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- Map:
- Location:
- • Middle East, bordering the Gulf of
Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Pakistan
- Geographic coordinates:
- • 32 00 N, 53 00 E
- Area—comparative:
- • slightly larger than Alaska
- Land boundaries:
- • total: 5,440 km
• border countries: Afghanistan 936 km, Armenia 35 km, Azerbaijan-proper 432
km, Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave 179 km, Iraq 1,458 km, Pakistan 909 km, Turkey 499 km,
Turkmenistan 992 km
- Coastline:
- • 2,440 km
• note: Iran also borders the Caspian Sea (740 km)
- Maritime claims:
- • contiguous zone: 24 nm
• continental shelf: natural prolongation
• exclusive economic zone: bilateral agreements, or median lines in the
Persian Gulf
• territorial sea: 12 nm
- Climate:
- • mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast
- Terrain
- • rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts, mountains; small,
discontinuous plains along both coasts
- Environment—current issues:
- • air pollution, especially in urban areas, from vehicle emissions, refinery
operations, and industrial effluents; deforestation; overgrazing; desertification; oil
pollution in the Persian Gulf; inadequate supplies of potable water
- Environment—international agreements:
- • party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
• signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine
Life Conservation
Library of Congress Geographic Information
Geographic
Information from Iranian Embassy in Canada
Clickable Map of
Iran
See also
Information in Infoplease.com Encyclopedia Entry
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- Population:
- • 66,128,965 (July 2001 est.)
- Net migration rate:
- • -4.51 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
- Infant mortality rate:
- • 29.04 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
- Life expectancy at birth:
- • total population: 69.95 years
• male: 68.61 years
• female: 71.37 years (2001 est.)
- Total fertility rate:
- • 2.02 children born/woman (2001 est.)
- Nationality:
- • noun: Iranian(s)
• adjective: Iranian
- Ethnic groups:
- • Persian 51%, Azerbaijani 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur
2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%
- Religions:
- • Shi'a Muslim 89%, Sunni Muslim 10%, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i 1%
- Religion Information from
Iranian Embassy in Canada
- Languages:
- • Persian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%,
Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%, other 2%
- Literacy:
- • definition: age 15 and over can read and write
• total population: 72.1%
• male: 78.4%
• female: 65.8% (1994 est.)
See also
Information in Infoplease.com Encyclopedia Entry
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- Country name:
- • conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Iran
• conventional short form: Iran
• local long form: Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran
• local short form: Iran
- Government type:
- • theocratic republic
- National capital:
- • Tehran
- Administrative divisions:
- • 28 provinces (ostanha, singular - ostan); Ardabil,
Azarbayjan-e Gharbi, Azarbayjan-e Sharqi, Bushehr, Chahar Mahall va Bakhtiari, Esfahan,
Fars, Gilan, Golestan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Kermanshah, Khorasan, Khuzestan,
Kohgiluyeh va Buyer Ahmad, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi, Mazandaran, Qazvin, Qom, Semnan,
Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan
- Independence:
- • 1 April 1979 (Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed)
- National holiday:
- • Islamic Republic Day, 1 April (1979)
- Constitution
- • 2-3 December 1979; revised 1989 to expand powers of the presidency and eliminate
the prime ministership
- Legal system
- • the Constitution codifies Islamic principles of government
- Suffrage:
- • 15 years of age; universal
- Executive branch:
- • chief of state: supreme leader (rahbar-e moazam) and functional chief of
state—Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah
Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI (since 4 June 1989)
• head
of government: President (Ali) Mohammad KHATAMI-Ardakani (since 3 August 1997); First
Vice President Dr. Mohammad Reza AREF-YAZDI (since NA August 2001)
• cabinet:
Council of Ministers selected by the president with legislative approval
• elections: leader of the Islamic Revolution appointed for life by the
Assembly of Experts; president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last
held 8 June 2001 (next to be held NA 2005)
• election results: (Ali) Mohammad KHATAMI-Ardakani reelected president;
percent of vote - (Ali) Mohammad KHATAMI-Ardakani 77%
- Legislative branch:
- • unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly or
Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami (290 seats, note - changed from 270 seats with the 18 February
2000 election; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
• elections: last held 18 February-NA
April 2000 (next to be held NA 2004)
• election results: percent of vote - NA%;
seats by party - reformers 170, conservatives 45, and independents 10; 65 seats were up
for runoff election on 5 May 2000 (reformers 52, conservatives 10, independents 3)
