TEHRAN - Holidaymakers have made some eight million overnight stays in hotels and guest houses of the touristic Mazandaran province during the first three weeks of the summer.A total of 7,979,076 overnight stays have been registered by the hotels, guest houses, ecolodge units, traditional lodging houses, apartment hotels, and tourist centers during the first three weeks of the summer, IRNA quoted the provincial tourism chief as saying on Monday.Mazandaran has 63 hotels, 51 motels, 91 apartment hotels, 293 eco-lodge complexes, 4,939 guest houses, 8 recreational complexes, 123 beach facilities, and 12 camping sites, with a total capacity of 1,246,177 people per night, the official said.“351 authorized eco-lodge resorts are currently operational in Mazandaran… Eco-lodge unites enjoy high occupancy rates because they are highly welcomed by nature lovers and those interested in staying in villages.”Earlier this year, domestic vacationers made almost 14 million overnight stays across Mazandaran during the two-week Noruz holidays (started March 21).Sandwiched between the towering Alborz mountain range and the Caspian Sea, Mazandaran has a rich yet turbulent history.

An early civilization flourished at the beginning of the first millennium BC in Mazandaran (Tabarestan).Its insecure eastern and southeastern borders were crossed by Mongol invaders in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Cossacks attacked the region in 1668 but were repulsed.

It was ceded to the Russian Empire by a treaty in 1723, but the Russians were never secure in their occupation.

The area was restored to Iran under the Qajar dynasty.The northern section of the region consists of lowland alongside the Caspian and upland along the northern slopes of the Alborz Mountains.

Marshy backlands dominate the coastal plain, and extensive gravel fans fringe the mountains.

The climate is permanently subtropical and humid, with very hot summers.AFM