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.

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 3,180 km

Maritime claims
Continental shelf: not specific
Exclusive fishing zone: 50 nm in the Sea of Oman
Medianline boundaries 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

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

Land use: 8% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 27% meadows and pastures; 11% forest and woodland; 54% other; includes 2% irrigated

Population: 53,866,523 (July 1989), growth rate 3.4% (1989)

Nationality: noun - Iranian(s; adjective - Iranian

Ethnic groups: 63% ethnic Persian, 18% Turkic, 13% other Iranian, 3% Kurdish, 3% Arab and other Semitic

Languages: Farsi, Turki, Kurdish, Arabic, English, French

Religions: 93% Shia Muslim; 5% Sunni Muslim; 2% Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Bahai

Birth rate: 44 births/1000 population (1989)

Death rate: 10 deaths/1000 population (1989)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1000 population (1989)

Environment
Current issues: deforestation; overgrazing; desertification

Infant mortality rate: 113 deaths/1000 live births (1989)

Life expectancy at birth: 57 years male, 57 years female (1989)

Total fertility rate: 6.2 children born/woman (1989)

Literacy: 48%

Country name: conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Iran

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

Independence: 1 April 1979, Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed

National holiday: Islamic Republic Day, 1 April (1979)

Constitution: 2-3 December 1979

Legal system: the new Constitution codifies Islamic principles of government

Suffrage: universal over age 15

Executive branch: Chief of State - President Ali Akbar RAFSANJANI (since 3 August 1989; Head of Government - Prime Minister Mir Hosein MUSAVI-KHAMENEI (since 31 October 1981)

Legislative branch: Islamic Republic of Iran Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, and Revolutionary Guard Corps (includes Basij militia and own ground, air, and naval forces), Gendarmerie

International organization participation: CCC, Economic Cooperation Organization, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, IDA, IDB, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, International Chamber of Commerce, IPU, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UNIDO, WHO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: none; protecting power in the US is Algeria - Iranian Interests Section, 2,209 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington DC 20,007; telephone (202) 965-4,990; 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 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

Economy overview: Since the 1979 revolution, banks, the petroleum industry, transportation, utilities, and mining have been nationalized. War-related disruptions, massive corruption, mismanagement, and ideological rigidities have kept economic activities below prerevolutionary levels. Oil accounts for 90% of export revenues. In 1986 the sharp drop in oil prices further depressed the economy. A combination of war damage and low oil prices brought a 2% drop in GNP in 1988. Heating oil and gasoline are rationed. Agriculture has suffered from the war, land reform, and shortages of equipment and materials. The government has introduced austerity import measures that have had the hardest impact on the industrial sector, but the measures have also been successful in lowering foreign debt from $10 billion in 1980 to about $4 billion at the end of 1988.

Agriculture products: wheat, barley, rice, sugar beets, cotton, dates, raisins, tea, tobacco, sheep, goats; an illegal producer of opium poppy for the international drug trade

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

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Labor force: 15,400,000; 33% agriculture, 21% manufacturing; shortage of skilled labor (1988 est.)

Unemployment rate: 30% (1988)

Budget: revenues $NA; expenditures $55.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $11.5 billion (FY88 est.)

Fiscal year: 21 March-20 March

Exports: $9.4 billion (f.o.b., 1988)
Commodities: petroleum 90%, carpets, fruits, nuts, hides
Partners: Japan, Turkey, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, France, FRG

Imports: $11.0 billion (c.i.f., 1988)
Commodities: machinery, military supplies, metal works, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, technical services, refined oil products
Partners: FRG, Japan, Turkey, UK, Italy

Debt external: $4.3 billion, medium and long-term debt (1988)

Exchange rates: Iranian rials (IR) per US$1 - 69.571 (January 1989), 68.683 (1988), 71.460 (1987), 78.760 (1986), 91.052 (1985)

Electricity
Capacity: 14,151,000 kW output; 43,383 million kWh produced, 840 kWh per capita (1988)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: NA

Airports: 170 total, 144 usable; 80 with permanent-surface runways; 16 with runways over 3,659 m; 17 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 67 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Pipelines: crude oil, 5,900 km; refined products, 3,900 km; natural gas, 3,300 km

Waterways: 904 km; the Shatt al Arab is usually navigable by maritime traffic for about 130 km, but closed since September 1980 because of Iran-Iraq war

Merchant marine: 133 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,752,795 GRT/8,895,475 DWT; includes 35 cargo, 6 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 35 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 3 chemical tanker, 3 refrigerated cargo, 49 bulk, 2 combination bulk

Disputes international: Iran began formal UN peace negotiations with Iraq in August 1988 to end the war that began on 22 September 1980 - troop withdrawal, freedom of navigation, sovereignty over the Shatt al Arab waterway and prisoner-of-war exchange are the major issues for negotiation; Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR; occupies three islands in the Persian Gulf claimed by UAE (Jazireh-ye Abu Musa or Abu Musa, Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg or Greater Tunb, and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Kuchek or Lesser Tunb; periodic disputes with Afghanistan over Helmand water rights; Baluch question with Afghanistan and Pakistan