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Built in 1974 for the purpose of hosting the Asian Games, and hopefully one day the Olympic Games. But then came the revolution which toppled the regime of the Shah, and Iran's aspiration to host the Olympics vanished over night. Back then it was called "Aryamehr Stadium" - Aryamehr was the title bestowed on the last Shah of Iran, and translates into "Light-of-the-Aryans" (The name of the country - "Iran" literally means "Aryan", which is ancient Persian for "Noble") Today it's officially called "Freedom Stadium" (Azadi). The AzadiStadium holds more than 100,000 people and the surrounding sports facilities include an indoor swimming pool which supposedly is the largest in the world, unless an even larger one has been built in recent years.
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North Africa/Middle East
