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The Classification of National Division System in Iran: The Case of Khorassan Province

The system of national division is one of the most important elements in the management and development of a country. The present Iranian national division is 100 years old. Based on the needs and the tendency to develop in different regions, there has been an increase in the numbery divisions in the country which has resulted a fragmutation of the counry in to smaller sections. For example, between the years 1937-2003, the number of provinces has increased from 6 to 28, towns from 49 to 299, and counties from 290 to 794. This, in turn has given rise to an increase in the number of government employees from 300,000 in 1966, to 2360000 in 2002. It seems that, this process will continue in future unless something is done. It appears that there is a need for a shift in the system of national division to a more scientific basis. A solution to this problem is likely to lie in using a classification system. This was achieved through a survey conducted in 4 regions; namely, Mashhad, Gonabad, Dareh-gaz, and Tybad. For this purpose, indexes such as natural, social, economic, cultural- historical, educational, infrastructural, deprivational, security, and judicial issues as well as some minor factors were incorporated in order to develop a questionnaire. In this way, the necessary data was gathered and analyzed. The findings proved that a classifiction system in which towns are given 7 and counties 6 points can be likely answer to the present situation. That is points in this classification system can be a better index than political boundaries considered in the present national division.