Map of Iran | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: Known as Persia until 1935 Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling shah was forced into exile. Conservative clerical forces subsequently crushed westernizing liberal elements. Militant Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran on 4 November 1979 and held it until 20 January 1981. During 1980-88 Iran fought a bloody indecisive war with Iraq over disputed territory. The key current issue is how rapidly the country should open up to the modernizing influences of the outside world.


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Location: Middle East, between the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Asia, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total area total: 1.648 million km²
Land: 1.636 million km²

Land boundaries: total 5,440 km, Afghanistan 936 km, Armenia 35 km, Azerbaijan (north) 432 km, Azerbaijan (northwest) 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
Continental shelf: not specified
Exclusive fishing zone: 50 nm in the Gulf of Oman; continental shelf limit, continental shelf boundaries, 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

Elevation

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur

Land use
Arable land: 8%
Permanent crops: 0%
Meadows and pastures: 27%
Forest and woodland: 11%
Other: 54%

Irrigated land: 57,500 km² (1989 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: periodic droughts

Geography


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Population: 65,615,474 (July 1994 est.)
Growth rate: 3.46% (1994 est.)

Nationality: noun:Iranian(s)

Ethnic groups: Persian 51%, Azerbaijani 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%

Languages: Persian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Baloch 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%, other 2%

Religions: Shi'a Muslim 95%, Sunni Muslim 4%, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i 1%

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 3.46% (1994 est.)

Birth rate: 42.43 births/1000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate: 7.83 deaths/1000 population (1994 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (1994 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: air pollution, especially in urban areas, from vehicle emissions, refinery operations, and industry; deforestation; overgrazing; desertification; oil pollution in the Persian Gulf; shortages of drinking water

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 60.2 deaths/1000 live births (1994 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 65.66 years
Male: 64.7 years
Female: 66.68 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.33 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Total population: 54%
Male: 64%
Female: 43%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Iran
Conventional short form:

Government type: theocratic republic

Capital: Tehran

Administrative divisions: 24 provinces (ostanha, singular - ostan; Azarbayjan-e Bakhtari, Azarbayjan-e Khavari, Bakhtaran, Bushehr, Chahar Mahall va Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Fars, Gilan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Khorasan, Khuzestan, Kohkiluyeh va Buyer Ahmadi, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi, Mazandaran, Semnan, Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan

Dependent areas

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

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 15 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Supreme leader and functional chief of state: Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI (since 4 June 1989); supreme leader (velayat-e faqih)
Head of government: President Ali Akbar Hashemi-RAFSANJANI (since 3 August 1989); election last held June 1993 (next to be held June-July 1997); results - Ali Akbar HASHEMI-RAFSANJANI was elected with 63% of the vote

Legislative branch: Islamic Republic of Iran Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Force, Revolutionary Guards (including Basij militia and own ground, air, and naval forces), Law Enforcement Forces
Islamic Consultative Assembly: (Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami) elections last held 8 April 1992 (next to be held April 1996); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (270 seats total) number of seats by party NA

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: CCC, CP, ESCAP, ECO, FAO, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OIC, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
From the us chief of mission: Iran has an Interests Section in the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, DC
From the us chancery: Iranian Interests Section, 2,209 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,007
From the us telephone: (202) 965-4,990
From the us: protecting power in Iran is Switzerland

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red; the national emblem (a stylized representation of the word Allah) in red is centered in the white band; Allah Alkbar (God is Great) in white Arabic script is repeated 11 times along the bottom edge of the green band and 11 times along the top edge of the red band

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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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. Over the past several years, the government has introduced several measures to liberalize the economy and reduce government intervention, but most of these changes have moved slowly because of political opposition. Iran has faced increasingly severe financial difficulties in 1992-93 due to an import surge since 1989 and general financial mismanagement. At yearend 1993 the Iranian Government estimated that it owed foreign creditors about $30 billion; an estimated $8 billion of this debt was in arrears. Earnings from oil exports--which provide over 90% of Iran's export revenues--are providing less relief to Iran than usual because of declining oil prices. Estimated overall growth was a robust 6.3% in 1992 and a moderate 3% in 1993.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 3% (1993 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $4,780 (1993 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for about 20% of GDP; principal products - wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits, nuts, cotton, dairy products, wool, caviar; not self-sufficient in food

Industries: petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and other building materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production), metal fabricating

Industrial production growth rate: 3% (1993 est.), accounts for almost 30% of GDP, including petroleum

Labor force: 15.4 million
By occupation agriculture: 33%
By occupation manufacturing: 21%
By occupation note: shortage of skilled labor (1988 est.)

Unemployment rate: 30% (1991 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues:$NA

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: 21 March - 20 March

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $15.5 billion (f.o.b., FY92 est.)
Commodities: petroleum 90%, carpets, fruits, nuts, hides
Partners: Japan, Italy, France, Netherlands, Belgium/Luxembourg, Spain, and Germany

Imports: $23.7 billion (c.i.f., FY92 est.)
Commodities: machinery, military supplies, metal works, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, technical services, refined oil products
Partners: Germany, Japan, Italy, UK, France

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $30 billion (December 1993)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Iranian rials (IR) per US$1 - 1,748.86 (January 1994), 1,267.77 (1993), 65.552 (1992), 67.505 (1991; note - in March 1993 the Iranian government announced a new single-parity exchange rate system with a new official rate of 1,538 rials per dollar; there is also a black market rate of 2,200 rials per US$1 (December 1993)


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Electricity
Capacity: 15,649,000 kW
Production: 43.6 billion kWh
Consumption per capita: 710 kWh (1992)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: according to official Iranian data, Iran spent 1,785 billion rials, including $808 million in hard currency in 1992 and budgeted 2,507 billion rials, including $850 million in hard currency for 1993 (est.)
Dollar figure note: conversion of rial expenditures into US dollars using the prevailing exchange rate could produce misleading results

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 219
Usable: 193
With permanentsurface runways: 80
With runways over 3659 m: 17
With runways 2440-3659 m: 18
With runways 1220-2439 m: 70

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil 5,900 km; petroleum products 3,900 km; natural gas 4,550 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 904 km; the Shatt al Arab is usually navigable by maritime traffic for about 130 km; channel has been dredged to 3 meters and is in use

Merchant marine: 139 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,480,000 GRT/8,332,667 DWT, bulk 48, cargo 41, chemical tanker 4, combination bulk 2, liquefied gas 1, oil tanker 31, refrigerated cargo 3, roll-on/roll-off cargo 8, short-sea passenger 1

Ports and terminals


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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:Tunb as Sughra (Arabic), Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Kuchek (Persian) or Lesser Tunb, and Tunb al Kubra (Arabic), Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg (Persian) or Greater Tunb; it jointly administers with the UAE an island in the Persian Gulf claimed by the UAE, Abu Musa (Arabic) or Jazireh-ye Abu Musa (Persian; in 1992 the dispute over Abu Musa and the Tunb islands became more acute when Iran unilaterally tried to control the entry of third country nationals into the UAE portion of Abu Musa island, Tehran subsequently backed off in the face of significant diplomatic support for the UAE in the region; periodic disputes with Afghanistan over Helmand water rights

Refugees and internally displaced persons

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