Iran

	Flag Emblem
	Motto: ; استقلال، آزادی، جمهوری اسلامی; Esteghlāl, Āzādi, Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi ("Independence, freedom, the Islamic Republic") ; (de facto)
	Anthem: سرود ملی جمهوری اسلامی ایران; Sorud-e Melli-ye Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān; ("National Anthem of the Islamic Republic of Iran");
Capital and largest city	Tehran; 35°41′N 51°25′E / 35.683°N 51.417°E
Official languages	Persian
Recognised regional languages	List of languages 63% Persian ; 8% Azerbaijani and other Turkic dialects (incl. Qashqai, Turkmen) ; 10% Kurdish ; 7% Gilak and Mazanderani ; 6% Luri ; 2% Balochi ; 2% Arabic ; 2% other (incl. Armenian, Assyrian, Georgian, Laki, Semnani, Talysh, Tati);
Ethnic groups	List of ethnicities 69% Persian ; 6% Azerbaijani ; 10% Kurd ; 6% Lur (incl. Bakhtiari) ; 2% Turkmen and other Turkic peoples ; 2% Baloch ; 2% Arab ; 3% other;
Religion	Shia Islam (official)
Demonym(s)	Iranian;
Government	Unitary theocratic presidential Islamic republic
• Supreme Leader	Ali Khamenei
• President	Mohammad Mokhber (acting)
• Vice President	Mohammad Mokhber
• Parliament Speaker	Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf
• Chief Justice	Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i
Legislature	Islamic Consultative Assembly
Establishment history
• Median Empire	c. 678 BC
• Achaemenid Empire	550 BC
• Parthian Empire	247 BC
• Sasanian Empire	224 AD
• Buyid dynasty	934
• Safavid Iran	1501
• Afsharid dynasty	1736
• Zand dynasty	1751
• Qajar Iran	1796
• Pahlavi Iran	15 December 1925
• Islamic Revolution	11 February 1979
• Current constitution	3 December 1979
• Latest amendment	28 July 1989
Area
• Total	1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi) (17th)
• Water (%)	1.63 (as of 2015)
Population
• 2019 estimate	83,183,741 (17th)
• Density	48/km2 (124.3/sq mi) (162nd)
GDP (PPP)	2022 estimate
• Total	$1.246,26 trillion (23th)
• Per capita	$14,520 (66th)
GDP (nominal)	2022 estimate
• Total	$1.136,68 trillion (17st)
• Per capita	$13,240 (78th)
Gini (2018)	42.0; medium
HDI (2019)	0.783; high · 70th
Currency	Iranian rial (ریال) (IRR)
Time zone	UTC+3:30 (IRST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+4:30 (IRDT)
Date format	yyyy/mm/dd (SH)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+98
ISO 3166 code	IR
Internet TLD	.ir; ایران.;

Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, also known as Persia, is a country in Western Asia. It is part of the Middle East region. It shares borders with Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan.

Tehran is the capital and largest city. Iran is the eighteenth largest country in the world. It has more than 84.9 million people. Iran has been a member of the United Nations since 1945. It is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).^[12] It is an Islamic republic.

Iran is a powerful country in the region. It has a lot of natural gas and oil, which is important for its economy. It's also a significant place because it's where Shia Islam is most important. The country's economy is big, and it's a member of many important groups like the United Nations.

Iran has a long history and a rich culture. That's why it has many special places that are recognized by the United Nations. It's also famous for its cultural traditions, like music and dance. In 2019, many people visited Iran, making it one of the fastest-growing tourist destinations in the world.

History

In the past, Iran was called "Persia" by people outside of the country. The people that lived there called the country "Iran". The official name was Persia, The name Persia was used when dealing with other countries and in government papers.

In 1935, Reza Shāh Pahlavi was Shah of Iran. He officially asked foreigners to call the country "Iran". This was done to show that Iran belongs to all the non-Persian Iranians as well as to Persian Iranians. The name Iran means land of the Aryans. It is used in the ancient book of the Zoroastrians, the Avesta. In the 19th and early 20th century, the name Aryan was used by Europeans to mean all Indo-Europeans. The "Aryan Race" was a term that Hitler used to describe his "Superior" or "perfect" race, but it first meant Iranians.^[13] "Aryan" means "noble" in Iranian languages.

Persian Empire

Around 500 BC, the area that is now Iran was the center of the Achaemenid Empire. The Greek city states fought against the Persian armies led by Darius the Great and Xerxes. Then Alexander the Great took the country by fighting the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia. He ruled until he died,then the Greek Seleucids ruled until they were defeated by the Parthian Empire which later fought the Roman Empire.^[14]^[15]^[16]

After the Parthians, the Sassanian dynasty (224-651) took over. Other people took Persia by conquest, like the Arabs (7th century), Turks (10th century) and Mongols (13th century). However, Iran has always had a different and distinct native Iranian culture which has continued to survive.

After the Muslim Arabs conquered the Iranians, Persian women were enslaved as domestic servants while Persian men were forced to build and farm and engage in hard labour.^[17] The Arab Abbasid Harun caliph had Persian concubines like Marajil al-Badghisiyya whom the later Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mun descended from in the maternal line. ^[18]^[19]

After World War II

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) worked in Iran to create 1953 riots which led to the removal of Prime Minister Mosaddegh. The United States and Great Britain then made the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi the most powerful person in Iran, again. The Shah left Iran in 1979 in the face of a revolt. The Iranian government was changed to an Islamic Republic by Islamic Revolution. Soon afterwards, the Iranian Students Movement (Tahkim Vahdat), with the backing of the new government, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. They held most of the diplomats hostage for 444 days.

