Iran in other languages: exonyms, Tehran, 31 provinces and ISO codes
Iran is ایران (Irân) in Persian, officially جمهوری اسلامی ایران, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and carries the ISO codes IR, IRN and 364. The name stands here in 181 languages and variants, Tehran in 79, and each of the 31 provinces appears in Persian script with its seat and its ISO 3166-2 code.
Official languagesPersian (فارسی, fârsi)
Checked
- alpha-2
- IR
- alpha-3
- IRN
- numeric
- 364
جمهوری اسلامی ایرانJomhuriye Eslâmiye Irân
- English
- IranIslamic Republic of Iran
- Capital
- تهرانTehrân · Tehran
ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026
List of exonyms for Iran
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, Afrikaans, Bambara, Breton, Catalan, Cornish, Kashubian, Welsh, Danish, Lower Sorbian, Basque, Faroese, Kven, French, West Frisian, Friulian, Haitian Creole, Croatian, Upper Sorbian, Igbo, Interlingua, Indonesian, Italian, Javanese, Lingala, Ladin, Maltese, Nahuatl, Dutch, Norwegian, Novial, Occitan, Polish, Quechua, Romansh, Romanian, Aromanian, Sicilian, Slovenian, Northern Sami, Saterland Frisian, Swedish, Silesian, Tagalog, Walloon | eng / afr / bam / bre / cat / cor / csb / cym / dan / dsb / eus / fao / fkv / fra / fry / fur / hat / hrv / hsb / ibo / ina / ind / ita / jav / lin / lld / mlt / nah / nld / nor / nov / oci / pol / que / roh / ron / rup / scn / slv / sme / stq / swe / szl / tgl / wln | Iran | same as written |
| Aragonese, Asturian, Galician, Guarani, Hungarian, Slovak, Spanish | arg / ast / glg / grn / hun / slk / spa | Irán | same as written |
| Azerbaijani, Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, Karakalpak | aze / crh / gag / kaa | İran / Иран | İran |
| Estonian, Limburgish, Võro, Wolof | est / lim / vor / wol | Iraan | same as written |
| Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Samoan, Albanian | kin / run / smo / sqi | Irani | same as written |
| German, Luxembourgish, Low German | deu / ltz / nds | Iran | same as written |
| Turkish, Zazaki | tur / zza | İran | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | Iran / Иран / اٖىران | Iran |
| Czech | ces | Írán | same as written |
| Corsican | cos | Iranu | same as written |
| Esperanto | epo | Irano | same as written |
| Franco-Provençal | frp | Éran | same as written |
| Scottish Gaelic | gla | Ioràn, Iaran, Ìran | same as written |
| Irish | gle | An Iaráin, An Iráin | same as written |
| Manx | glv | Yn Eeraan | same as written |
| Hausa | hau | Iran, Pasha | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Íran | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Îran, Êran | same as written |
| Latin | lat | Irania, Persia | same as written |
| Latvian | lav | Irāna | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | Iranas | same as written |
| Latgalian | ltg | Irans | same as written |
| Malagasy | mlg | Irana | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Iran / Иран | Iran |
| Maori | mri | Īrāna | same as written |
| Malay | msa | Iran / ايران | Iran |
| Norman French | nrm | Perse, Iraun | same as written |
| Portuguese | por | Irão / Irã | same as written |
| Kalderash Romani | rmy | Iran / इरान | Iran |
| Slovio | slo | Irania / Ираниа | Irania |
| Samogitian | smg | Irans | same as written |
| Somali | som | Iiraan | same as written |
| Sardinian | srd | Iràn | same as written |
| Swahili | swa | Uajemi, Iran | same as written |
| Tetum | tet | Iraun | same as written |
| Talysh | tly | İron / Ирон | İron |
| Tongan | ton | ʻAileni | same as written |
