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Hamadan Province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Hamadan. In the Zagros Mountains, the province covers an area of 19,546 km2.
According to historical records, there was once a castle in this city by the name of Haft Hessar (Seven Walls) which was said to have a thousand rooms and its grandeur equalled that of the Babylon Tower.
The structures of city are related to Diya Aku, a King of the Medes from 700 BC. According to Greek records, this territory was called 'Ekbatan' and 'Hegmataneh' by this King, thus transformed into a huge capital.
During the era, Ctesiphon became capital of Persia, and Hamedan became the summer capital and residence of the Parthian rulers. After the Parthians, the constructed their summer palaces in Hamedan as well.
In the year 633 when the war of Nahavand took place and Hamadan came into the hands of the invading Arabs, at times it thrived and at times it declined and witnessed hardships. During the reign of the Buwayhids, it suffered plenty of damage. In the 11th century, the Seljuks shifted their capital from Baghdad to Hamadan once again.
The city of Hamadan was always at risk during the rise and fall of powers. It was completely destroyed during the Timurid dynasty invasion. However, during the Safavid era the city thrived once more. In the 18th century, Hamadan surrendered to the Ottoman Turks, but Hamadan was retaken by Nader Shah Afshari, and under the peace treaty between Iran and the Ottomans it was returned to Iran.
The city of Hamadan lay on the Silk Road and even in recent centuries enjoyed good prospects in commerce and trade being on the main road network in the western region of Iran.
According to local Jewish traditions, the City of Hamedan is mentioned in the Bible, as the capital of Ancient Persia in the days of King Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther. It was then known as Shushan. The Tombs of Mordecai and Esther are located in modern-day Hamadan.
Hamadan province has usually had net emigration, except for during the Iran-Iraq War when it took in a large number of refugees. This continuing emigration partly offsets the natural growth rate due to births.
Slightly over 77% of the province's population was literate as of 1996 (83.1% for men and 71.3% for women). By this point, however, literacy was much higher in the younger population because access to primary education had increased - for example, the 6-10 age group had a literacy rate of 96.2% for boys and 94.9% for girls. Of the literate population, 53.3% had attended school up to the primary level, 40.2% had attended up to high school, and 4.2% had attended higher education.
Average household size was 4.85 members as of 1996. 67.31% of sedentary, non-communal households consisted of the head of household, spouse, and children; 9.13% consisted of a married couple with no children; 5.1% consisted of a single parent with children; and the remaining 18.5% were other types of households. A total of 8.9% of households had a woman as head of household, and 81.8% of heads of households were employed.
As of 1996, the province had no households living in tents, barracks, or "other makeshift forms of housing". 98.8% of households had access to electricity and 82.8% had access to piped water. 44.2% of households had bathrooms, but there was a significant discrepancy between urban (72.1%) and rural (14.5%) households in this regard. 22.7% of households had telephones in their homes; again, this was significantly higher in urban areas (38.3%) than in rural ones (14.5%). In terms of homeownership, 78.8% of households owned their houses while 10.5% were lease holders.
As of 1997, the average annual urban household income was 11,707,000 Iranian rial and the average expenses were 10,317,000 rials or 88% of the income. For rural households, average income was 7,550,000 rials and average expenses were 6,933,000 rials or 92% of the income.
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the province's population was 1,674,595 in 427,675 households. The following census in 2011 counted 1,758,268 people in 506,191 households. In 2014, Hamadan Province was placed in Region 4. The 2016 census measured the population of the province as 1,738,234 in 538,803 households.
The population history and structural changes of Hamadan province's administrative divisions over three consecutive censuses are shown in the following table.
| + Hamadan Province |
| 100,901 |
| 119,082 |
| — |
| 39,359 |
| 676,105 |
| 126,062 |
| 288,685 |
| 178,787 |
| 107,587 |
| 101,666 |
| 1,738,234 |
According to the 2016 census, 1,097,217 people (over 63% of the population of Hamadan province) live in the following cities:
| 2,738 |
| 55,703 |
| 11,171 |
| 28,685 |
| 2,457 |
| 3,231 |
| 14,208 |
| 1,526 |
| 5,173 |
| 8,186 |
| 2,237 |
| 554,406 |
| 2,258 |
| 9,234 |
| 20,336 |
| 14,916 |
| 170,237 |
| 10,848 |
| 7,331 |
| 76,162 |
| 2,970 |
| 9,540 |
| 14,275 |
| 7,899 |
| 3,873 |
| 4,081 |
| 2,460 |
| 50,455 |
| 621 |
In general, Hamadan province is a mountainous region. The Alvand range, just south of the city of Hamadan, forms the highest point. Its summit reaches 3,580 m above sea level. The lowest point in the province is 1,420 m above sea level, in the valley of the Gamasiab river near Nahavand. Most of the province's rivers originate in the snowmelt on Mount Alvand and then flow north or south. During the summer, when there is practically no rain, all but the largest rivers either dwindle to parched streams or dry up entirely. There are two major plains in the province: one in the northeast and east, stretching from Hamadan north to Avaj in Qazvin province, and the other in the south, between Tuyserkan to Malayer.
In the past, much of the current province's area was covered with light oak forests, but deforestation in historical times has reduced the forest cover to just 4,100 , mostly in the valleys of Mount Alvand. The vast majority of the province is currently covered by either farmland (950,000 hectares, or about 48% of its total land area) or pastures (905,000 hectares, or almost 46%).
The main rivers south of the Alvand range are the Gamasiab, which is another name for the Karkheh River in its upper stages, and the Qelqelrud, which is itself a tributary of the Gamasiab. The Gamasiab rises southeast of Nahavand, near the lowest point in the province. It crosses the Nahavand plain before receiving the Malayer and Qelqelrud as tributaries and eventually crosses the Zagros to the southwest.
The most important dam in the province is the Ekbatan Dam (formerly called the Shahnaz Dam), which was built in 1963 on the Yalfan River some 10 km southeast of Hamadan. Its reservoir has a capacity of 12 million cubic meters and it provides 2,400 liters of water per second, which is mostly used for agricultural irrigation.
Several wildlife reserves in the province are home to other bird and mammal species. Larger birds include , , , , , ; and larger mammals include wild goats, , wild boars, wolves, foxes, , and . There are about 100 each of wolves, foxes, and jackals in the province, and the hyena population is about 20. These numbers have been fairly stable, and in general the population levels of predators and prey are balanced.
| + Major agricultural products in Hamadan province (as of 1998) |
| 1.52 |
| 2.35 |
| 29.24 |
| 24.16 |
Hamadan province is rich in mineral resources. It is the biggest source of granite in the country, and it also has reserves of limestone, lead, iron ore, and zinc. As of 1998, the province had 142 active mines, including 52 sandstone mines, 36 silica mines, 19 ballas mines, 14 limestone mines, and 13 gemstone mines. In 2023, Ebrahim Ali Molla-Beigi, director general of the Exploration Affairs Office of the Iranian Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade announced the discovery of 8.5 million tons of Lithium reserves in the province.
Small-scale handicraft industry is well-established in the province. Some of the more prominent trades include tanning, carpet weaving, ceramics production, and knitting. As of 1995, there were 266 large-scale factories in the province, employing 8,620 people. These larger factories produce things like agricultural and construction machinery, aluminum products, and steel. Food processing facilities include dairy products, canned fruits, sugar, and soft drinks. Textiles, plastics, and household goods are also produced in the province.
Some of the most popular tourist attractions are:
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