Geography: Location: Middle East, bordering
the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Pakistan
Area:
total: 1.648 million sq km
land: 1.636 million sq km
water: 12,000 sq km
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
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
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 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: periodic droughts, floods; dust storms, sandstorms; earthquakes along
western
border and in the northeast
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
People
Population: 68,959,931 (July 1998 est.)
note: includes 607,252 non-nationals (July 1998 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 43% (male 15,371,060; female 14,513,782)
15-64 years: 53% (male 18,469,620; female 17,810,596)
65 years and over: 4% (male 1,428,471; female 1,366,402) (July 1998 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.04% (1998 est.)
Birth rate: 31.37 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate: 6.19 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Net migration rate: -4.79 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.05 male(s)/female (1998 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 48.95 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 68.25 years
male: 66.83 years
female: 69.74 years (1998 est.)
Total fertility rate: 4.31 children born/woman (1998 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%
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.)
Government
Country conventional name: Islamic Republic of Iran
Government type: theocratic republic
National capital: Tehran
Economy
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.
Newly elected 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. In the early 1990s, Iran experienced a financial crisis and was forced to
reschedule $15
billion in debt. 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 early
1998 because of lower oil prices. Iran may be forced to decrease imports and slow debt
repayments if the oil market worsens further.
GDP: purchasing power parity—$371.2 billion (1997 est.)
GDP—real growth rate: 3.2% (1997 est.)
GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$5,500 (1997 est.)
GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 21%
industry: 37%
services: 42% (1994 est.)
Inflation rate—consumer price index: 23% (1996)
Labor force:
total: 15.4 million
by occupation: agriculture 33%, manufacturing 21% (1988 est.)
note: shortage of skilled labor
Unemployment rate: more than 30% (January 1998 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $34.6 billion
expenditures: $34.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $11.8 billion (FY96/97)
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.)
Agriculture—products: wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits, nuts, cotton;
dairy products,
wool; caviar
Exports:
total value: $19 billion (f.o.b., 1997 est.)
commodities: petroleum 80%, carpets, fruits, nuts, hides, iron, steel
partners: Japan, US, UK, Germany, South Korea, UAE
Imports:
total value: $15.6 billion (f.o.b., 1997 est.)
commodities: machinery, military supplies, metal works, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals,
technical
services, refined oil products
partners: Germany, Italy, Japan, UAE, UK, Belgium
Debt—external: $21.9 billion (1996 est.)
Currency: 10 Iranian rials (IR) = 1 toman; note—domestic figures are generally
referred to in
terms of the toman
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Information About Iran
IRANIAN PEOPLE GROUPS
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