|
| 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. |
| 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
references: |
Middle
East |
| 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 |
| Environment
- international agreements: |
party
to: Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection,
Wetlands
signed, but not ratified:
Environmental Modification, Law of the
Sea, Marine Life Conservation |
| Geography
- note: |
strategic
location on the Persian Gulf and Strait of
Hormuz, which are vital maritime pathways
for crude oil transport |
| Population: |
66,128,965
(July 2001 est.) |
| 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.) |
| Population
growth rate: |
0.72%
(2001 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
17.1
births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
5.41
deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
-4.51
migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at
birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.11
male(s)/female
total population: 1.03 male(s)/female
(2001 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
29.04
deaths/1,000 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.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- adult prevalence rate: |
less
than 0.01% (1999 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- people living with HIV/AIDS: |
NA |
| Nationality: |
noun:
Iranian(s)
adjective: Iranian |
| Ethnic
groups: |
Persian
51%, Azeri 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.) |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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: |
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)
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 |
| Political
pressure groups and leaders: |
active
student groups include the pro-reform
"Organization for Strengthening
Unity" and "the Union of Islamic
Student Societies'; groups that generally
support the Islamic Republic include Ansar-e
Hizballah, Mojahedin of the Islamic
Revolution, Muslim Students Following the
Line of the Imam, and the Islamic
Coalition Association; opposition groups
include the Liberation Movement of Iran
and the Nation of Iran party; armed
political groups that have been almost
completely repressed by the government
include Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK),
People's Fedayeen, Democratic Party of
Iranian Kurdistan; the Society for the
Defense of Freedom |
| 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, 2209
Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007;
telephone: [1] (202) 965-4990 |
| Diplomatic
representation 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 |
| 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. |
| GDP: |
purchasing
power parity - $413 billion (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
3%
(2000 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing
power parity - $6,300 (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture:
24%
industry: 28%
services: 48% (2000 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
53%
(1996 est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest
10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
16%
(2000 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
17.3
million
note: shortage of skilled
labor (1998) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
agriculture
33%, industry 25%, services 42% (1999
est.) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
14%
(1999 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues:
$27 billion
expenditures: $27 billion,
including capital expenditures of $NA
(1999) |
| 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) |
| Electricity
- production: |
103.054
billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil
fuel: 93.16%
hydro: 6.84%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
95.84
billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
0
kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
0
kWh (1999) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
wheat,
rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits,
nuts, cotton; dairy products, wool; caviar |
| Exports: |
$25
billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
petroleum
85%, carpets, fruits and nuts, iron and
steel, chemicals |
| Exports
- partners: |
Japan,
Italy, UAE, South Korea, France, China |
| Imports: |
$15
billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
industrial
raw materials and intermediate goods,
capital goods, foodstuffs and other
consumer goods, technical services,
military supplies |
| Imports
- partners: |
Germany,
South Korea, Italy, UAE, France, Japan |
| Debt
- external: |
$7.5
billion (2000 est.) |
| Economic
aid - recipient: |
$116.5
million (1995) |
| Currency: |
Iranian
rial (IRR) |
| Exchange
rates: |
Iranian
rials per US dollar - 1,754.71 (January
2001), 1,764.43 (2000), 1,725.93 (1999),
1,751.86 (1998), 1,752.92 (1997), 1,750.76
(1996)
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 |
| Fiscal
year: |
21
March - 20 March |
| Telephones
- main lines in use: |
6.313
million (1997) |
| Telephones
- 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 |
| Radio
broadcast stations: |
AM
72, FM 5, shortwave 5 (1998) |
| Radios: |
17
million (1997) |
| Television
broadcast stations: |
28
(plus 450 low-power repeaters) (1997) |
| Televisions: |
4.61
million (1997) |
| Internet
country code: |
.ir |
| Internet
Service Providers (ISPs): |
8
(2000) |
| Internet
users: |
100,000
(2000) |
| Railways: |
total:
6,130 km
broad gauge: 94 km 1.676-m
gauge
standard gauge: 6,036 km
1.435-m gauge (187 km electrified)
note: broad-gauge track is
employed at the borders with Azerbaijan
and Turkmenistan which have broad-gauge
rail systems; 41 km of the standard-gauge,
electrified track is in suburban service
at Tehran (2001) |
| Highways: |
total:
140,200 km
paved: 49,440 km (including
470 km of expressways)
unpaved: 90,760 km (1998
est.) |
| Waterways: |
904
km
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 |
| Pipelines: |
crude
oil 5,900 km; petroleum products 3,900 km;
natural gas 4,550 km |
| Ports
and harbors: |
Abadan
(largely destroyed in fighting during
1980-88 war), Ahvaz, Bandar 'Abbas,
Bandar-e Anzali, Bushehr, Bandar-e Emam
Khomeyni, Bandar-e Lengeh, Bandar-e
Mahshahr, Bandar-e Torkaman, Chabahar
(Bandar Beheshti), Jazireh-ye Khark,
Jazireh-ye Lavan, Jazireh-ye Sirri,
Khorramshahr (limited operation since
November 1992), Now Shahr |
| 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.) |
| Airports: |
317
(2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with paved runways: |
total:
117
over 3,047 m: 38
2,438 to 3,047 m: 23
1,524 to 2,437 m: 25
914 to 1,523 m: 24
under 914 m: 7 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with unpaved runways: |
total:
200
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 13
914 to 1,523 m: 122
under 914 m: 60 (2000 est.) |
| Heliports: |
11
(2000 est.) |
| 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 |
| 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 |
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