Hamedan

Hamadan همدان
city
Ancient names: Ecbatana, Hangmatana
The Tomb of Avicenna
Seal
Hamadan Hamadan in Iran
Coordinates: 34°48′N 48°31′E / 34.800°N 48.517°E / 34.800; 48.517Coordinates: 34°48′N 48°31′E / 34.800°N 48.517°E / 34.800; 48.517
Country	Iran
Province	Hamadan
County	Hamadan
Bakhsh	Central
Elevation	1,850 m (6,069 ft)
Population (2006)
• Total	473,149
• Rank	14th in Iran
Time zone	IRST (UTC+3:30)
• Summer (DST)	IRDT (UTC+4:30)
Website	www.hamedan.ir

Hamadān (pronounced [Hæmædɒːn]) or Hamedān (Persian: همدان‎‎, Hamadān) (Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 473,149, in 127,812 families.

Hamadan is believed to be among the oldest Iranian cities and one of the oldest in the world. It is possible that it was occupied by the Assyrians in 1100 BCE; the Ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, states that it was the capital of the Medes, around 700 BCE.

Hamadan has a green mountainous area in the foothills of the 3,574-meter Alvand Mountain, in the midwest part of Iran. The city is 1,850 meters above sea level.

The special nature of this old city and its historic sites attract tourists during the summer to this city, located approximately 360 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of Tehran.

The main symbols of this city are the Ganj Nameh inscription, the Avicenna monument and the Baba Taher monument. The majority of the population is Persian; however, there is a considerable Azerbaijani minority.

According to Clifford Edmund Bosworth, "Hamadan is a very old city. It may conceivably, but improbably, be mentioned in cuneiform texts from ca. 1100 BC, the time of Assyrian King Tiglath-pilesar I, but is certainly mentioned by Herodotus (i.98) who says that the king of Media Diokes built the city of Agbatana or Ekbatana in the 7th century BC."

Hamadan was established by the Medes and was the capital of the Median Empire. It then became one of several capital cities of the Achaemenid Dynasty.