Islamic Republic of Iran

Islamic Republic of Iran


Current President	Seyed Mohammad Khatami


Capital	Tehran


Land	Iran, until 1935, went by the name of Persia. Iran is a small middle eastern country and measures 636,290 sq mi in area.Iran sits on the Iranian Plateau found in the center of the Alpine Himalayan Mountain range. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are common in this region. Some salty and sandy regions are found on the plateau. Some marshland regions are found along the northern border near Afghanistan. Volcanic mountain ranges are found along the borders of Iran. Mt. Damavand is the highest point in Iran. Lake Urmia is the largest body of water found inside the borders of Iran. Lowland coastal marshes are found along the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and the Caspian Sea..

	Land Features
	Dasht-e Kavir		Lake Urmia	Regional Map
	Dasht-e Lut		Persian Gulf
	Hamun-i-Helmand		Gulf of Oman
	Kopet Mts.		Caspian Sea
	Mt. Damavand		Karun River
Borders	Afghanistan and Pakistan along the East	Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman along the South	Turkey and Iraq along the West	Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Caspian Sea along the North



Climate	The climate in Iran is arid or semi-arid desert. Near the coast of the Caspian sea the climate is subtropical.

Population	64,625,000 (1995 census figure)


People	More than 50 percent of Iran's population are related to the original people of Persia. About 25 percent of the people of Iran are Azerbaijanis and the remainder of the population are from migrant groups, Kurds, Lurs, Qashqai, and Bakhtiari. While there are rural populations that live in cities, there are many groups in the mountains and deserts that are nomadic.


Economy	Most of Iran's total annual income, 80 %, comes from the gathering and production of natural gas and petroleum products and around 20 percent of Iran's total national income comes from agriculture crops. Wheat is the most important crop, but rice, Barley, corn, cotton, sugar beets, tea, hemp, tobacco, citrus and non-citrus fruits, nuts, and dates are important crops too. Some livestock like cows, sheep, and goats are also important natural products. Mountain areas have large amounts of lumber which is also important. Textiles are the second most important item produced in Iran. Some other important products are steel and iron, fertilizer, woven items like tapestries and rugs, silk, and jewelry. Iran exports petroleum products, carpets, fruits, nuts, animal hides, iron and steel. Machines, metals, military supplies, food, and chemicals are its chief imported products. The countries of Germany, Italy, and Japan are Iran's most important trade partners.


Government	Iran has been governed by Islamic principles of government since 1979. In 1989 it changed again by taking some of the powers away from the prime minister and giving more power to the president of the country. A popular election is held to elect a new president to lead the country every four years. A supreme leader is appointed by the Islamic religious advisory board and who serves as Iran's chief of state. The Islamic advisory board works with the government of Iran to make new laws. The Islamic Consultative Assembly is made up of 270 popularly elected officials and serves as the legislative branch of governnment. Iran has no legal political parties, but there are three policial groups and a few of what are called pressure groups that try to get the legislature to vote in a certain way. The government of Iran does not allow these groups to have a say in any of the decisions that they might make.


History	Zand Dynasty (2000 B.C.) Persia, now known as Iran, has a history that dates back to 4000 B.C. A race of people called Aryians came to Persia about 2000 B.C. Two main groups of people called the Medes and the Persians split away from the Aryians. Cyrus the great founded the Persian Empire in 550 B.C. In the 3rd century the Arabs conquered the Sassanid, who were the current rulers of Persia, in the year 641. The Arabs brought the religion of Islam with them when they conquered Persia. Safavid dynasty (1502-1736) The Shah Ishmail founded this dynasty and brought order to Iran. He established the Shiite section of Islam and made it the religion of the state. Shiite Islamic religion was its strongest during the 16th century when Shah Abbas drove out many countries that wanted to conquer it. The Afghan armies defeated the Safavid dynasty when Shah Hussein was the ruler of Persia. Afghan rulers took over the country of Iran for a short time, but were defeated and thrown out of Persia. Qajar dynasty (1794-1925) Aga Muhammad Khan established the Qajar dynasty, but was hated by the people and was assasinated by them. Under his rule a lot of Persia's land was taken away by other stronger countries. Russia made claims for most of the Persian land that was lost. Two treaties, Treaty of Gulistan signed in 1813 and the Treaty of Turkmanchay signed in 1828, made Persia give up even more of its land. Pahlevi Dynasty (1925-1941) Reza Kahn was elected as hereditary shah and the Qajar dynasty was over. He refused to follow the two treaties made during the Qajar dynasty and brought many changes to Iran. He made the army larger and insisted on higher education and better industrial production. During World War II Reza Kahn abdicated his throne to his son, Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi. During his reign American troops used Iran to bring war supplies to Russia who was fighting against Germany. In 1943 the Tehran Declaration was signed at the Tehran conference and guaranteed Iran's borders would not be invaded and would be independent.

Bibliography and Citations

Photographic Citations: Photographic citations can be found by moving your mouse over the picture.

Electronic Encyclopedia: http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/06450.html
CIA Factbook: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/