Qum

Qom
قم
Komb, Koama, Stanber Boffart Qoad, Memjan

کلانشهر قم · Qom Metropolis

Seal

Nickname(s): Religious Capital Of Iran, Cultural Hub Of Iran, Scientific Capital Of Iran, The City Of Bookshops

Qom

Coordinates: 34°38′24″N 50°52′35″E / 34.64000°N 50.87639°ECoordinates: 34°38′24″N 50°52′35″E / 34.64000°N 50.87639°E

Iran

Government

• Mayor

Mohammad Delbari

Elevation

928 m (3,045 ft)

Population (2011)

• Total

1,374,036

• Population Rank in Iran

7th

Time zone

IRST (UTC+3:30)

• Summer (DST)

IRDT (UTC+4:30)

Postal code

37100

Area code(s)

(+98) 25

Website

www.qom.ir

Qom ( pronunciation ) (Persian: قم‎‎), also spelled as Ghom, is the eighth largest city in Iran. It lies 125 kilometres or 78 miles by road southwest of Tehran and is the capital of Qom Province. At the 2011 census its population was 1,074,036 (957,496 at the 2006 census, in 241,827 families), comprising 545,704 men and 528,332 women. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River.

Qom is considered holy by Shiʿa Islam, as it is the site of the shrine of Fatema Mæ'sume, sister of Imam `Ali ibn Musa Rida (Persian Imam Reza, 789–816 AD). The city is the largest center for Shiʿa scholarship in the world, and is a significant destination of pilgrimage. Qom is famous for a brittle toffee called “Sohan” (Persian:سوهان), considered a souvenir of the city and sold by 2,000 to 2,500 “Sohan” shops.

Qom has developed into a lively industrial centre owing in part to its proximity to Tehran. It is a regional centre for the distribution of petroleum and petroleum products, and a natural gas pipeline from Bandar Anzali and Tehran and a crude-oil pipeline from Tehran run through Qom to the Abadan refinery on the Persian Gulf. Qom gained additional prosperity when oil fields were discovered at Sarajeh near the city in 1956 and a large refinery was built between Qom and Tehran.

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Wikipedia