Sari

Sari is the provincial capital of Mazandaran and former capital of Iran (for a short period), located in the north of Iran, between the northern slopes of the Alborz Mountains and southern coast of the Caspian Sea. Sari is the largest and most populous city of Mazandaran. The Mazandaran Sea provides a beautiful coastline in north of Sari; northeast of the city is Neka. Qa'emshahr (Formerly known as Shahi) is to its south-west, Juybar is to its north-west, and Kiasar, Damghan, and Semnan are cities located to the south.

Sari boasts as ancient city, as all of the historical maps refering to this city, being the capital of Ancient Hyrcania Civilization. Excavations in Hutto cave present evidence for the existence of settlements around Sari as far back as the 70th millennium BC. Hutto and Kamarband Caves or Belt Caves are prehistoric, archaeological sites in Iran. They are located 100 meters apart, in a cliff on the slopes of the Alborz mountains in the village of Tarujen. Excavations took place led by C. S. Coon and were reported on between 1949-1957. Kamarband cave is notable for three human skeletons discovered there, dating to approximately 9000 years B.C. Other finds included flint blades, walrus and deer bones, giving valuable information about human development from the ice age in the Mazandaran area.

Local residents are known as Saravis or Sariyan. The population is a mixture of native Mazandaranis, Persians, Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Balochis, and Turkmans. Georgians, Armenians, and Zoroastrians used to populate Sari, but today their percentage is low. Local languages are spoken in some neighborhoods, but almost everyone speaks Persian as the second language.