Greater Tehran

Greater Tehran Metropolitan Area is the urban agglomeration around Tehran that covers the central part of the Tehran Province and eastern part of the Alborz Province, that covers the contiguous cities of Tehran, Karaj, Ray, Shemirānāt, and other areas. As of 2012, Greater Tehran had a population of close to 14 million residents. The 2016 census had the population at 13.3 million in Tehran Province (only 200 thousands of them outside Tehran and the suburban counties) and 2.2 million in Karaj and Fardis combined. Therefore, it can be estimated that the population of the urban agglomeration was approximately 15 million people in 2016, and it is sinking at a rate of 25 cm per year due to the accelerated influx and overuse of natural resources. Since the 1960s, much of Greater Tehran's growth has been caused by an influx of urban poor into informal settlements on the fringe.