversity, natural environment and topography. Since most of the cities are located on high hills, so you can find beautiful landscapes. Based on world standards, the favorite temperature for tourists is between 20 to 25 Co; regarding the daily average of temperature in the province, the best time to visit Kurdistan is from April through November. The average temperature is 22 to 28 Co during this period. Because of heavy rains in March and April and consequently vegetation of the region, it is the best time for performing natural tours in Kurdistan province.
Also the average of 110 days of really cold days provides the background for winter sports and festivals such as skiing, winter hiking and winter festivals including making snowmen.
The rivers of the province mostly flow into Caspean Sea and Urmia Lake. Some of them flow into Iraq. Qezelozan and its branches including Qam Choqay, Ozandareh, Troval and Shour, flows into the Caspian sea. Zarineh Roud, the main branch of which called Cham Saghez, and another branch of it called Khor Khoreh, and another branches flow into Simineh Roud which is called Tatahou in Saghez and at the end flow into Urmia lake.
Sirvan is the longest river in Kurdistan and its important branches are: Dezli Marivan, Gardalan, Razab Qatvand, Gaveh Roud and Qeshlaq. It flows into Iraq. Since they are located in deep valleys and because of high volume of discharge (flow rate of water) in spring, they are appropriate for boat riding and rafting. Also there are lots of wild birds, trees and flowers along the sides of these rivers. Tourists can find and enjoy unique and picturesque scenes in valleys and mountains in many paths of Sirvan in Uraman.
There several lakes throughout the province such as Zerivar in Marivan, Qeshlaq at 15 Km of Sanandaj, Sad Gavshan at 45 Km of Sanandaj and Sad Bookan in the north of Saghez, Sad Azad at 60 Km of Sanandaj-Marivan road, Sad Siazakh at 15 Km of west of Divandareh, Sad Cheraq Veis at 25 Km of Saghez-Baneh road. All these lakes are suitable for tours.
Also, the area of forest cover in Kurdistan province is 320 hectare located at the west regions and has got the second rank after the jungles in the north of Iran. These jungles includes the north of Baneh , Marivan and a part of southwest of the province and most of them include oak, oak apple, European pear, European ash and prunus incana (a kind of sour berries). The combination of mountain, jungles and river at the regions located at the west of the province has a really fantastic view and attract those into nature. Concerning the above-mentioned reasons and based on the reports by Environment Organization of the province, there are 34 hunting grounds in the region. These hunting grounds comprising the preserved regions with a lot of different kinds of mammals, birds and reptiles such as deer, ovis aries, Armenian mouflon, bear, wild boar, wolf, Pallas’s cat and rabbit.
All these mentioned factors together with lack of natural disasters’ record such as severe earthquake, flood, wind and storms make Kurdistan province a desirable environment for tourists.