Semnan province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the north of the country. Its capital is the city of Semnan.
The province of Semnan covers an area of 96,816 square kilometers and stretches along the Alborz mountain range, bordering on Kavir desert in its southern parts. The province was made part of Region 1 on 22 June 2014, as the provinces were grouped into 5 regions for coordination and development purposes.
The Semnani languages (known also as Komisenian languages) spoken in the province are a group of Northwestern Iranian languages, (only 68,700 native speakers in 2019) of Iran. These languages are accorded only "dialect" status in some sources. Most of the Semnani languages are descendants of the extinct Parthian while Semnani proper has been placed among the Caspian languages descended from the extinct Median.
There are six Semnani languages named in the literature, these being Semnani, Biyabunaki, Sangsari, Sorkhei, Aftari and Lasgerdi – of which some may only be dialects, although there has been little published concerning the relationships between them.
Semnani proper (Semnani: سمنی زفون), like other Caspian languages, bears some resemblance to the Old Iranian Median language but was influenced by Parthian in a later process.
Population
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the province's population was 570,835 in 159,791 households. The following census in 2011 counted 631,218 people in 186,114 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the province as 702,360 in 215,571 households.
Semnan province is located on the southern slopes of the Alborz mountain range. The height of the province decreases from north to south until it reaches the desert. The area of this province is 96000 square kilometers and it is 5.6% of the area of Iran.
Administrative divisions
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The population history and structural changes of Semnan province's administrative divisions over three consecutive censuses are shown in the following table.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Semnan province
|-
! Counties !! 2006|| style="text-align: right;" | — || style="text-align: right;" | — || style="text-align: right;" | 13,884
|-
| Damghan || style="text-align: right;" | 81,993 || style="text-align: right;" | 86,908 || style="text-align: right;" | 94,190
|-
| Garmsar || style="text-align: right;" | 77,676 || style="text-align: right;" | 81,324 || style="text-align: right;" | 77,421
|-
| Mehdishahr || style="text-align: right;" | — || style="text-align: right;" | 41,896 || style="text-align: right;" | 47,475
|-
| Meyami || style="text-align: right;" | — || style="text-align: right;" | — || style="text-align: right;" | 38,718
|-
| Semnan || style="text-align: right;" | 186,159 || style="text-align: right;" | 182,260 || style="text-align: right;" | 196,521
|-
| Shahrud || style="text-align: right;" | 225,007 || style="text-align: right;" | 238,830 || style="text-align: right;" | 218,628
|-
| Sorkheh || style="text-align: right;" | — || style="text-align: right;" | — || style="text-align: right;" | 15,523
|-
| Total || style="text-align: right;"| 570,835 || style="text-align: right;"| 631,218 || style="text-align: right;"| 702,360
|}
Cities
According to the 2016 census, 560,502 people (nearly 80% of the population of Semnan province) live in the following cities: