Rasht (; ) is a city in the Central District of Rasht County, Gilan province, Iran, serving as the capital of the province, the county, and the district. Known as the "City of Silver Rain" (), Rasht has, throughout Iran’s history, served as a border city, earning the historical nickname "Dār al-Marz Rasht" or "Rasht on the Border". With a population of 679,995 in 2016, it is the most populous city in northern Iran.
Rasht is the largest city on Iran's Caspian Sea coast. Due to being between the coast and the mountains, the local environment is rainy with a humid subtropical climate. It also has a temperate rainforest to its south, in contrast to the rest of Iran, which is mostly arid.
It is a major trade center between Caucasia, Russia, and Iran, using the port of Bandar-e Anzali. Rasht is also a major tourist center with the resort of Masouleh in the adjacent mountains and the beaches of Caspian as some of the major attractions.
Historically, Rasht was a major transport and business center which connected Iran to Russia and the rest of Europe, and because of this it was known as the "Gate of Europe". The city has a history that goes back to the 13th century, but its modern history dates back to the Safavid era during which Rasht was a major center of the silk trade with numerous textile workshops. In 2015, this city joined the network of creative cities of the world as a creative gastronomy city under the supervision of UNESCO.
Some of the famous neighbourhoods of Rasht include Golsar, Safsar, Kordmahaleh and Khamiran.
Etymology There are multiple views about the origin of the city's name. According to one view, the root of the city's name is the word (), meaning "very light rain". This is connected with the rainy weather of the area. According to another view, the correct pronunciation of the city's name is Resht, deriving from the root of the verb () or (), both meaning "to spin". This is connected with the importance of silk thread production in the city. The name has also been interpreted as meaning "low, sunken place"; apparently the word originally described a market in the area () and was later applied to the settlement. Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda cites a tradition according to which the sum of the numerical values of the letters (per Abjad numerals) corresponds to the date of the founding of the city (900 AH, or 1494/95 AD), Based on the 15-volume Loghat-name-ye Dehkhoda published in 1998. although the name is mentioned in the 10th-century geography Hudud al-'Alam (albeit as the name of a district, not of a city). Zana Salehrad notes that the name Rasht could be traced to the ancient Gilaki or Caspian languages, where it may have originally meant "fertile plain" or "verdant land". Surrounded by rivers, forests, and rice paddies, the city has always been defined by its rich natural environment. Over time, the name endured, coming to symbolize not just the geography, but the prosperity and vitality of the people who lived there. In this way, Rasht reflects both the bounty of the land and the enduring connection between the city and its lush, life-giving surroundings. Charles Melville – "The Ilkhan Öljeitü's conquest of Gilan (1307): rumour and reality", in R. Amitai Preiss & D.O. Morgan (eds), The Mongol empire and its legacy, Leiden 1999, pp. 73–125
History
Timeline 682: Rasht was first mentioned in Umayyad historical documents. 1669: Stenka Razin, a Cossack warlord, plundered the city. 1714: Rasht destroyed by earthquake. 1722–1732: Occupation by the Russians due to the Russo-Persian War. 1901: A major epidemic plague devastates the city. 1917–1920: The Russian and British armed forces fight in the port city of Bandar-e Anzali and Rasht. The British retreat and the Russians occupy the area. 1920–1921: The short-lived Gilan Soviet Socialist Republic was established with its capital in Rasht. 1937: A revolt, sparked by the desire to collect a "road tax" from the Russians, was suppressed. 1974: First university established in Rasht.
Rasht was first mentioned in Umayyad historical documents in 682 CE. It has seen the Sassanid era, the Rashidun conquest, the armies of Peter the Great and later Russian rulers, and British colonialism. The people of Rasht also played a major role in the Constitutional Revolution of Iran.
Rasht has, along with regions around Tabriz and Tehran, one of the earliest industry plants during the last quarter of the 19th century, prominently in fields such as fishing, caviar production, the Caspian sea oil pipeline construction and textiles. During the 20th century, until the mid-70s, Gilan and the Rasht region was the third-ranking industrial city in Iran by number of workers and per capita productivity. It lost its cultural and industrial status to a large extent after the 1970s.
The people of Rasht played a prominent role in instigation and radicalization of the Persian Constitutional Revolution (1905–1907). Rasht is the birthplace of Mīrzā Kūchak Khān, one of the leading figures of the Constitutional Revolution. His own movement in Gilan, which went by the name of Jangalis, represented a pro-modern and social democratic program for reformation of Muslim rituals and traditions. Mirza established the short-lived Persian Socialist Soviet Republic in 1920 after the defeat of the constitutional forces and in coalition with Iranian communists.
The republic had the support of the newly established Russian Red Army. The Soviet Government, after a turn of military and political strategy proposed by Trotsky, withdrew its support and the republic itself was tormented by the inner conflicts between the newly established Iranian Communist Party (1919) and the Jangalis and other factions. The republic was finally defeated by the Iranian army under the command of Reza Shah.
The first national library of Iran was established in Rasht under the Qajar dynasty. Nasim-e-Shomal, the first modern newspaper of Iran after the constitutional revolution, has been initially published in Rasht. First Public Library of Iran was built in Rasht City. First Branch of the First Iranian Bank (Sepah Bank) was located in Rasht City. First branch of 24/7 pharmacy (Karoon pharmacy) was built in Rasht City. First school for girls and first fire station in Iran were also built in Rasht City. The city of Rasht was the center of Gilan and the center of the first province of the country.
During the Qajar period, along with economic development between Iran and Russia, Noghan trade and other products expanded. Thus, Rasht became the gateway to Europe in the 19th century. , a Russian orientalist and writer who visited Rasht at the end of 1860, wrote in his published notes that the city at that time had 5463 houses, 1021 shops, 22 mosques, 34 schools and 17 bathhouses, and a population of 27,314. At that time, Rasht's political credibility was such that the Russian, British, and Ottoman governments had consulates in Rasht.The Adventures of a Frenchman in Rasht / Jean-Baptiste Nicola
Modern day Rasht is turning into an industrialized town like most of the Iranian large cities and province capitals. Enjoying the Kadus International Hotel and hundreds of tourist attractions, Rasht receives thousands of foreign tourists annually, mostly from Austria, Germany, Netherlands, France, Australia, Japan and African countries like Senegal and Cameroon as well as countries from Oceania like Micronesia.
Rasht is known for its famous municipal building, located in the Square of Municipality, which was constructed circa 1900, and has been renovated each year. Due to the high amount of humidity in Rasht which damages and destroys the aged buildings, the native, older architectural texture of Rasht is gradually being replaced with the modern skyscrapers and apartments.
The culture of consumerism is prevalent among the people of Rasht as a cultural and urban center which is historically engaged in close commercial and political ties with the United Kingdom, Russia and France. Due to this background which makes the inhabitants much familiar with the industrial, cultural and political developments of the west, the finance and credit institutions are more willing to open representative offices and bureaus in Rasht and it has made the city a center of various banks and financial organizations.
There are many commercial centers, malls and financial institutions in Rasht including one branch of the Exports Development Bank of Iran which is an international bank dealing with the Iranian exports. The organizers and directors of national Iranian or non-Iranian banks afford to spend considerable amounts of budgets to construct attractive and modern buildings for their offices in Rasht.
Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran, there have always been requests on behalf of Russian, Turkish and Azerbaijani banks to open branches in Rasht and that is why the city is endowed as the "gate of Europe" in Iran. The head consulate of the Russian Federation government is located in Rasht and some of the other Caspian region countries are also keen to establish representative headquarters in Rasht alongside their embassies in Tehran.
Some evidences are the University of Gilan which was constructed jointly by the governments of Iran and West Germany about 40 years ago, the building of IRIB representatives in Rasht which was constructed jointly by the Iranian and Belgian engineers.
On January 8 and 9, 2026, during the 2025–2026 Iranian protests, the Iranian government perpetrated the 2026 Rasht massacre in trying to suppress the anti-government protests. According to the HRANA, at least 392 people have been killed in Rasht.
First of Iran
The first branch of Bank Sepah and first Bank of Iran was established in Rasht in 1925 The first girls' school in Iran was established in RashtRASHT i. The City / Encyclopædia Iranica The first day & night pharmacy in Iran was established in Rasht The first sanatorium for the elderly and disabled in Iran was established in RashtJanet D. Lazarian (2003). Encyclopedia of Iranian Armenians. Tehran: Hirmand Publisher. pp. 301–302. . The first National Library of Iran was established in Rasht in 1920 The first bus Iran arrived in Rasht The first city in which the sewage system was established The first city in which the Russian, British, French and Ottoman governments opened their consulates and had political representatives. The first silk factory in IranHistory of the Russian presence in Iran, p. 395 The first national hospital in Iran named Poursina HospitalA Survey of Patients' Satisfaction in Emergency Department of Rasht Poursina Hospital The first classical theater in Iran
Streets and boulevards
Golsar Street Imam Ali Boulevard Shahid Chamran Boulevard Ayatollah Taleghani Boulevard Resalat Street Shohaday-e Gomnam Boulevard Ostadsara Street Esteghamat Street Deylaman Boulevard Moallem Boulevard Imam Khomeini Boulevard Valiasr Street Enghelab Street Azadi Street Azadegan Boulevard Shahid Ansari Street Farhang Street Parastar Boulevard Bastani Shoaar Street Afakhra Street Pasdaran Street 22 Bahman Boulevard Alamolhoda Street Saadi Street Tohid Street Navab Street Gilan Boulevard Gholipour Boulevard Habibzadeh Boulevard Ansari Boulevard Suleman Darab Boulevard Takhti Street Bisotun Street
Demographics Population
The city of Rasht is the most populated city in the north of the country and one of the metropolises of Iran. At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 551,161 in 159,983 households. The following census in 2011 counted 639,951 people in 204,054 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 679,995 people in 228,142 households.
Language People of Rasht are mostly Gilaks (98.2%) and they speak Rashti variety of Western Gilaki language.
Climate