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Gonbad-e Kavus

city in Golestan Province, Iran

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 20, 2026
Entity authorityQ1975291
Source-derived summary

Gonbad-e Kabus (Persian: گنبد قابوس) is a city in the Central District of Gonbad-e Kavus County, Golestan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.

The modern name is a reference to an imposing ancient tower, the Tomb of Qabus. The monument itself was assigned to the neighboring historical city of Astarabad in the 1930s by the Iranian government. The city has also been known by the name Dasht-e Gorgan, meaning "the Plains of Gorgan".

In the historical times, the city's populations were made up of various Iranic peoples such as the ancient and eponymous Hyrcanians, Parthians and eventually the Khurasani Persians.

Today, however, the population is a mix of Turkmens, Iranian Azerbaijanis, Sistanis, Baluch, Semnanis, and Khorasanis. The Persians and Iranian Azeris tend to mainly follow Shia Islam while the Turkmens are mostly Sunni Muslim.

Demographics

Population

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 127,167 in 30,710 households. The following census in 2011 counted 144,546 people in 39,181 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 151,910 people in 44,731 households.

Editorial summary

“Gonbad-e Kavus” enters the record as city in Golestan Province, Iran. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Gonbad-e, Kavus and city can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2006, 2011, 2016—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Gonbad-e, Kavus and city.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Gonbad-e Kavus” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Gonbad-e, Kavus and city provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1975291. VIAF identifies the subject as 140928274. The Library of Congress control number is n2005000863. Authority coordinates are 37.250, 55.167. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2006, 2011 and 2016.

Critical limits

Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Gonbad-e Kavus”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Gonbad-e Kavus primary sources, Gonbad-e Kavus archive and Gonbad-e research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Gonbad-e Kavus”?
  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Gonbad-e Kavus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.