Iran

Iran

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Jomhûrî-ye Eslâmi-ye Îrân/Islamic Republic of Iran Area 1,648,000 sq km/636,292 sq mi Capital Tehran Language Persian (Farsi (official), Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic, English, French Religion Shiite Muslim (official) 91%, Sunni Muslim 8%; Zoroastrian, Christian, Jewish, and Baha'i comprise about 1% Time difference GMT +3.5 Major holidays 11 February, 20–25 March, 1–2 April, 5 June; variable: Eid-ul-Adha, Ashora, end of Ramadan, Prophet's Birthday, Prophet's Mission (April), Birth of the Twelfth Imam (April/May), Martyrdom of Imam Ali (May), Death of Imam Jaffar Sadegh (June/July), Birth of Imam Reza (July), Id-E-Gihadir (August), Death of the Prophet and Martyrdom of Imam Hassan (October/November)


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Esfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz, Shiraz, Ahvaz, Kermanshah, Qom, Karaj Major ports Abadan Physical features plateau surrounded by mountains, including Elburz and Zagros; Lake Rezayeh; Dasht-e-Kavir desert; occupies islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb in the Gulf Airports three international airports and over 20 domestic airports; total passengers carried: 9.6 million (2003 est) Railways total length: 7,156 km/4,447 mi; total passenger journeys: 13.1 million (2002) Roads total road network: 178,152 km/110,698 mi, of which 66.3% paved (2002 est); passenger cars: 15.8 per 1,000 people (1998)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state and government Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2005 Leader of the Islamic Revolution Seyed Ali Khamenei from 1989 Political system Islamic nationalist Political executive unlimited presidency Administrative divisions 28 provinces Political parties since President Khatami's election (1997), several political parties have been licensed including Executives of Construction, Islamic Iran Solidarity Party, and Islamic Partnership Front Death penalty retained and used for ordinary crimes Armed forces 545,000; plus 350,000 reservists and paramilitary forces of 40,000 (2006 est) Conscription military service is compulsory for 18 months Defence spend (% GDP) 4.3 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 4.9 (2003 est) Health spend (% GDP) 3.1 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency rial GDP (US$) 196.3 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 5.4 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 187.6 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 8,050 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 14% (2006 est) Unemployment 11.2% (2004 est) Labour force 24.9% agriculture, 30.4% industry, 44.7% services (2005) Foreign debt (US$) 20.4 billion (2005 est) Major trading partners Germany, Japan, China, France, Italy, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, South Korea Resources petroleum, natural gas, coal, magnetite, gypsum, iron ore, copper, chromite, salt, bauxite, decorative stone Industries mining, petroleum refining, textiles, food processing, transport equipment Exports crude petroleum and petroleum products, gas, agricultural goods, carpets, metal ores. Principal market: Japan 17.3% (2005) Imports machinery and motor vehicles, chemical products, food and live animals, pharmaceuticals. Principal source: Germany 14.2% (2005) Arable land 9.8% (2006 est) Agricultural products wheat, barley, sugar beet, sugar cane, rice, fruit, tobacco, livestock (cattle, sheep, and chickens) for meat and wool production


POPULATION

Population 70,323,600 (2006 est) Population growth rate 1.3% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 43 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 68 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 29%, 15–59 65%, 60+ 6% (2005 est) Ethnic groups about 66% of Persian origin, 25% Turkic, 5% Kurdish, and 4% Arabic Life expectancy 70 (men); 73 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 38 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 5 Literacy rate 84% (men); 70% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 10.5 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 1.6 (2002 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.2 (2005 est) AIDS deaths 1,600 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 98 (urban); 83 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones 5,500 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 10.4 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 287 (2001 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 174 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 10.5 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 10.1 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

