IRAN
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 1,648,000 km2; land area: 1,636,000 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Alaska
Land boundaries: 5,492 km total; Afghanistan 936 km, Iraq 1,458 km,
Pakistan 909 km, Turkey 499 km, USSR 1,690 km
Coastline: 3,180 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: not specific;
Exclusive fishing zone: 50 nm in the Sea of Oman; continental
shelf limit, continental shelf boundaries, or median lines in the Persian
Gulf;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: Iran and Iraq restored diplomatic relations on 14
October 1990 following the end of the war that began on 22 September
1980; progress had been made on the major issues of contention--troop
withdrawal, prisoner-of-war exchanges, demarcation of the border,
freedom of navigation, and sovereignty over the the Shatt al Arab
waterway--but written agreements had yet to be drawn up when frictions
reemerged in March 1991 in the wake of Shia and Kurdish revolts in
Iraq that Baghdad accused Tehran of supporting;
Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR;
occupies three islands in the Persian Gulf claimed by UAE (Jazireh-ye
Abu Musa or Abu Musa, Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg or
Greater Tunb, and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Kuchek or Lesser Tunb); periodic
disputes with Afghanistan over Helmand water rights; Boluch question with
Afghanistan and Pakistan
Climate: mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast
Terrain: rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts,
mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper,
iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur
Land use: arable land 8%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 27%; forest and woodland 11%; other 54%; includes irrigated 2%
Environment: deforestation; overgrazing; desertification
PEOPLE
Population: 59,051,082 (July 1991), growth rate 3.6% (1991)
Birth rate: 44 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 66 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 65 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 6.6 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Iranian(s); adjective--Iranian
Ethnic divisions: Persian 51%, Azerbaijani 25%, Kurd 9%, Gilaki
and Mazandarani 8%, Lur 2%, Baloch 1%, Arab 1%, other 3%
Religion: Shia Muslim 95%, Sunni Muslim 4%, Zoroastrian, Jewish,
Christian, and Bahai 1%
Language: 58% Persian and Persian dialects, 26% Turkic and Turkic
dialects, 9% Kurdish, 2% Luri, 1% Baloch, 1% Arabic, 1% Turkish, 2% other
Literacy: 54% (male 64%, female 43%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 15,400,000; agriculture 33%, manufacturing 21%;
shortage of skilled labor (1988 est.)
Organized labor: none
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Islamic Republic of Iran
Type: theocratic republic
Capital: Tehran
Administrative divisions: 24 provinces (ostanha,
singular--ostan); Azarbayjan-e Bakhtari,
Azarbayjan-e Khavari, Bakhtaran, Bushehr,
Chahar Mahall va Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Fars,
Gilan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman,
Khorasan, Khuzestan, Kohkiluyeh va Buyer
Ahmadi, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi, Mazandaran,
Semnan, Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan
Independence: 1 April 1979, Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed
Constitution: 2-3 December 1979; revised 1989 to expand powers of
the presidency and eliminate the prime ministership
Legal system: the new Constitution codifies Islamic principles of
government
National holiday: Islamic Republic Day, 1 April (1979)
Executive branch: cleric (faqih), president, Council of Ministers
Legislative branch: unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly
(Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders:
Cleric and functional Chief of State--Leader of the Islamic
Revolution Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI (since 4 June 1989);
Head of Government--President Ali Akbar HASHEMI-RAFSANJANI
(since 3 August 1989);
Political parties and leaders: there are at least 14 licensed
parties; the three most important are--Tehran Militant Clergy
Association, Mohammad Reza MAHDAVI-KANI;
Militant Clerics Association, Mehdi MAHDAVI-KARUBI and Mohammad Asqar
MUSAVI-KHOINIHA;
Fedaiyin Islam Organization, Sadeq KHALKHALI
Suffrage: universal at age 15
Elections:
President--last held NA July 1989 (next to be held April 1993);
results--Ali Akbar HASHEMI-RAFSANJANI was elected with only token
opposition;
Islamic Consultative Assembly--last held 8 April 1988 (next
to be held June 1992); results--percent of vote by party
NA;
seats--(270 seats total) number of seats by party NA
Communists: 1,000 to 2,000 est. hardcore; 15,000 to 20,000 est.
