Karaj, Alborz, Iran

History | Geography | Transport : Rail : Road : Bus : Metro : Air | Economy | Education | Sport

🇮🇷 Karaj is the fourth largest city in Iran, being in close proximity of the capital Tehran. It is in the Central District of Karaj County, Alborz province, Iran, and serves as capital of the county.

Most of the 1,419 km² (548 sq mi) county is rugged mountain. The urban area is the fourth-largest in Iran, after Tehran, Mashhad, and Isfahan. Eshtehard County and Fardis County were split off from Karaj County since the previous census.

The earliest records of Karaj date back to the 30th century BC. The city was developed under the rule of the Safavid and Qajar dynasties and is home to historical buildings and memorials from those eras. This city has a unique climate due to access to natural resources such as many trees, rivers, and green plains. After Tehran, Karaj is the largest immigrant-friendly city in Iran, so it has been nicknamed "Little Iran".

History The area around Karaj has been inhabited for thousands of years, such as at the Bronze Age site of Tepe Khurvin and the Iron Age site of Kalak. However, the present-day city of Karaj is mostly the result of modern industrial development in the 20th century.

Historically, Karaj was mostly significant as a stage on the road between Tehran and Qazvin. In Safavid times, a stone bridge was built that served as the main crossing into the town. The large Shah-Abbasi Caravansary, located at the south-east of Towhid Square, was built in the same era, under the rule of Šāh Esmāil.

In 1810, the Qajar prince Soleyman Mirza built the Soleymaniyeh Palace at Kajar to serve as a summer resort. The palace had four towers and was surrounded by gardens, and its reception room featured a pair of paintings by Abdallah Khan Naqqashbandi. By 1860, however, the palace was described as abandoned and only used as a shelter for travelers. Naser al-Din Shah Qajar later renovated the palace. In 1917, a School of Farming was established on the site, replacing the earlier Mozaffari Agricultural School in Tehran. Later, Reza Shah Pahlavi granted it to the University of Tehran's new Faculty of Agriculture.

In the 1930s, plans were drawn up for a large industrial complex covering 216 hectares on the south side of the village. This "Industrial Model Town of Karaj" was intended to be the site of the country's first steel mills, capitalizing on easy access to water and coal from the Alborz. However, the construction equipment imported from Germany was seized by the British at the Suez Canal, and the planned complex was never built.

A major industrial complex, the first privately-owned one in Karaj, was built in the 1960s by Mohammad-Sadeq Fateh. This complex, called Shahrak-e Jahanshahr, included oil, tea, and textile factories as well as housing for the workers.

The Morvārid Palace was constructed in nearby Mehršahr district, during the Pahlavi era. It was designed by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation (Taliesin Associated Architects) on instructions from Shams Pahlavi, elder sister of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In this period it was a transit and industrial town.

Majority of the structure is now controlled by the Basij Organization, and some sections of it are open to public under the operation of Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran.

Other historical sites of the city include the Mausoleum of Šāhzāde Soleymān, Emāmzāde Rahmān, Emāmzāde Zeyd, and Palang Ābād e Eštehārd.

Geography The downtown of Karaj is usually referred to Karaj Square, located hundred of meters to the west of Karaj River and the old Karaj Bridge. The villages Hesārak, Gowhar Dašt, and Šahrak e Azimie are located in the northern Greater Karaj.

Meškin Dašt, a large agricultural area between Mehršahr and Fardis, is near Karaj.

Transport: Rail Karaj is connected by railway and highways to Tehran 40 km east and Qazvin 100 km north-west, and by commuter rail to the subway system of Tehran.

The city is served by an urban railway organization established on 21 December 2001. It is also served by the Karaj Metro Station which was established on 7 March 1999, and is located in the south-eastern Karaj, near Tehran–Qazvin Freeway.

Transport: Road The highway system of Karaj includes Tehran–Karaj Highway, Karaj Special Road, and the old road of Karaj (Fath Highway). Bākeri Expressway is one of the main north-to-south routes in west Tehran, which is connected to the Tehran–Karaj Highway. Tehran–Karaj Highway is one of the busiest sections in Iran with AADT of 217084. Karaj–Qazvin has an AADT of 79606.

The aerial transport of Karaj is served by the Payam International Airport, which was established in 1990, and was officially opened in 1997.

Transport: Bus Currently, the total number of buses in Karaj and the suburbs are 1,600 units. More than 80 lines serve citizens.

Preparing Alborz Card can reduce the cost of travel tickets.

Transport: Metro Karaj Metro is an efficient way to travel inside the city. One line connects west and east of the city (from Karaj Station to Golshahr Station). It continues eastward until Tehran. On its way to Tehran, it stops at Chitgar park and Azadi stadium. The second line of Karaj metro (north to south) is under construction.

Transport: Air Payam International Airport, is an international airport located in Karaj, 40 km (25  mi) from Tehran, in the Alborz Province of Iran. The airport was established in 1990, but was not opened officially until 1997. Payam Aviation Services Co. operates the airport as part of Payam Special Economic Zone. Payam Air previously operated an airmail hub at the airport. Currently, this airport and its special area are used for purposes such as cargo transit, commercial transportation, and goods mail in the development of the country's communication and information technology industries.

Economy The economic base of Karaj is its proximity to Tehran. It is due to the transportation of products between Tehran and the Caspian Sea. Chemicals, fertilizers and processed agricultural goods are also produced in the city.

