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Nelson Mandela Boulevard

Native name	بلوار نلسون ماندلا (Persian)
Length	5.5 km (3.4 mi)
Location	Tehran
North end	Modares Expressway
South end	Arjantin Square

Nelson Mandela Boulevard (Persian: بلوار نلسون ماندلا) (old name: Jordan Street and Africa Boulevard) still known as Jordan is an affluent and upper-class district in northern Tehran, and some people draw similarities between Jordan District as being much like the Kensington area in London, United Kingdom as the area is a mixture of residential and commercial locale, filled with the homes and businesses of many politicians, diplomats, expatriates, and artists. Before the Iranian Revolution in 1979 it was called Jordan Street, named after the American Presbyterian missionary Samuel M. Jordan and used to be one of the most popular avenue in Tehran, Iran. Renamed Nelson Mandela Boulevard in recent years, it is amongst the most famous streets in north Tehran after Valiasr Street which is the longest conventional street in the Middle East, spanning a south–north axis. It is also famous for being one of the liveliest streets of Tehran, experiencing regular traffic jams even at 2:00 am during summer.

Location

Nelson Mandela Boulevard is located in the northern part of Tehran, the capital and largest city in Iran.

The tree-lined boulevard is connected to Valiasr Street (ex-"Pahlavi Avenue") via crossing streets branching from its west side while the east side leads to cul de sac bordering Modarres Expressway.

Characteristics

Although its reputation as being the most prestigious residential area is now overtaken by some areas further north like Zafaraniyeh, Elahieh, Fereshteh, Sa'adat Abad, and Niavaran, it is nevertheless still home to very expensive real estate and an essential playground for the rich, with many boutique shopping centers, chic cafes and restaurants, extravagant florists, art galleries, beauty salons, language schools, etc., the ultimate place to see and to be seen for fashionable Tehranis who have a desire to show off their possessions.

Rendezvous boys and girls, cruising the streets in cars during evening hours specially on Friday afternoons, used to be an indispensable part of Jordan's image and the car-flirting culture there had developed into an accomplished syllabus through 1990s and early 2000s. The sight for such encounters however has now changed to Andarzgou Boulevard in Farmanieh.

The area, together with its neighboring Valiasr Avenue, is suffering from severe traffic congestion due to rapid commercialization and lack of direct highway access.

It is also the home to the Italian, Polish, Bulgarian, Greek, Venezuelan, Sri Lankan, Mexican, Uruguayan, Kenyan, Brunei, Qatari, Kuwaiti, Omani and some other Arab embassies as well as home of a lot of ambassador of countries and also many ministries are located there.

Name dispute

Since the boulevard was renamed after the Iranian Revolution to Nelson Mandela Boulevard, many locals and foreigners alike continue to refer to the area as Jordan. This is presumably due to the effect of the wealthy inhabitants refusing to accept the new government's name.

History

The avenue was formerly named after Dr. Samuel Jordan, the founder and the head of the American College of Tehran, now the Alborz High School, from the 1910s to 1941.

From North to South
	Modarres Expressway
	Mirdamad Boulevard
	Shahid Haghani Expressway
	Hemmat Expressway
	Qasem Soleimani Expressway
Beyhaghi Terminal
Arjantin Square	Beyhaghi Street Shahid Ahmad Qasir Street
From South to North

References

v t e Expressways of Tehran
Expressways
11 Imam Reza Expressway 12 Artesh Expressway 13 Imam Ali Expressway 14 Kharrazi Expressway Hemmat Expressway Zeinoddin Expressway 15 Modares Expressway 16 Lashgari Expressway 17 Chamran Expressway 18 Mahallati Expressway 19 Shahid Sattari Expressway 21 Shushtari Expressway Najafi Rastegar Expressway 22 Abshenasan Expressway Hashemi Rafsanjani Expressway Niayesh Tunnel Sadr Expressway Upper Level Babayi Expressway 23 Sayyad Expressway 24 Hamadani Expressway Allameh Jafari Expressway Hakim Expressway Qasem Soleimani Expressway 25 Kordestan Expressway 26 Fath Expressway 27 Navvab Expressway Yarjani Expressway 28 Cheraghi Expressway 29 Bakeri Expressway 31 Bagheri Expressway 32 Sadr Expressway Lower Level 34 Jalal-e-Ale Ahmad Expressway Shahid Gomnam Expressway 36 Borujerdi Expressway 37 Tondguyan Expressway Behesht-e Zahra (Hashemi) Expressway 38 Besat Expressway 39 Ayatollah Kashani Expressway 41 Doran Expressway 42 Shahid Haghani Expressway 44 Fahmideh Expressway Sheikh Fazl-allah Nouri Expressway 47 Yadegar-e-Emam Expressway 48 Mahdavi Kani Expressway Azadegan Expressway 49 Dogaz Expressway 51 Basij Expressway 54 Yasini Expressway 57 Ashrafi Esfahani Expressway Mohammad Ali Jenah Expressway 58 Karimi Expressway Avini Expressway Rasuli Expressway 67 Saidi Expressway 68 Allameh Asgari Expressway Shahr-e Aftab Expressway 77 Kazemi Expressway
Tehran, Tehran, Iran

• Streets in Tehran
• Neighbourhoods in Tehran