This new province was created as a result of the division of Mazandaran province into two smaller administrative units. It borders on Tukmanistan Republic to the north, Khorasan province to the east, Semnan province to the south, the Caspian Sea and the Guilan province to the west. Its climate varies greatly under the influence of a number of geographical factors such as the altitude, latitude, trend of Alborz mountains, distance from the sea, Turkman Sabra (Turkman Desert), Siberian plain to the north of Russia, local and regional winds, displacement of northern and western air masses, as well as the dense forests.