dk books

Publishers of award winning reference

	Home

	Africa

	Asia

	Australasia & Oceania

	Europe

	North America

	South America

Iran

OFFICIAL NAME: Islamic Republic of Iran

DATE OF FORMATION: 1502

POPULATION: 69.8 million

DENSITY: 111 people per square mile

LANGUAGES: Farsi, Azeri, Luri, Gilaki, Mazanderani, Kurdish, Turkmen, Arabic, Baluchi

RELIGIONS: Shi'a Muslim 93%, Sunni Muslim 6%, Other 1%

ETHNIC MIX: Persian 50%, Azari 24%, Other 10%, Kurdish 8%, Lur and Bakhtiari 8%

GOVERNMENT: Multiparty elections

CURRENCY: Iranian rial

Click to see a larger map

Turbulent neighbors surround Iran; there are republics of the former Soviet Union to the north, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and Iraq and Turkey to the west. The south faces the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Since 1979, when a revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini deposed the shah, Iran has become the world's largest theocracy and the leading center for militant Shi'a Islam. Iran's active support for Islamic fundamentalist movements has led to strained relations with central Asian, Middle Eastern, and north African states, as well as with the US and Europe.