| Turkmen | tuk | Eýran / Эйран | Eýran |
| Uzbek | uzb | Eron / Эрон / ئېران | Eron |
| Vietnamese | vie | Ba Tư, I-ran | same as written |
| Volapük | vol | Lirän | same as written |
| Abkhaz, Abaza, Altai, Avar, Bulgarian, Chuvash, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Lezgi, Meadow Mari, Macedonian, Ossetian, Russian, Yakut, Tuvan, Udmurt, Kalmyk | abk / abq / alt / ava / bul / chv / kjh / kom / krc / kum / lez / mhr / mkd / oss / rus / sah / tyv / udm / xal | Иран | Iran |
| Chechen, Serbian | che / srp | Иран / Iran | Iran |
| Rusyn, Ukrainian | rue / ukr | Іран | Iran |
| Bashkir | bak | Иран / İran | İran |
| Belarusian | bel | Іран / Iran | Iran |
| Kazakh | kaz | Иран / يران / Ïran | Ïran |
| Kabardian | kbd | Къажэрей, Иран | Qažărej, Iran |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Иран / ئران / İran | İran |
| Kurdish (Caucasus) | kmr | Иран / Îran | Îran |
| Tatar | tat | Иран / İran / ئىران | İran |
| Tajik | tgk | Эрон / ایران / Eron | Eron |
| Tat and Judeo-Tat | ttt/jdt | Ирон / אִראָן / Iron | Iron |
| Old Persian | peo | 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿 | Pārsa |
| Arabic | ara | إيران | Īrān |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | ایران / İran | İran |
| Sorani Kurdish | ckb | ئێران / Êran | Êran |
| Persian | fas | ایران / Irân | Irân |
| Mazandarani | mzn | ئيرون, ئيران | Īrūn, Īrān |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | ایران | Īrān |
| Dari | prs | ایران | Īrān |
| Pashto | pus | ايران | Īrān |
| Uyghur | uig | ئىران / Iran / Иран | Iran |
| Urdu | urd | ایران | Īrān |
| Dhivehi | div | އިރާން, އީރާން | Irān, Īrān |
| Syriac | syr | ܐܝܪܢ, ܐܝܪܐܢ | Īran, Īrān |
| Hebrew | heb | אירן, איראן | Īran, Īrān |
| Ladino | lad | איראן / Iran | Iran |
| Yiddish | yid | איראַן | Iran |
| Berber | ber | ⵉⵔⴰⵏ / Iran | Iran |
| Kabyle | kab | ⵉⵔⴰⵏ / Iran | Iran |
| Amharic | amh | ኢራን | Iran |
| Greek (Demotic) | ell | Ιράν | Irán |
| Greek (Katharevousa) | ell | Ἰράν | Irán |
| Armenian | hye | Իրան | Iran |
| Georgian, Mingrelian | kat / xmf | ირანი | Irani |
| Laz | lzz | ირანი / İrani | İrani |
| Hindi | hin | ईरान, इरान | Īrān, Irān |
| Nepali | nep | ईरान | Īrān |
| Bengali | ben | ইরান | Irān |
| Gujarati | guj | ઈરાન | Īrān |
| Odia | ori | ଇରାନ | Irān |
| Punjabi | pan | ਈਰਾਨ | Īrān |
| Sinhala | sin | ඉරානය | Irānaya |
| Kannada | kan | ಇರಾನ್ | Irān |
| Malayalam | mal | ഇറാൻ | Iṟān |
| Tamil | tam | ஈரான் | Īrāṉ |
| Telugu | tel | ఇరాన్ | Irān |
| Chinese | zho | 伊朗 | Yīlǎng |
| Cantonese | yue | 伊朗 | Yìlóhng |
| Japanese | jpn | イラン | Iran |
| Korean | kor | 이란 | Iran |
| Tibetan | bod | ཨི་རན།, ཡི་ལང། | I.ran, Yi.laṅ |
| Dzongkha | dzo | ཨི་རཱན། | I.rān |
| Burmese | mya | အီရန် | Iẏã |
| Thai | tha | อิหร่าน | I[h]rā̀n |
| Lao | lao | ອີຣານ | Īlān |
| Khmer | khm | អ៊ីរ៉ង់ | Īrăṅ |
Persian, Tajik and the Turkic languages that use more than one script show every form, separated by a slash. Latin keeps Persia beside Irania; Vietnamese, Swahili and Hausa also give a second name. Chinese and Cantonese share one written form and differ in reading.
Iran and Persia: two names for one country
Inside the country the name has long been ایران, Irân. Outside it, European languages used Persia until the 1930s. That form goes back to Old Persian 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿, Pārsa, the people among whom the Achaemenid dynasty arose, and the table still gives Pārsa in cuneiform as the Old Persian entry. In March 1935 Reza Shah asked foreign delegations to write Iran in official correspondence, and most languages followed.