Relations between the two countries have not been good since. For example, the United States claims that Iran supports terrorist groups against Israel. Iran does not see Israel as a country. Iran, along with many Arab League countries, believes that Israel does not have the right to co-exist. However, Iran has collaborated with the United Nations at times. These deals have been about energy or about fighting terrorism.

Iran fought the Iran–Iraq War in the 1990s-1980s. Many foreign countries supported Iraqi people’s regime.

Now, the West and United Nations is trying to prevent Iran from becoming nuclear technology country, even though Iran is a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s has reported many times that there is no evidence that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. However, it also says that it can not say for sure that Iran is not doing so in secret.

A December 2007 CIA report on nuclear activity in Iran said that Iran's secret program to get nuclear weapons technology was stopped in 2003. It said that Iran will probably not be able to build a nuclear weapon soon. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is a political strategy to deal with this issue.

Economy

Iran has the natural resource of oil. It is a member of OPEC. Oil is one of its main exports. Rice, handicrafts, carpets and crocus are important local products. Iran is the world's largest exporter and producer of caviar.^[20] Iran is also one of the world's biggest exporters of pistachio nuts.

Iran has factories that produce industrial products. Iran is also involved in the field of biomedical sciences.

Rial is the money used in Iran.

Religion in Iran

About 90% of Iranian people are Muslim. The state religion is Shia Islam. It has been the state religion since the Safavid dynasty in the 16th century.^[21] This is the religion of about 75% of Iranians.^[3] They belong to the Twelver branch. About 9% of Iranians Muslim belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. The 9% of Iranians who are not Muslim are Bahá'ís, Mandeans, Zoroastrians, Christians and Jews.^[3] It is thought that there are between 300,000 and 310,000 Persian (Iranian) Jews.

Regions and provinces

Related pages

Ancient Armenia

References

↑ Jeroen Temperman (2010). State-Religion Relationships and Human Rights Law: Towards a Right to Religiously Neutral Governance. Brill. pp. 87–. ISBN 978-90-04-18148-9. Archived from the original on 2022-12-18. Retrieved 2022-02-23. The official motto of Iran is Takbir ('God is the Greatest' or 'God is Great'). Transliteration Allahu Akbar. As referred to in art. 18 of the constitution of Iran (1979). The de facto motto however is: 'Independence, freedom, the Islamic Republic.'
↑ "Iran - Languages". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 5 May 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (2008-04-15). "CIA - The World Factbook -- Iran". U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 2019-05-28. Retrieved 2008-04-18.
↑ "Iran".
↑ Sarkhosh Curtis, Vesta; Stewart, Sarah (2005), Birth of the Persian Empire: The Idea of Iran, London: I.B. Tauris, p. 108, ISBN 978-1-84511-062-8, archived from the original on 2022-12-18, retrieved 2022-02-23, Similarly the collapse of Sassanian Eranshahr in AD 650 did not end Iranians' national idea. The name 'Iran' disappeared from official records of the Saffarids, Samanids, Buyids, Saljuqs and their successor. But one unofficially used the name Iran, Eranshahr, and similar national designations, particularly Mamalek-e Iran or 'Iranian lands', which exactly translated the old Avestan term Ariyanam Daihunam. On the other hand, when the Safavids (not Reza Shah, as is popularly assumed) revived a national state officially known as Iran, bureaucratic usage in the Ottoman empire and even Iran itself could still refer to it by other descriptive and traditional appellations.
↑ Andrew J. Newman, Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire, I. B. Tauris (30 March 2006)
↑ "Surface water and surface water change". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
↑ "داده‌ها و اطلاعات آماری". amar.org.ir. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 ^9.2 ^9.3 "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2021". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
↑ "GINI index (World Bank estimate)". World Bank. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
↑ Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 15 December 2020. pp. 343–346. ISBN 978-92-1-126442-5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
↑ "United Nations Member States". un.org. 2009-04-30. Archived from the original on 2014-04-12. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
↑ Norton, 2002
↑ "Iran Country Profile". BBC News. 16 August 2011. Archived from the original on 25 November 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
↑ ""CESWW" – Definition of Central Eurasia". Cesww.fas.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 5 August 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
↑ "Iran Guide". National Geographic. 14 June 2013. Archived from the original on 12 December 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
↑ Fisher, William Bayne; Frye, Richard Nelson; Avery, Peter; Gershevitch, Ilya; Boyle, John Andrew; Yarshater, Ehsan; Jackson, Peter, eds. (1975). "CHAPTER I THE ARAB CONQUEST OF IRAN AND ITS AFTERMATH". The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4. Vol. The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs (illustrated, reprint, reissue ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 29. ISBN 0521200938. Archived from the original on 2022-12-18. Retrieved 2022-02-22.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
↑ Fisher, William Bayne; Frye, Richard Nelson; Avery, Peter; Gershevitch, Ilya; Boyle, John Andrew; Yarshater, Ehsan; Jackson, Peter, eds. (1975). "CHAPTER I THE ARAB CONQUEST OF IRAN AND ITS AFTERMATH". The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4. Vol. The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs (illustrated, reprint, reissue ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 94. ISBN 0521200938. Archived from the original on 2022-12-18. Retrieved 2022-02-22.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
↑ "Al-Ma'mun vs. Al-Amin Clash and Crumbling Power of Abbasids". SAED News. February 27, 2021. Archived from the original on June 17, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
↑ "Caviar". Russia-Iran.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
↑ Mark W. Janis, Carolyn Maree Evans (1999). Religion and International Law. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 381. ISBN 9789041111746. Archived from the original on 2022-12-18. Retrieved 2022-02-22.