قم

Qom (Persian: قم; [ɢom] ) is a city in the Central District of Qom County, Qom province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. The city is 140 km (87 mi) to the south of Tehran, and on the banks of the Qom River. Qom is considered holy in Shi'a Islam, as it is the site of the shrine of Fatima bint Musa, sister of Imam Ali ibn Musa Rida (Persian: Imam Reza; 789–816). The city is the largest center for Shi'a scholarship in the world and is a significant destination of pilgrimage, with around twenty million pilgrims visiting the city every year, the majority being Iranians but also other Shi'a Muslims from all around the world. Qom has developed into a lively industrial center owing, in part, to its proximity to Tehran. It is a regional center for the distribution of petroleum and petroleum products, and a natural gas pipeline from Bandar Anzali and Tehran and a crude oil pipeline from Tehran run through Qom to the Abadan refinery on the Persian Gulf. Qom gained additional prosperity when oil was discovered at Sarajeh near the city in 1956 and a large refinery was built between Qom and Tehran.