Iran

Location: 32 00 N. 53 00 E -- Middle East. Iran is situated in south-western Asia and borders three CIS states (the republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan), as well as the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkey and Iraq to the west, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the south and Pakistan and Afghanistan to the east. Click here to view maps of ancient Iran/Perisa.

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: ALLAHO 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, totally 22 times to show 22nd of Bahman, the day of victory of the Islamic Revolution.

People (Click here for more information)
Languages	Persian and dialects 58%, Turkic and dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%
Major Religions	Shi'a Muslim 89%, Sunni Muslim 10%, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i 1%
Ethnic groups	Persian 51%, Azerbaijani 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%
Growth rate	2.04%
Birth rate	31.37 births/1,000
Death rate	6.19 deaths/1,000
Fertility rate	4.31 children/woman
Male life expectancy	66
Female life expectancy	69
Infant mortality rate	48.95 deaths/1,000 live births

Iran is a big country so the weather is also very different from place to place. There is also a big difference between the temperature in summer and the temperature in winter. For example, in summer the temperature in Tehran is between 29 and 43 degrees, while in the south of Iran it is more than 50 degrees. The rainfall in the mountains normally falls as snow. Most of the plants grow at the Caspian Sea.

Until 1935, Iran was known as Persia. Alexander the Great conquered Persia in 333 BC. Arabs brought Islam to Persia in the 7th century. Turks and Mongols ruled from the 11th century until 1502. Conservative Muslims' protests in the late 1970's led to the fall of the government, and King Reza Pahlavi had to leave the country. The Islamic Constitution of 1979 put an end to the monarchy, declaring Iran an Islamic Republic. And Ayatollah Khomeini became the new spiritual leader . On 22nd of September 1980 the war against Iraq started. The war ended in 1988. After that a new president has been elected. Previously Rafsanjani was the President, and at the moment, the president is Mohammed Khatemi, who is trying to have a more free and open Iran. President Mohammed Khatemi was recently re-elected with great majority.

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

Administrative divisions: 25 provinces (ostanha, singular - ostan); Ardabil, Azarbayjan-e Gharbi, Azarbayjan-e Sharqi, Bushehr, Chahar Mahall va Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Fars, Gilan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Kermanshahan, Khorasan, Khuzestan, Kohkiluyeh va Buyer Ahmadi, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi, Mazandaran, Semnan, Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan
note: there may be three new provinces named Golestan, Qom, and Qazvin

Constitution: 2-3 December 1979; revised 1989 to expand powers of the presidency and eliminate the prime ministership

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 Hasan Ebrahim HABIBI (since NA August 1989)
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 23 May 1997 (next to be held NA May 2001)
election results: (Ali) Mohammad KHATAMI-Ardakani elected president; percent of vote - (Ali) Mohammad KHATAMI-Ardakani 69%

Legislative branch: unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly or Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami (270 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 8 March and 19 April 1996 (next to be held NA March 2000)
election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - NA

Political parties and leaders: since President KHATAMI's election in May 1997, several political parties have been licensed including Executives of Construction, Islamic Iran Solidarity Party, and Islamic Partnership Front; other important political groupings are: Tehran Militant Clergy Association [Secretary General Ayatollah Mohammad EMAMI-KASHANI]; Militant Clerics Association [Mehdi MAHDAVI-KARUBI and Mohammad Asqar MUSAVI-KHOINIHA]; Islamic Coalition Association [Habibollah ASQAR-OLADI]

Political pressure groups and leaders: 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, headed by Fariborz JAHANSUZAN; 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.

Tehran is with its 12.000.000 inhabitants the capital city of Iran. The city became the capital of Persia in 1795. Tehran is known for its leather-, food-, tobacco-, carpet- and silk industry. It has a big university and a lot of mosques and museums. Tehran was also host for the Tehran-conference in 1943, where Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt discussed the future world peace.