Rasht City

Rasht, one of the mega cities in the country, is located in the north of Iran. As the center of Gilan Province, it is a main city in the province and the neighboring provinces.
Rasht is the largest and the most populous city in the north among 3 provinces on the edge of the Caspian Sea. It is also the largest city where the Gilak reside and is regarded as the largest settlement in the south of the sea. The city ranks third in terms of drawing tourists.
According to the official census in 1390, solar calendar, its population is 639, 951.
Different dialects are spoken there like Gilaki.
The climate of the city is mild Caspian and semi-Mediterranean with hot sultry summers and cold and humid winters. Also it is first in terms of precipitation in the country, especially it is known as the rain city.
Over 4 to 5 centuries ago, Rasht became the center of Gilan and was considered as the top city. The city played an important role in the country 's history like Constitution Revolution, Forest Campaign, and the Islamic Revolution in 1357. Regarding it is located on the Silk Road it has long been the gate to the modern civilization. It also has a remarkable background in foreign commercials.
Today, the city is an agricultural and tourism hob in the country. Rasht is the greatest rice producers, the first steel manufacturer, and an important spot for generating anti-cancer medicine throughout the country.
Naming
In wordbooks like Dasatir, Rasht means plaster masons used for fortifying brick and stone construction. In wordbooks such as Anjoman Ara, Anandraj, Foras by Asadi Tusi, Shushtari, Borhan Ghatee, Nazim Al Atebbae, and Jahangiri, the term happens to mean something which is disintegrated, whatever collapses or is destroyed, a wall about to collapse.
It also means plaster by which a house is whitened. Dust or mud and soil and even a colored thing are implied. Rasht ( "a"pronounced as a in "dash") means a place with a depression or hole and a low land. It was perhaps used for weekly bazaar in Rasht and the suburban areas. The market was held in the city on Sundays and in the suburban areas of Aj Bisheh on Wednesday. Rasht Bazaar meant a bazaar in a low land.
That's because each vendor or traveler who moved onto the city from the southern parts like Rudbar or western parts like Fuman or even the eastern part such as Lahijan, traveled from a higher land to a lower one. Gradually Bazaar was left out of the term and Rasht remained.
There are other theories as well; like Biyeh which means estuary between 2 rivers, or Dar Almarz meaning a low-lying land ( plain). According to Ali Akbar Dehkhoda, the name was chosen since the city was basically built in 900 Century and Rasht is 900 in Arabic "abjad" calculation.
Yet another presumption believe that, the accurate pronunciation of the term is "Resht" not "Rasht" which is been taken from the stem of Risidan, literally spinning. The reason behind it was that raw silk was produced in the city.
Rasht is located at east longitude 49° 36' and north latitude 37° 16'. It is 300 km from Tehran. Covering an area of 180 square km , it lies on a flat a d evenly land with an altitude of 5 m above sea level, on average.
Alborz Mountain range is located in the south of the city. The nearest peak to the city is Darfak, with a height of 7332 m. The closest town to Rasht is Somee Sara, 26 km from the city. It extends north to the Caspian Sea and And Anzali Wetland, West to PasiKhan River, Somee Sara and Fuman, south to Sangar and Rudbar, and east to Kuchesfahan and Astaneh Ashrafiyeh.