Gorgan, city in northeastern Iran, located near the Caspian Sea in the province of Mazandaran. Gorgan lies 37 km (23 mi) inland from the port of Bandar-e Torkeman. Gorgan is the center of an intensively cultivated farming region whose major commercial crops are wheat, cotton, and fruits. The city's major industries include food processing, cotton ginning, soap manufacturing, and carpet weaving. Gorgan is connected by major highways to Tehran to the southwest and to Mashhad (Meshed) to the east. It also is the terminus of the Caspian Sea rail line, a spur of the main Tehran-Mashhad railroad.
Before the 1930s, the city was known as Astrabad. It has existed since at least the Achaemenid Empire (550?-330? BC), and excavations at nearby Turang Tapeh recovered various bronze objects dating to 500 BC. By the 1st century AD Astrabad had become a well-established stop on the famous Silk Road from China to the Mediterranean Sea. Until the 1200s, the city flourished as a commercial and intellectual center. From the 13th to the early 20th centuries, the city suffered frequent raids by rival armies and renegade Turkic tribesmen, and the resulting insecurity contributed to the economic decline of Astrabad. Gorgan was devastated by an earthquake in the 1930s. Population (1994) 178,080.
