Located in the north - central part of Iran, on the southern slope of the Alborz Mountains, Tehran covers an area of 1500 sq kms. As the capital of the country it is the most populated and the center of cultural, economical, political and social activities. In the distant past ,Tehran was a village containing numerous gardens, but in the safavid period its importance increased.
Tehran’s development as an independent city, however, began in the 18th century, when it was finally announced as Iran’s capital by Agha Mohammad Khan, the first of the Qajars impressed with Tehran, in 1995, because of its enjoying special importance from the geographical, political, and economical points of view. That is why most of the historical buildings of Tehran are of the Qajar period.