Traces of the older usage remain in the list. Latin offers Irania and Persia, Norman French Perse and Iraun, Vietnamese Ba Tư next to the phonetic I-ran. Swahili writes Uajemi beside Iran, Hausa gives Pasha as a second form, and Kabardian lists Къажэрей before Иран.
Most other entries are adaptations of Irân to local sound systems: Írán in Czech, Irão and Irã in the two Portuguese norms, Eýran in Turkmen, Eron in Uzbek and Tajik. Georgian and Mingrelian add the nominative ending and write ირანი, Irani; Sinhala adds its definite suffix and writes ඉරානය, Irānaya.
Tehran in other languages
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, Zazaki | eng / zza | Tehran | same as written |
| Aragonese, Asturian, Czech, Galician, Hungarian, Slovak, Spanish | arg / ast / ces / glg / hun / slk / spa | Teherán | same as written |
| German, Luxembourgish, Low German | deu / ltz / nds | Teheran | same as written |
| Azerbaijani | aze | Tehran / Теһран | Tehran |
| Bosnian | bos | Teheran / Техеран / تەحەران | Teheran |
| Esperanto | epo | Tehrano | same as written |
| French | fra | Téhéran | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Tehran | same as written |
| Indonesian | ind | Teheran, Tehran | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Taran, Tehran | same as written |
| Latvian | lav | Teherāna | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | Teheranas | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Teheran / Техеран | Teheran |
| Malay | msa | Tehran / تهران | Tehran |
| Portuguese | por | Teerão, Teerã | same as written |
| Slovio | slo | Tehran / Техран | Tehran |
| Samogitian | smg | Teherans | same as written |
| Somali | som | Tahraan, Tehraan | same as written |
| Tetum | tet | Teeraun | same as written |
| Turkmen | tuk | Tähran / Тәхран | Tähran |
| Turkish | tur | Tahran | same as written |
| Uzbek | uzb | Tehron / Теҳрон / تېھران | Tehron |
| Vietnamese | vie | Tê-hê-răng | same as written |
| Kumyk, Lezgi | kum / lez | Тегьран | Tehran |
| Mongolian, Russian | mon / rus | Тегеран | Tegeran |
| Bashkir | bak | Тәһран / Tähran | Tähran |
| Belarusian | bel | Тэгеран / Tehieran, Тэгэран / Teheran | Tehieran, Teheran |
| Bulgarian | bul | Техеран | Teȟeran |
| Kazakh | kaz | Тегеран / تەگەران / Tegeran | Tegeran |
| Kabardian | kbd | Дыхьэрэн | Dyḥărăn |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Тегеран / تەگەران / Tegeran | Tegeran |
| Lak | lbe | Тегьеран | Teheran |
| Ossetian | oss | Тӕхран | Täȟran |
| Serbian | srp | Техеран / Teheran | Teheran |
| Tatar | tat | Тәһран / Tähran / تەھران | Tähran |
| Tajik | tgk | Теҳрон / تهران / Tehron | Tehron |
| Ukrainian | ukr | Тегеран | Teheran |
| Arabic | ara | طهران | Ṭahrān |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | تئهران / Tehran | Tehran |
| Sorani Kurdish | ckb | تاران / Taran | Taran |
| Persian | fas | تهران / Tehrân, طهران / Tehrân | Tehrân, Tehrân |
| Mazandarani | mzn | تهرون | Tahrūn |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | تہران | Tehrān |
| Pashto | pus | تهران | Tehrān |
| Uyghur | uig | تەھران / Tehran / Тәһран | Tehran |
| Urdu | urd | تہران | Tehrān |
| Syriac | syr | ܛܗܪܢ | Ṭehran |
| Hebrew | heb | טהרן, טהראן | Ṭehran, Ṭehrān |
| Yiddish | yid | טעהראַן | Tehran |
| Amharic | amh | ቴህራን | Tehran |
| Greek | ell | Τεχεράνη | Teȟeránī |
| Armenian | hye | Թեհրան | T̕ehran |
| Georgian | kat | თეირანი | Ṭeirani |
| Hindi | hin | तेहरान | Tehrān |
| Nepali | nep | तेह्रान | Tehrān |
| Bengali | ben | তেহরান, তেহ্রাণ | Tehrān, Tehrāṇ |
| Gujarati | guj | તેહરાન | Teharān |
| Punjabi | pan | ਤਹਿਰਾਨ, ਤਿਹ੍ਰਾਨ | Tahirān, Tihrān |
| Kannada | kan | ತೆಹರಾನ್ | Teharān |
| Malayalam | mal | ടെഹ്റാൻ | Ṭehṟān |
| Tamil | tam | டெஹ்ரான், டெஹரான், தெஹரான் | Ṭehrāṉ, Ṭeharāṉ, Teharāṉ |
| Telugu | tel | టెహరాన్, టెహ్రాన్ | Ṭeharān, Ṭehrān |
| Chinese | zho | 徳黒蘭/德黑兰 | Déhēilán |
| Japanese | jpn | テヘラン | Teheran |
| Korean | kor | 테헤란 | Teheran |
| Tibetan | bod | ཐེ་ཧེ་རན།, ཏེ་ཧེ་ལན། | Tʰe.he.ran, Te.he.lan |
| Thai | tha | เตหะราน | Tēharān |
| Khmer | khm | តេអេរ៉ង់, តេហ្រាន | Te'erăṅ, Tehrān |
Persian has two spellings of the capital, تهران and the older طهران with ط, the form Arabic uses. Russian writes the h as г, Тегеран.
