Map of Iran | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide19891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023 | 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 bordering the Gulf of Oman the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea between Iraq and Pakistan

Geographic coordinates: 32 00 N 53 00 E

Map reference: Middle East

Area
Comparative: slightly larger than Alaska

Land boundaries

Coastline: 2,440 km

Maritime claims

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

Irrigated land: 94,000 km² (1993 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: periodic droughts floods; dust storms sandstorms; earthquakes along western border and in the northeast

Geography


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Population: 65,619,636 (July 2000 est.)
Growth rate: 0.83% (2000 est.)
Below poverty line: 53% (1996 est.)

Nationality

Ethnic groups: Persian 51% Azeri 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% Balochi 1% Arabic 1% Turkish 1% other 2%

Religions: Shi'a Muslim 89% Sunni Muslim 10% Zoroastrian Jewish Christian and Baha'i 1%

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 0.83% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 18.29 births/1000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 5.45 deaths/1000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: -4.55 migrant(s)/1000 population (2000 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

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

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 30.02 deaths/1000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

Total fertility rate: 2.2 children born/woman (2000 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

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name

Government type: theocratic republic

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 Kermanshahan Khorasan Khuzestan Kohkiluyeh va Buyer Ahmadi Kordestan Lorestan Markazi Mazandaran Qom Qazvin 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

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)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders: since President KHATAMI's election in May 1997 several political parties have been licensed; Executives of Construction; Followers of the Imam's Line and the Leader (conservative); Islamic Coalition Association [Habibollah ASQAR-OLADI]; Islamic Iran Solidarity Party; Islamic Partnership Front; Militant Clerics Association [Ayatollah Mahdavi KANI]; Second Khordad Front (pro-reform); Tehran Militant Clergy Association [Secretary General Ayatollah Mohammad EMAMI-KASHANI]

International organization participation: CCC CP ECO ESCAP FAO G-19 G-24 G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC ICRM IDA IDB IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO Inmarsat Intelsat Interpol IOC IOM (observer) ISO ITU NAM OIC OPCW OPEC PCA UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UPU WCL WFTU WHO WMO WToO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: none; note - Iran has an Interests Section in the Pakistani Embassy headed by Faramarz FATH-NEJAD; address: Iranian Interests Section Pakistani Embassy 2,209 Wisconsin Avenue NW Washington DC 20,007; telephone: [1] (202) 965-4,990
From the us: none; note - 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 AKBAR (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. 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 afforded Iran fiscal breathing room but does not solve Iran's structural economic problems.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 1% (1999 est.)

Real gdp per capita ppp

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: wheat rice other grains sugar beets fruits nuts cotton; dairy products wool; caviar

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

Industrial production growth rate: 5.7% (FY95/96 est.)

Labor force: 15.4 million
By occupation agriculture: 33%
By occupation industry: 25%
By occupation services: 42% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate: 25% (1999 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 53% (1996 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget

Public debt

Taxes and other revenues

Revenue

Fiscal year: 21 March - 20 March

Current account balance

Inflation rate consumer prices: 30% (1999 est.)

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: $12.2 billion (f.o.b. 1998 est.)
Commodities: petroleum 80% carpets fruits nuts hides iron steel
Partners: Japan Italy Greece France Spain South Korea

Imports: $13.8 billion (f.o.b. 1998 est.)
Commodities: machinery military supplies metal works foodstuffs pharmaceuticals technical services refined oil products
Partners: Germany Italy Japan UAE UK Belgium

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $21.9 billion (1996 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Iranian rials (IR) per US$1 - 1754.90 (January 2000) 1725.93 (1999) 1751.86 (1998) 1752.92 (1997) 1750.76 (1996) 1747.93 (1995); black market rate: 7,000 rials per US$1 (December 1998); note - as of May 1995 the 'official rate' of 1750 rials per US$1 is used for imports of essential goods and services and for oil exports whereas the 'official export rate' of 3,000 rials per US$1 is used for non-oil exports and imports not covered by the official rate


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Electricity access

Electricity production: 95.31 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity consumption: 88.638 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity exports: 0 kWh (1998)

Electricity imports: 0 kWh (1998)

Electricity installed generating capacity

Electricity transmission distribution losses

Electricity generation sources

Petroleum

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones fixed lines

Telephones mobile cellular

Telephone system: inadequate but currently being modernized and expanded with the goal of not only improving the efficiency and increasing the volume of the urban service but also bringing telephone service to several thousand villages not presently connected

Broadcast media

Internet country code

Internet users

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $5.787 billion (FY98/99)
Percent of gdp: 2.9% (FY98/99)

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: 288 (1999 est.)

Airports with paved runways

Airports with unpaved runways

Heliports: 11 (1999 est.)

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

Railways: 5,600 km

Roadways

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

Merchant marine

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: Lesser Tunb (called Tunb as Sughra in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Kuchek in Persian by Iran) and Greater Tunb (called Tunb al Kubra in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg in Persian by Iran); Iran jointly administers with the UAE an island in the Persian Gulf claimed by the UAE (called Abu Musa in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Abu Musa in Persian by Iran) - over which Iran has taken steps to exert unilateral control since 1992 including access restrictions and a military build-up on the island; the UAE has garnered significant diplomatic support in the region in protesting these Iranian actions; Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined among Azerbaijan Iran Kazakhstan Russia and Turkmenistan

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: despite substantial interdiction efforts Iran remains a key transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin to Europe; domestic consumption of narcotics remains a persistent problem and Iranian press reports estimate that there are at least 1.2 million drug users in the country