In June 1997, the eastern part of the Māzandarān Province, consisting of the two sub-provinces of Gorgān and Gonbad-e Kāvus/Qābus (formerly called Dašt-e Gorgān) were brought together to form a new province for which the name Golestān (lit. “rose garden,” the name of a popular natural park in Minu-dašt sub-province) was chosen. The new province of Golestān (Figure 1) has an area of 20,381 km², which constitutes 1.3% of the country’s area. It is bounded by the province of Māzandarān and the Caspian Sea to the west, the Republic of Turkmenistan to the north, the province of Khorasan to the east, and the Alborz mountain range and the province of Semnān to the south. Also see GOLESTĀN PROVINCE.