Gonbad-e Kavus

Gonbad-e Kāvus (also referred to as Gonbad-e Kāvus, Gonbad-i Kāvoos, Gonbadekavoos, Gonbad-e Kāvūs, Gonbad Qābūs, Gonbad Qavoos, Gunbad-i-Kāwās, Gunbad-i-Kāwūs, and Gunbad-i-Kāvūs) (Persian: گنبد کاووس‎, Turkmen: Kümmet Gowuz) is the Iranian city known historically as Gorgan/Hyrcania. The modern name, meaning "the tower of Kavus", is a reference to the most imposing ancient monument in the city. The historic name cannot now be restored, as it was oddly and carelessly assigned to the neighboring historical city of Astarabad in the 1930s by the Iranian government. At one point, it was even known as the city of Dashte Gorgan, meaning "the Plains of Gorgan".

It is the capital of Gonbad-e Kavus County, in the province of Golestān in the northeast of Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 127,167, in 30,710 families.

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, there are no reliable figures for the ethnic make of the city. However, it is agreed that the city has a plurality of its inhabitants being ethnic Turkmen, Turkmen who speak a western Turkmen language,. The remaining population are made Khorasani Turks, Sistanis, Baluch , Mazandaranis as well as Persians and other smaller Iranic peoples.

The city is famous for its historic brick tower of the same...