Kashan County () is in Isfahan province, Iran. The capital of the county is the city of Kashan. At the 2006 census, the county's population was 297,000 in 81,816 households. The following census in 2011 counted 323,371 people in 95,260 households. At the 2016 census, the county's population was 364,482 in 112,258 households. Administrative divisions The population history and structural changes of Kashan County's administrative divisions over three consecutive censuses are shown in the following table. The latest census shows four districts, nine rural districts, and seven cities. Geography To the north is Qom, to the east is Aran va Bidgol, the desert, and the Salt lake, to the south is Isfahan, and to the west is Ghamsar and the Karkas Mountains. The rivers flowing from the mountains to the desert are small and temporary. The most important is Šāh-āb, originating in Qohrud. Irrigation is mainly dependent on subterranean channels, and the water is slightly salty. There are also several springs, the most notable of which is the Fin water source. History The etymology of the city's name comes from Kasian, the original inhabitants of the city, whose remains are found at Tapeh Sialk dating back 9,000 years; later this changed to Kashian, hence the town name. Between the 12th and the 14th centuries, Kashan was an important centre for the production of high quality pottery and tiles. In modern Persian, the word for a tile (kashi) comes from the name of the town. Archeological discoveries in the Sialk Hillocks, which lie 4 km west of Kashan, reveal that this region was one of the primary centers of civilization in pre-historic ages. Kashan dates back to the Elamite period of Iran. The Sialk ziggurat still stands today in the suburbs of Kashan after 7,000 years. The artifacts uncovered at Sialk reside in the Louvre in Paris, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Iran's National Museum. By some accounts, although not all, Kashan was the origin of the three wise men who followed the star that guided them to Bethlehem to witness the nativity of Jesus, as recounted in the Bible. Whatever the historical validity of this story, the attribution of Kashan as their original home testifies to the city's prestige at the time the story was set down. According to a legend dating from the Safavid era, Abu Lu'lu'a, the Persian skilled craftsman who was enslaved by the