The 31 provinces of Iran in Persian with ISO 3166-2 codes
Each province (استان, ostân) is listed with its full Persian name and a transliteration, the name in the BGN/PCGN romanisation that ISO 3166-2 publishes, an English form and the provincial seat. ISO renumbered nearly every code on 24 November 2020; the earlier code stands below the current one.
| ISO 3166-2 | Persian | ISO 3166-2 name | English | Administrative centre | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provinces استانها ostânhâ31 | |||||
| IR-30was IR-32 | استان البرزOstâne Alborz | Alborz | Alborz | کرجKaraj | 2014 Added as IR-32, the 31st province |
| IR-24was IR-03 | استان اردبیلOstâne Ardabil | Ardabīl | Ardabil | اردبیلArdabil | |
| IR-18was IR-06 | استان بوشهرOstâne Bušehr | Būshehr | Bushehr | بوشهرBušehr | |
| IR-14was IR-08 | استان چهارمحال و بختیاریOstâne Cahârmahâlo Baxtiyâri | Chahār Maḩāl va Bakhtīārī | Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari | شهرکردŠahre Kord | |
| IR-03was IR-01 | استان آذربایجان شرقیOstâne Âzarbâyejâne Šarqi | Āz̄ārbāyjān-e Shārqī | East Azerbaijan | تبریزTabriz | |
| IR-07was IR-14 | استان فارسOstâne Fârs | Fārs | Fars | شیرازŠirâz | |
| IR-01was IR-19 | استان گیلانOstâne Gilân | Gīlān | Gilan | رشتRašt | |
| IR-27 | استان گلستانOstâne Golestân | Golestān | Golestan | گرگانGorgân | 2002 Added to the ISO list |
| IR-13was IR-24 | استان همدانOstâne Hamadân | Hamadān | Hamadan | همدانHamadân | |
| IR-22was IR-23 | استان هرمزگانOstâne Hormozgân | Hormozgān | Hormozgan | بندرعباسBandar-Abbâs | |
| IR-16was IR-05 | استان ایلامOstâne Ilâm | Īlām | Ilam | ایلامIlâm | |
| IR-10was IR-04 | استان اصفهانOstâne Esfahân | Eşfahān | Isfahan | اصفهانEsfahân | |
| IR-08was IR-15 | استان کرمانOstâne Kermân | Kermān | Kerman | کرمانKermân | |
| IR-05was IR-17 | استان کرمانشاهOstâne Kermânšâh | Kermānshāh | Kermanshah | کرمانشاهKermânšâh | |
| IR-06was IR-10 | استان خوزستانOstâne Xuzestân | Khūzestān | Khuzestan | اهوازAhvâz | |
| IR-17was IR-18 | استان کهگیلویه و بویراحمدOstâne Kohgiluyevo Boyer Ahmad | Kohgīlūyeh va Bowyer Aḩmad | Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad | یاسوجYâsuj | |
| IR-12was IR-16 | استان کردستانOstâne Kordestân | Kordestān | Kurdistan | سنندجSanandaj | |
| IR-15was IR-20 | استان لرستانOstâne Lorestân | Lorestān | Lorestan | خرمآبادXorramâbâd | |
| IR-00was IR-22 | استان مرکزیOstâne Markazi | Markazī | Markazi | اراکArâk | |
| IR-02was IR-21 | استان مازندرانOstâne Mâzandarân | Māzandarān | Mazandaran | ساریSâri | |
| IR-28was IR-31 | استان خراسان شمالیOstâne Xorâsâne Šemâli | Khorāsān-e Shomālī | North Khorasan | بجنوردBojnurd | 2007 One of three provinces that replaced Khorāsān (IR-09) |
| IR-26was IR-28 | استان قزوینOstâne Qazvin | Qazvīn | Qazvin | قزوینQazvin | 2002 Added to the ISO list |
| IR-25was IR-26 | استان قمOstâne Qom | Qom | Qom | قمQom | |
| IR-09was IR-30 | استان خراسان رضویOstâne Xorâsâne Razavi | Khorāsān-e Raẕavī | Razavi Khorasan | مشهدMašhad | 2007 One of three provinces that replaced Khorāsān (IR-09) |