Zowb Āhan, the avenue leading to an industrial plant, is located at the south of Ostandar Square. Zowb e Āhan or Zowb Āhan, literally "steel mill", was a contract between the Pahlavi government and a consortium from Nazi Germany. The establishment of the factory Zowb Āhan e Karaj was halted by the beginning of the Second World War, and it was never launched.

Šahrak-e Jahānšahr was the first modern private industrial and housing complex of Karaj, built in the 1960s. The factories Jahān Čit (textile factory), Rowqan Nabāti e Jahān (oil factory), and Čāy e Jahān (tea factory), were established at the complex. It is one of the largest industrial zones of the nation, with a 20% share of the national GDP.

The special economic zone of Payam, with an area about 3,600 ha (36 km2; 8,900 acres) within the territory of Payam International Airport, was established in Karaj for development of air cargo and postal transportation, cold store, and packing services, as well as perishable and time sensitive exports. It is the only SEZ in the region with the privilege of its own airline.

Education Educational and research centres of the city include: • University of Tehran (Agriculture and Natural Resources College) • Kharazmi University (Karaj Campus) • Tehran University of Art (Karaj Campus) • Payame Noor University (Karaj Center) • Technical and Vocational University (Alborz Province) • University of Applied Science and Technology (Alborz Province) • Farhangian University (Alborz Province) • Alborz University of Medical Sciences • Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch • Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute • Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization • Materials and Energy Research Center • Standard Research Institute • Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute (Center of Agriculture and Nuclear Medicine).

Sport Karaj was formerly home of the Persian Gulf Pro League club, Saipa, for several years and this club won its first league championship in this city, however in 2014 the team relocated to Tehran. Currently the only professional football team in city is Oxin Alborz that play in the Azadegan League. The Home stadium of Oxin Alborz F.C. is Enghelab Stadium that located in Karaj Enghelab sport complex and has a capacity of 15,000 people. The stadium held a match between Iran and Indonesia in June 2009. The stadium also held an international match, on May 1, 2012, where Iran's National Football team played Mozambique.

Saipa volleyball team lost to Kalleh in this stadium in 2011–12 and became the runner-up in the final match of the country's volleyball premier league. Saipa has won the runner-up title of Iran Super League seven times.

One of the international ski resorts of Iran The, Dizin ski resort, is located a few km north-east of the city, in the Alborz. In Dizin, along with skiing facilities, there are tennis courtyards, a slope for skiing on turf, some altitudes for mountain climbing and walking as well as riding and some routes for cycling. Karaj also has an international tennis complex which is used to training and tournaments. Jahanshahr International Tennis Complex is located in Bagh Fateh. This park has eight practice courts and one competition court with a capacity of 1,200 people. It is the only tennis complex in Iran that has covered courts.

Karaj, Alborz, Iran 

Karaj has a population of over 1,970,000 people. Karaj also forms part of the Greater Tehran metropolitan area which has a population of over 15,000,000 people.

To set up a UBI Lab for Karaj see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

North of: 35.817

🇯🇵 Yashio 35.82

🇯🇵 Warabi 35.827

🇰🇷 Jeonju 35.827

🇹🇳 Sousse 35.829

🇯🇵 Iruma 35.833

🇯🇵 Shiki 35.833

🇯🇵 Inzai 35.837

🇰🇷 Gyeongju 35.84

🇯🇵 Ina 35.841

🇺🇸 Jonesboro 35.844

South of: 35.817

🇯🇵 Misato 35.817

🇯🇵 Sōka 35.817

🇯🇵 Toda 35.817

🇺🇸 Humboldt 35.817

🇯🇵 Kawaguchi 35.805

🇰🇷 Gimje 35.8

🇯🇵 Asaka 35.794

🇯🇵 Tokorozawa 35.792

🇺🇸 Cary 35.792

🇲🇦 Tangier 35.784

Antipodal to Karaj is: -129.067,-35.817

Locations Near: Karaj 50.9333,35.8167

🇮🇷 Robāţ Karīm 51.067,35.483 d: 39  

🇮🇷 Tehran 51.383,35.683 d: 43.2  

🇮🇷 Qarchak 51.583,35.417 d: 73.7  

🇮🇷 Qazvin 50,36.268 d: 97.8  

🇮🇷 Qom 50.879,34.655 d: 129.3  

🇮🇷 Babol 52.667,36.533 d: 174.8  

🇮🇷 Rasht 49.567,37.267 d: 202.2  

🇮🇷 Qaem Shahr 52.85,36.45 d: 186  

🇮🇷 Arak 49.683,34.083 d: 223.9  

🇮🇷 Bandar-e Anzali 49.45,37.467 d: 226.2  

Antipodal to: Karaj -129.067,-35.817

🇵🇫 Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 17150  

🇦🇸 Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 15236.7  

🇼🇸 Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 15116  

🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 15267.8  

🇨🇱 Valdivia -73.233,-39.8 d: 15169.7  

🇨🇱 San Pedro de la Paz -73.1,-36.833 d: 15074.3  

🇨🇱 Concepción -73.05,-36.817 d: 15069.5  

🇨🇱 Chiguayante -73.017,-36.917 d: 15069.8  

🇨🇱 Port Montt -72.933,-41.467 d: 15185  

🇨🇱 Puerto Montt -72.933,-41.467 d: 15185  

Bing Map

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