ASĀLEM, a mountainous district in Ṭāleš, now a dehestān of the central baḵš of the šahrestān of Ṭawāleš, province of Gīlān, Iran. Stretching about 11 km along the Caspian Sea, it comprises the whole basin of the Nāv-rūd and the upper valley of the Rūd-e Dīnāčāl (or Rūd-e Lomer), the lower reaches of which mark the border with the district of Ṭāleš-Dūlāb to the south; to the north, the small stream of Ḵālačašma (or Sardāb) separates it from the district of Kargānrūd. It is inhabited by Sunni Ṭāleš, who speak a dialect that is close to those of Kargānrūd and Ṭāleš-Dūlāb, and by some Shiʿite Turks native of Ḵalḵāl. It had a population of 21,800 inhabitants in 1355 Š./1976. ...