Fars Province (استان فارس ' ˈfɒː(ɾ)spron), originally spelled Pars (پارس)), is one of the 31 provinces and known as Cultural Capital of Iran. It is in the south of the country and its center is Shiraz. It has an area of 122,400 km². In 2006, this province had a population of 4.57 million people, of which 61.2% were registered as urban dwellers, 38.1% villagers, and 0.7% nomad tribes. The etymology of the word "Persian" (Pārs-ian: پارسیان) is derived from the cultural capital of Iran and found in many ancient names associated with Iran.

Fars or Pars is the original homeland of the Persian people. The native name of the Persian language is Fârsi or Pârsi.Persia and Persian both derive from the Hellenized form Πέρσις Persis of the root word Pârs. The Old Persian word was Pârsâ.