ASTARABAD, a province of Persia, bounded north by the Caspian sea and the Atrak river, south by the Elburz mountains, west by Mazandaran and east by Khurasan. Area about 5,63o sq.m. with a sparse population. The land is thickly wooded but marshy in parts, and the soil is exceedingly productive, even with little culture. Among the products rice must have first menti ln, then wheat, sesame-oil and walnut wood. In the middle ages there was considerable rearing of silk-worms. The province is malarial owing to the extensive swamps. Affluence and industry nowhere exist, and apart from the capital and its port, Bandar Jaz, trade and commerce are insignificant. The district formerly suffered from frequent excursions of the Turkomans, but these have ceased in recent years. In many villages of Astarabad and Mazandaran reside Gudars, an energetic tribe, though despised by the Persians, which is engaged in agriculture, cattle-rearing and the drying of fruit. The revenue of the province was 1,206, 700 krans in 1926-27.