Map of Iran | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | 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
Total: 1.648 million km²
Land: 1.636 million km²
Water: 12,000 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than Alaska

Land boundaries
Total: 5,440 km
Border countries: (8) 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

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
Extremes highest point: Qolleh-ye Damavand 5,671 m

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

Land use
Arable land: 10%
Permanent crops: 1%
Permanent pastures: 27%
Forests and woodland: 7%
Other: 55% (1993 est.)

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: 66,128,965 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: 0.72% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: 53% (1996 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Iranian
Adjective: Iranian

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
0-14 years: 32.97% (male 11,150,053; female 10,654,884)
15-64 years: 62.38% (male 20,765,001; female 20,488,672)
65 years and over: 4.65% (male 1,617,045; female 1,453,310) (2001 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 0.72% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 17.1 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 5.41 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: -4.51 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 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
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.05 male/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male/female
65 years and over: 1.11 male/female
Total population: 1.03 male/female (2001 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 29.04 deaths/1000 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.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.01% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 72.1%
Male: 78.4%
Female: 65.8% (1994 est.)

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: Iran
Local long form: Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran
Local short form: Iran
Former: Persia

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 Kermanshah Khorasan Khuzestan Kohgiluyeh va Buyer Ahmad Kordestan Lorestan Markazi Mazandaran Qazvin Qom Semnan Sistan va Baluchestan Tehran Yazd Zanjan

Dependent areas

Independence: 1 April 1979 (Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed)

National holiday: 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
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
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

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; 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 1999-2000 afforded Iran fiscal breathing room but does not solve Iran's structural economic problems including the encouragement of foreign investment.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 3% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,300 (2000 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 24%
Industry: 28%
Services: 48% (2000 est.)

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: 4.4% (nonoil) (1999)

Labor force
Note: shortage of skilled labor (1998)
By occupation agriculture: 33%
By occupation industry: 25%
By occupation services: 42% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate: 14% (1999 est.)

Youth unemployment

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

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: NA%
Highest 10: NA%

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $27 billion
Expenditures: $27 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: 21 March - 20 March

Inflation rate consumer prices: 16% (2000 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: $25 billion (f.o.b. 2000 est.)
Commodities: petroleum 85% carpets fruits and nuts iron and steel chemicals
Partners: Japan Italy UAE South Korea France China

Imports: $15 billion (f.o.b. 2000 est.)
Commodities: industrial raw materials and intermediate goods capital goods foodstuffs and other consumer goods technical services military supplies
Partners: Germany South Korea Italy UAE France Japan

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $7.5 billion (2000 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates
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


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Electricity
Production: 103.054 billion kWh (1999)
Production by source fossil fuel: 93.16%
Production by source hydro: 6.84%
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Production by source other: 0% (1999)
Consumption: 95.84 billion kWh (1999)
Exports: 0 kWh (1999)
Imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 6.313 million (1997)
Mobile cellular: 265,000 (August 1998)

Telephone system
General assessment: 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
Domestic: as a result of heavy investing in the telephone system since 1994, the number of long-distance channels in the microwave radio relay trunk has grown substantially; many villages have been brought into the net; the number of main lines in the urban systems has approximately doubled; and thousands of mobile cellular subscribers are being served; moreover, the technical level of the system has been raised by the installation of thousands of digital switches
International: HF radio and microwave radio relay to Turkey, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Syria, Kuwait, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; submarine fiber-optic cable to UAE with access to Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG); Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line runs from Azerbaijan through the northern portion of Iran to Turkmenistan with expansion to Georgia and Azerbaijan; satellite earth stations - 9 Intelsat and 4 Inmarsat; Internet service available but limited to electronic mail to promote Iranian culture

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .ir
Service providers isps: 8 (2000)
Users: 100,000 (2000)

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: 317 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 117
With paved runways over 3047 m: 38
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 23
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 25
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 24
With paved runways under 914 m: 7 (2000 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 200
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 2
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 13
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 122
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 60 (2000 est.)

Heliports: 11 (2000 est.)

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

Railways
Total: 5,600 km
Broad gauge: 94 km 1.676-m gauge
Standard gauge: 5,506 km 1.435-m gauge (146 km electrified)
Note: broad gauge track is employed at the borders with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan which have broad-gauge rail systems (2001)

Roadways

Waterways
Note: 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
Total: 152 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,097,977 GRT/7,131,688 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 49, cargo 38, chemical tanker 4, combination bulk 1, container 10, liquefied gas 1, multi-functional large-load carrier 6, petroleum tanker 32, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 9, short-sea passenger 1
Note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Singapore 1 (2000 est.)

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