KERMANSHAH, a province and town of Persia. The province is situated west of Hamadan, north of Burujird (Luri stan), south of Kurdistan, and extends to the frontier of 'Iraq. It is one of the richest parts of Persia, producing wheat, maize, rice, clover. castor-oil, fruits and opium, while the hills have fertile pastures. The inhabitants are for the most part Kurds, but in the south of the province there are tribes of Lurs. The district is rich in monuments of the Achaemenids and Sasanians, such as the Taq-i-Bustan sculptures, 3 m. E. of the town of Kermanshah. The revenue amounted to 11,309,524 krans in 1926-27 (1 St. =45 krans).
The administrative headquarters of the province is Kermanshah (or Kermanshahan), situated in 34° 20' N. and 47° E., in a very fertile plain at an elevation of about 4,86o feet, near the Qara Su, an upper reach of the Kerkha river. The population was esti mated (1935) at 70,000, mostly Kurds, then Persians, Turks, Jews and a few Christians. Kermanshah owes its prosperity to its
situation on a line of great transit trade, forming the principal entrance into Persia, through which the commerce of Baghdad (distant 25o m.) passes via the railhead at Khaniqin near the 'Iraq frontier and thence by motor road to Hamadan, Kazvin and Tehran. It is also a busy local distributing centre for grain, fruits, gum and opium. There is very little local industry, the making of carpets having died out. The ramparts have fallen into ruin; the most striking building is the arsenal which includes also the residence of the governor. In 1915 the town was occupied by the Turks.