The Trend of Country Divisions in Iran; from Upstream laws to Global Experiences

The purpose of this article is to study the orientation of the system of country divisions in Iran and the degree of alignment or mismatch of the decisions and actions taken in the country divisions with the upstream laws related to this sector. The study approach was comparative, and the research method was based on content analysis. Based on this, the city level was chosen as one of the four elements and units of the country's divisions. Despite the emphasis of the study on the ineffectiveness of the criteria specified in Iran's law of national divisions, the results show that in terms of population and density (factors emphasized in Iran's Law on Country Divisions), the decisions and actions taken in the country divisions at the city levels do not have much compliance with the frameworks and requirements of the upper laws and many of the new cities created in 2019-2021, in terms of population and density, have benefited from a smaller share than the provincial centers. Also, in the same criteria of population, density, and economic capacity, proportionality between the elements and units of country divisions in Iran is not seen with countries on the same level in these three criteria, and we see the plurality and multiplicity of country division units compared to other countries. Based on this, in the absence of efficient laws of the system of country divisions in Iran, the influence of unofficial factors on the system of country divisions has intensified, and this has created harmful effects and results such as increasing government expenses.