| IR-20was IR-12 | استان سمنانOstâne Semnân | Semnān | Semnan | سمنانSemnân | |
| IR-11was IR-13 | استان سیستان و بلوچستانOstâne Sistâno Balucestân | Sīstān va Balūchestān | Sistan and Baluchestan | زاهدانZâhedân | |
| IR-29 | استان خراسان جنوبیOstâne Xorâsâne Janubi | Khorāsān-e Jonūbī | South Khorasan | بیرجندBirjand | 2007 One of three provinces that replaced Khorāsān (IR-09) |
| IR-23was IR-07 | استان تهرانOstâne Tehrân | Tehrān | Tehran | تهرانTehrân | |
| IR-04was IR-02 | استان آذربایجان غربیOstâne Âzarbâyejâne Qarbi | Āz̄ārbāyjān-e Ghārbī | West Azerbaijan | ارومیهOrumiye | |
| IR-21was IR-25 | استان یزدOstâne Yazd | Yazd | Yazd | یزدYazd | |
| IR-19was IR-11 | استان زنجانOstâne Zanjân | Zanjān | Zanjan | زنجانZanjân | |
Codes and ISO names: ISO 3166-2:IR on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, read from its English Wikipedia mirror on 28 October 2026; English names follow common usage, so IR-09 is Razavi Khorasan, the name of the province's Wikipedia article, where the ISO table gives its alternative name Central Khorasan. Persian names, transliterations and seats: the 2017 edition of this list.
From 28 to 31 provinces
In 2003 Iran had 28 provinces, among them a single Khorāsān (خراسان) with its seat at Mashhad. ISO added Golestān and Qazvīn in May 2002. In April 2007 it deleted Khorāsān and coded its three successors: South Khorasan with its seat at Birjand, Razavi Khorasan at Mashhad and North Khorasan at Bojnurd. Alborz, centred on Karaj, joined the list as IR-32 in October 2014.
The 2020 update left the names alone and changed the numbers, so that East Azerbaijan went from IR-01 to IR-03 and Gilan from IR-19 to IR-01. Only Golestan (IR-27) and South Khorasan (IR-29) kept their codes. Data keyed to the old codes therefore needs the former code shown under each row.
Every Persian name opens with استان and joins it to the province name with the ezafe, the linking vowel -e: استان فارس is Ostâne Fârs, the province of Fars. Two names join a pair with و, and: چهارمحال و بختیاری and سیستان و بلوچستان. Persian writes letters that standard Arabic lacks, and the list shows them in use: گ in گیلان and گلستان, چ in چهارمحال, پ in the names of other places.
Questions about the names and provinces of Iran
What are Iran's ISO country codes?
IR (alpha-2), IRN (alpha-3) and 364 (numeric) in ISO 3166-1. ISO's short name is Iran, Islamic Republic of.
How many provinces does Iran have?
31. ISO 3166-2:IR codes them from IR-00 Markazi to IR-30 Alborz. The two-digit numbers have been in use since the update of 24 November 2020.
Why was Iran called Persia in English?
Greek and Latin named the country after Pārsa, the Old Persian name of the Persians and their homeland. The Persian name was always ایران; in 1935 the government asked foreign states to use Iran.
How do you write Tehran in Persian?
تهران, Tehrân. An older spelling with ط, طهران, is also used, and it is the form found in Arabic.
What is Iran called in Swahili?
Uajemi, with Iran as the second form.