Talesh County

Talesh County شهرستان تالش طوالش
County
Nature of Asalem county/Talesh mountain
Counties of Gilan Province
Location of Gilan Province in Iran
Country	Iran
Province	Gilan
Capital	Hashtpar
Bakhsh (Districts)	Central District, Asalem District, Haviq District, Kargan Rud District
Population (2011)
• Total	189,932
Time zone	IRST (UTC+3:30)
• Summer (DST)	IRDT (UTC+4:30)

Talesh County, also called Tavalesh (Persian: شهرستان تالش‎‎) is a county in Gilan Province in Iran. The capital of the county is Hashtpar.

The county is subdivided into four districts: the Central District, Asalem District, Haviq District, and Kargan Rud District.

The county has five cities: Hashtpar, Lisar, Asalem, Chubar, and Haviq. At the 2006 census, the county's population was 200,000, in 50,000 families.

Talesh is located on the southwestern coast of the Caspian Sea. Talesh County, covering an area of 2373 square kilometers, is ¼ of surface area of Gilan Province.

Talesh County has inland scenic areas in the Alborz mountain range, with intact natural habitats that are places for appreciating nature.

The Talysh peoples are, as archaeological studies show, one of the oldest inhabitants of the western littoral Caspian Sea areas, which stretches from Dagestan in the north, to Iran in the south. The Talysh have lived in what are known as "Talysh land" for millennia, and are amongst the native inhabitants of what is today Iran and neighboring Azerbaijan. There is a belief amongst scholars, as well as by the Talysh themselves who generally identify with the Cadusii, that the ancient Cadusii are the ancestor of the today’s Talysh.

The lands of the Talesh were much larger than the present day area. In olden times the geographical areas of the Talysh people was more than 10,000 km². At present the Taleshan live in Gilan Province, and some cities in Ardabil Province (Iran) and southeastern Azarbaijan.