- Judicial branch
- • Supreme Court
- Political parties and leaders:
- • the following organizations appeared to have achieved
considerable success at elections to the sixth Majlis in early 2000: Assembly of the
Followers of the Imam's Line, Freethinkers' Front, Islamic Iran Participation Front,
Moderation and Development Party, Servants of Construction Party, Society of
Self-sacrificing Devotees
- Political pressure groups and leaders:
- • active student groups include the pro-reform
"Organization for Strengthening Unity" and "the Union of Islamic Student
Societies'; groups that generally support the Islamic Republic include Ansar-e Hizballah,
Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, Muslim Students Following the Line of the Imam, and
the Islamic Coalition Association; opposition groups include the Liberation Movement of
Iran and the Nation of Iran party; armed political groups that have been almost completely
repressed by the government include Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK), People's
Fedayeen, Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan; the Society for the Defense of Freedom
- Yahoo Guide to Political Parties and Groups
- Diplomatic
representation in the US
- • none; note—Iran has an Interests Section in the Pakistani Embassy, headed by
Faramarz FATH-NEJAD
mailing address: Iranian Interests Section, Pakistani Embassy, 2209 Wisconsin
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007;
telephone: [1] (202) 965-4990
- Diplomatic representation from the US:
- • none; note—protecting power in Iran is Switzerland
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- Economy—overview:
- • Iran's economy is a mixture of central planning,
state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale
private trading and service ventures. President KHATAMI has continued to follow the market
reform plans of former President RAFSANJANI and has indicated that he will pursue
diversification of Iran's oil-reliant economy although he has made little progress toward
that goal. The strong oil market in 1996 helped ease financial pressures on Iran and
allowed for Tehran's timely debt service payments. Iran's financial situation tightened in
1997 and deteriorated further in 1998 because of lower oil prices. The subsequent zoom in
oil prices in 1999-2000 afforded Iran fiscal breathing room but does not solve Iran's
structural economic problems, including the encouragement of foreign investment.
- GDP:
- • purchasing power parity $413 billion (2000 est.)
• real growth rate: 3% (2000 est.)
• per capita: purchasing power parity—$6,300 (2000 est.)
• composition by sector: agriculture: 24%, industry: 28%, services: 48% (2000
est.)
- Inflation rate—consumer price index:
- • 16% (2000 est.)
- Labor force:
- • 17.3 million
• note: shortage of skilled labor (1998)
- Unemployment rate:
- • 14% (1999 est.)
- Budget:
- • revenues: $27 billion
• expenditures: $27 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999)
- Exports:
- • total value: $25 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
• commodities: petroleum 85%, carpets, fruits and
nuts, iron and steel, chemicals
• partners: Japan, US, UK, Germany, South Korea, UAE
- Imports:
- • total value: $15 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
• commodities: machinery, military supplies, metal works, foodstuffs,
pharmaceuticals, technical services, refined oil products
• partners: Germany, Italy, Japan, UAE, UK, Belgium
- Debt—external:
- • $7.5 billion (2000 est.)
- Economic aid:
- • recipient: $116.5 million (1995)
- Currency:
- • 10 Iranian rials (IR) = 1 toman;
• note domestic figures are generally referred to in terms of the toman
- Exchange rates:
- • Iranian rials (IR) per US$1—1,754.71 (January 2001), 1,764.43 (2000),
1,725.93 (1999), 1,752.14 (January 1998)
- note: Iran has three officially recognized exchange rates; the averages for 1999
are as follows: the official floating rate of 1,750 rials per US dollar, the
"export" rate of 3,000 rials per US dollar, and the variable Tehran Stock
Exchange rate, which averages 7,863 rials per US dollar; the market rate averages 8,615
rials per US dollar
Economic Information from
Iranian Embassy in Canada
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- Military branches
- • Islamic Republic of Iran regular forces (includes Ground Forces, Navy, Air and
Air Defense Forces), Revolutionary Guards (includes Ground, Air, Navy, Qods, and
Basij-mobilization-forces), Law Enforcement Forces
- Military manpower—military age:
- • 21 years of age
- Military manpower—availability:
- • males age 15-49: 18,319,328 (2001 est.)
- Military expenditures—dollar figure:
- • $5.787 billion (FY98/99)
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Disputes—international
- • Iran and Iraq restored diplomatic relations in 1990 but are still trying to work
out written agreements settling outstanding disputes from their eight-year war concerning
border demarcation, prisoners-of-war, and freedom of navigation and sovereignty over the
Shatt al Arab waterway; Iran occupies two islands in the Persian Gulf claimed by the UAE.
- Illicit drugs:
- • illicit producer of opium poppy for the domestic and international drug trade;
net opiate importer but also a key transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin to
Europe
IRAN