c. 2000 BC Migration from southern Russia of Aryans, from whom Persians claim descent. 612 BC The Medes, from northwest Iran, destroyed Iraq-based Assyrian Empire to the west and established their own empire which extended into central Anatolia (Turkey-in-Asia). 550 BC Cyrus the Great overthrew Medes' empire and founded the First Persian Empire, the Achaemenid, conquering much of Asia Minor, including Babylonia (Palestine and Syria) in 539 BC. Expansion continued into Afghanistan under Darius I, who ruled 521–486 BC. 499–449 BC The Persian Wars with Greece ended Persian domination of the ancient world. 330 BC Collapse of Achaemenid Empire following defeat by Alexander the Great. AD 224 Sassanian Persian Empire founded by Ardashir, with its capital at Ctesiphon, in the northeast. 637 Sassanian Empire destroyed by Muslim Arabs at battle of Qadisiya; Islam replaced Zoroastrianism. 750–1258 Dominated by the Persianized Abbasid dynasty, who reigned as caliphs (Islamic civil and religious leaders), with a capital in Baghdad (Iraq). 1380s Conquered by the Mongol leader, Tamerlane. 1501 Emergence of Safavids; the arts and architecture flourished, particularly under Abbas I, ‘the Great’, who ruled 1588–1629. 1736 The Safavids were deposed by the warrior Nadir Shah Afshar, who ruled until 1747. 1790 Rise of the Qajars, who transferred the capital from Esfahan in central Iran to Tehran, further north. 19th century Increasing influence in the north of tsarist Russia, which took Georgia and much of Armenia 1801–28. Britain exercised influence in the south and east, and fought Iran 1856–57 over claims to Herat (western Afghanistan). 1906 Parliamentary constitution adopted after a brief revolution. 1925 Qajar dynasty overthrown, with some British official help, in a coup by Col Reza Khan, a nationalist Iranian Cossack military officer, who was crowned shah (‘king of kings’), with the title Reza Shah Pahlavi. 1920s onwards Economic modernization, Westernization, and secularization programme launched, which proved unpopular with traditionalists. 1935 Name changed from Persia to Iran. 1941 Pahlavi Shah was forced to abdicate during World War II by Allied occupation forces and was succeeded by his son Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, who continued the modernization programme. 1946 British, US, and Soviet occupation forces left Iran. 1951 Oilfields nationalized by radical prime minister Muhammad Mossadeq as anti-British and US sentiment increased. 1953 Mossadeq deposed, the nationalization plan changed, and the US-backed shah, Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, took full control. 1963 Hundreds of protesters, demanding the release of fundamentalist Shiite leader Ayatollah Khomeini, killed by troops. 1970s Spiralling world oil prices brought rapid economic expansion. 1975 The shah introduced a single-party system. 1977 Mysterious death of Mustafa, eldest son of exiled Ayatollah Khomeini, sparked student demonstrations, in which six people were killed. 1978 Opposition to the shah was organized from France by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who demanded a return to the principles of Islam. Hundreds of demonstrators were killed by troops in Jaleh Square, Tehran. 1979 Amid mounting demonstrations by students and clerics, the shah fled; Khomeini returned to create a theocratic Islamic state. Revolutionaries seized 66 US hostages at Tehran embassy; US economic boycott. 1980 Iraq invaded Iran, provoking a bitter war. The exiled shah died. 1981 US hostages released. 1985–87 Fighting intensified in Iran–Iraq War, with heavy loss of life. 1989 Khomeini issued a fatwa (public order) for the death of British writer Salman Rushdie for blasphemy against Islam. 1990 Generous peace terms with Iraq accepted to close Iran–Iraq war. 1991 Nearly 1 million Kurds arrived from northwest Iraq, fleeing persecution by Saddam Hussein after the Gulf War between Iraq and UN forces. 1993 Free-market economic reforms introduced. 1997 Reformist politician Seyyed Muhammad Khatami elected president. 1998 Signs of rapprochement with the West. Increased tension with Afghanistan, after murder of Iranian civilians by Taliban. 1999 Diplomatic relations with UK to be restored. 2000 Former radical Ali Akbar Mohtashami elected to lead reforming majority in Iran's parliament. Conservative judiciary closed 15 pro-democracy newspapers, and minister for culture resigned in face of strong opposition to his policies. 2001 Eight of Khatami's prominent supporters convicted of crimes relating to expression and thought. 2002 Government passed first foreign investment law since 1950s as part of reforms to open economy and lessen dependence on oil revenues. 2003 Pressure on government from UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to address Western concerns over suspected nuclear weapon ambitions ended in agreement to suspend uranium enrichment, allow spot checks of nuclear installations, and submit a list of present and past nuclear activities. Earthquake measuring 6.7 on Richter scale devastated southeastern town of Bam, with death toll of around 41,000. 2004 Thousands of reformist candidates disqualified before polls by Council of Guardians; conservatives easily regained control of parliament. Iran rebuked by IAEA for failing to cooperate in its inquiries; later agreed to EU-brokered deal to suspend most of its uranium enrichment. 2005 Tehran's ultra-conservative mayor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, won run-off presidential elections. Iran announced it had resumed uranium conversion at its Isfahan plant, insisting it was for peaceful purposes; IAEA found Iran in violation of nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. 2006 Uranium enrichment resumed at Iran's Natanz nuclear research facility; in April Iran announced it had succeeded in enriching uranium there. IAEA announced Iran had failed to suspend its work on nuclear fuel by 1 August deadline given by UN Security Council. Iran hosted controversial Holocaust conference, which included Holocaust deniers among its delegates. UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear technology and materials; Tehran condemned the resolution and said it would accelerate its nuclear programme. 2007 Iran detained 15 British sailors and marines patrolling Shatt al-Arab waterway between Iran and Iraq, leading to diplomatic stand-off with UK. President Ahmadinejad claimed Iran could produce nuclear fuel on industrial scale. IAEA warned that Iran could develop a nuclear weapon in three years. Government imposed petrol rationing amid fears of possible UN sanctions; this led to protests. Iran agreed to allow IAEA inspectors to visit the Arak nuclear plant; decision on imposition of tougher UN sanctions delayed until November 2007.


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