Gorgan (Persian گرگان‎, “Land of the Wolf”) is a city in Iran, the administrative center of the Golestan province. Gorgan is located in the north of the country, 30 km east of the coast of the Caspian Sea and approximately 400 km east of Tehran. Golestan National Park is located 150 km east of Gorgan. The city is home to several universities, and an airport was opened in September 2005. The Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway passes through Gorgan.

Climate
The climate of Gorgan is temperate and subtropical, also characterized by humidity, sometimes it is called the “temperate Caspian” climate. The main factors influencing the climate are the Elburs mountain range, the direction of the mountains, the height of the terrain, the proximity to the sea, the vegetation on the surface, local winds and weather fronts. The average annual temperature is 18.2 °C. The annual rainfall is about 600 mm.

Etymology
The name Gorgan is translated from Persian as “the land of the wolf” (گرگ – wolf, ان – suffix indicating the area). In antiquity, when the city was part of the Hyrcania satrapy (from the Pehl. Varkâna – “land of wolves”), it was called Zadrakarta. The Arabs called Gorgan – Dzhurdzhan, and the Greeks, in addition to Hyrcania – Hirkan.
In later times it was also called Astrabad (Astrabat) or Asterabad (until 1937).
This name comes from astar (Pers. استر‎), meaning in different languages ​​(Old Turk., Skt. Asta, Pers.) – bottom, lower and abad (Pers. آباد‎) – “city”, that is, the general meaning is “a city in a low place”. The city was also called Taparistan or Tabaristan.

History
During the time of the Achaemenids, under the reign of Cyrus the Great (559-530 BC), Gorgan was incorporated into the Persian Empire. Under Darius I, the city was part of the Hyrkania or Hirkana satrapy, which also included the current Iranian remains of Mazandaran and Golestan, as well as part of the coastal territory of Turkmenistan. Later, Alexander the Great conquered Hyrcania, but was wounded in battle, after which his eyesight deteriorated.
After the fall of the Empire of Alexander, Gorgan became part of the Seleucid Empire, led by the Greco-Macedonian dynasty. At the end of the III century BC. e. northeastern nomads belonging to the Parnov tribe invaded Parthia and Hyrcania. If the first was lost for the Seleucids forever, then the second was able to be conquered again for a while by the Seleucids ruler Antiochus III the Great in 209 BC. e. A generation later, however, Hyrcania was also lost.
For the Parthians, the new name of the Parns, Hyrcania was an important part of the Empire, located between the territory of Parthia and their native steppe lands. The Parthians attached great importance to Hyrcania. It was there that their summer residence was located and it was they who built the Great Gorgan Wall. However, it cannot be said that Hyrcania was a quiet part of the Parthian Empire, so in 58 AD there was a riot in the province.
During the Sassanid Empire (224-651), Gorgan as a proper name was used to designate the city, the capital of the ostan and the province itself.

In 1384 it was destroyed by Tamerlane, flourished in the 17th century, and became very impoverished in the 18th century. Thanks to trade with Russia through the port of Gyaz, he begins to recover.
The region is fertile and, thanks to the warm and humid climate, produces valuable products that were exported to Russia: silk, cotton, rice, dried fruits. The mountains are covered with dense forests of deciduous species, between the trees there are many climbing plants; above a strip of coniferous forest. Unlike Baku and even Lankaran, there are heavy rains here even in summer. The climate is unhealthy, there are many fevers, although less than in Gilan. Fishing is rich, salted sturgeon and caviar were exported to Russia. Imported from Russia mainly paper and woolen fabrics, iron and sugar.
The Persian campaign (1722-1723) of Russia led to the fact that Russia occupied the corridor south of the Caspian Sea, including Rasht and Astrabad. The territory was abandoned in 1735 following negotiations with Persia.