| Tehran is the capital and largest city of Iran (Persia), the largest city in Southwest Asia and the administrative center of Tehran Province.
Most of Iranian industries are headquartered in Tehran. The industries include the manufacturing of automobiles, electronics and electrical equipment, military weaponry, textiles, sugar, cement, and chemical products. It is also a leading center for the sale of carpets and furniture. There is also an oil refinery located in south of the city.
Tehran is a sprawling city at the foot of the Alborz mountain range with an immense network of highways unparalleled in Western Asia. It is also the hub of the country's railway network. Although a relatively new city that does not evoke the history of other Iranian cities such as Isfahan, Shiraz, or Tabirz, Tehran has numerous large museums, art centers, palace complexes and cultural centers.
In the 20th century, Tehran faced a large migration of people from all around Iran. Today, the city contains a mix of various ethnic and religious minorities, and is filled with many historic mosques, churches, synagogues and Zoroastrian fire temples.
Tehran's climate is largely defined by its geographic location which has the towering Alborz mountains to its North and the central desert to the South. It can be generally described as mild in Spring, hot & dry in summer, cool and rainy in Autumn & cold in winter. The weather in Tehran is known to change rapidly. It can be cloudy & cool in the morning, hot and sunny at noon & rainy in the evening. As a big city with a great difference in elevation in each part, the weather condition are often different in the hilly north & the plain southern part of Tehran. Summer is usually hot & very dry with very little rain while the majority of precipitation occurs in a period between mid-Autumn to mid-Spring. The hottest month is July (mean.Min. 23 C, mean.Max. 36 C) and the coldest is January (mean.Min. -1C, mean.Max.8)
Although compared to other parts of the country, Tehran enjoys a moderate climate but the conditions can sometimes be unpredictably harsh. The record high temperature is 43C and the record low is -20C. On January 5 & 6, 2008, after years of relatively little snow, a wave of heavy snow & low temperatures shocked the city covering it in a thick layer of snow and ice and forcing the Council of Ministers to officially declare an state of emergency and calling the following two days (January 6-7) off for the capital.
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