SHIRAZ “City of Kings, City of Persians, City of Persian Kings” Shiraz is the capital of Fars Provine, an ancient and historical city in Iran. With a population of around 1.7 million people, the city is located at 39° north, 26° west. Shiraz lies along Zagros Mountain Range 1486 meters above the sea level and entertains a mild climate. It is restricted on the west by Derak Mountain and towards the north by Bamoo, Sabz Pooshan, Chehel Magham, and Baba Koohi Range. Shiraz is the fifth most populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province (Old Persian as Parsa). Shiraz is located in the southwest of Iran on the (Roodkhaneye Khoshk/ The Dry River) seasonal river. It has a moderate climate and has been a regional trade center for over a thousand years. It is regarded as one of the oldest cities of ancient Persia. The earliest reference to the city as Tirazis is on Elamite clay tablets dated to 2000 BC. In the 13th century, Shiraz became a leading center of the arts and letters due to the encouragement of its ruler and the presence of many Persian scholars and artists. It was the capital of Persia during the Zand dynasty from 1750 until 1800. Two famous poets of Iran Hafez and Saadi are from Shiraz whose tombs are on the north side of the current city boundaries. Shiraz is known as the city of poets literature wine and flowers. It is also considered by many Iranians to be the city of gardens due to the many gardens and fruit trees that can be seen in the city, for example, Eram Garden. Shiraz has had major Jewish and Christian communities. The crafts of Shiraz consist of inlaid mosaic work of triangular design silver-ware pile carpet-weaving and weaving of kilim called gilim and jajim in the villages and among the tribes. In Shiraz industries such as cement production sugar fertilizers textile products wood products metalwork and rugs dominate. Shiraz also has a major oil refinery and is also a major center for Iran`s electronic industries: 53% of Iran's electronic investment has been centered in Shiraz. Shiraz is home to Iran first solar power plant. Shiraz is located in the south of Iran and the northwest of Fars Province. It is built in a green plain at the foot of the Zagros Mountains 1500 meters (4900 feet) above sea level. Shiraz is 919 kilometers (571 mi) south of Tehran. Shiraz climate has distinct seasons and is overall classed as a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSh) though it is only a little short of a hot summer Mediterranean climate (Csa). Summers are hot with a July average high of 38.8 °C (101.8 °F). Winters are cool with average low temperatures below freezing in December and January. Around 300 mm (12 in) of rain falls each year almost entirely in the winter months though in some cases as much as this has fallen in a single month (as in January 1965 and December 2004) whilst in the year from July 1965 to June 1966 as little as 82.9 millimeters (3.3 in) fell. The wettest year has been 1955/1956 with as much as 857.2 millimeters (33.75 in) though since 1959 the highest has been around 590 millimeters (23.2 in) in each of 1995/1996 and 2004/2005