sympathizers; crackdown in 1983 crippled the party; trials of captured
leaders began in late 1983 and remain incomplete
Other political or pressure groups: groups that generally
support the Islamic Republic include Hizballah, Hojjatiyeh Society,
Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, Muslim Students Following the Line
of the Imam; armed political groups that have been almost completely
repressed by the government include Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO),
People's Fedayeen, and Kurdish Democratic Party; the Society for the
Defense of Freedom is a group of liberal nationalists that has been
repressed by the government for accusing it of corruption
Member of: CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OIC, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: none; protecting power in the US is
Algeria--Iranian Interests Section, 2209 Wisconsin Avenue NW,
Washington DC 20007; telephone (202) 965-4990;
US--protecting power in Iran is Switzerland
Flag: 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
ECONOMY
Overview: Since the 1979 revolution, the banks, petroleum industry,
transportation, utilities, and mining have been nationalized, but the
new five-year plan--the first since the revolution--passed in January
1990, calls for the transfer of many government-controlled enterprises
to the private sector. Disruptions from the bitter war with Iraq,
massive corruption, mismanagement, demographic pressures, and ideological
rigidities have kept economic growth at depressed levels. Oil accounts
for over 90% of export revenues. A combination of war damage and low oil
prices brought a 2% drop in GNP in 1988. GNP probably rose slightly in
1989, considerably short of the 3.2% population growth rate in 1989.
Heating oil and gasoline are rationed. Agriculture has suffered from the
war, land reform, and shortages of equipment and materials. The five-year
plan seeks to reinvigorate the economy by increasing the role of the
private sector, boosting nonoil income, and securing foreign loans. The
plan is overly ambitious but probably will generate some short-term
relief.
GNP: $80.0 billion, per capita $1,400; real growth rate 0.5%
(1990 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 30-50% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 30% (1989)
Budget: revenues $63 billion; expenditures $80 billion, including
capital expenditures of $23 billion (FY90 est.)
Exports: $12.3 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--petroleum 90%, carpets, fruits, nuts, hides;
partners--Japan, Turkey, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, France, FRG
Imports: $11.6 billion (c.i.f., 1989);
commodities--machinery, military supplies, metal works, foodstuffs,
pharmaceuticals, technical services, refined oil products;
partners--FRG, Japan, Turkey, UK, Italy
External debt: $4-5 billion (1989)
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 14,579,000 kW capacity; 40,000 million kWh produced,
740 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and other
building materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining and
vegetable oil production), metal fabricating (steel and copper)
Agriculture: principal products--wheat, rice, other grains, sugar
beets, fruits, nuts, cotton, dairy products, wool, caviar; not
self-sufficient in food
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of opium poppy for the domestic and
international drug trade
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-80), $1.0
billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $1.6 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $976 million;
note--aid fell sharply following the 1979 revolution
Currency: Iranian rial (plural--rials); 1 Iranian rial (IR) =
100 dinars; note--domestic figures are generally referred to in terms of
the toman (plural--tomans), which equals 10 rials
Exchange rates: Iranian rials (IR) per US$1--64.941 (January 1991),
68.096 (1990), 72.015 (1989), 68.683 (1988), 71.460 (1987), 78.760
(1986), 91.052 (1985) at the official rate; black market rate 1,400
(January 1991)
Fiscal year: 21 March-20 March
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 4,601 km total; 4,509 km 1.432-meter gauge, 92 km
1.676-meter gauge; 730 km under construction from Bafq to Bandar Abbas
Highways: 140,072 km total; 46,866 km gravel and crushed stone;
49,440 km improved earth; 42,566 km bituminous and bituminous-treated
surfaces; 1,200 km (est.) rural road network
Inland waterways: 904 km; the Shatt al Arab is usually navigable by
maritime traffic for about 130 km, but closed since September 1980
because of Iran-Iraq war
Pipelines: crude oil, 5,900 km; refined products, 3,900 km; natural
gas, 3,300 km
Ports: Abadan (largely destroyed in fighting during 1980-88 war),
Bandar Beheshti, Bandar-e Abbas, Bandar-e Bushehr, Bandar-e
Khomeyni, Bandar-e Shahid Rajai, Khorramshahr (largely
destroyed in fighting during 1980-88 war)
Merchant marine: 133 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,634,204
GRT/8,671,769 DWT; includes 36 cargo, 6 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 33
petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 4 chemical tanker, 3
refrigerated cargo, 49 bulk, 2 combination bulk
Civil air: 42 major transport aircraft
Airports: 214 total, 186 usable; 80 with permanent-surface runways;
17 with runways over 3,659 m; 16 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 70 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: radio relay extends throughout country; system
centered in Tehran; 2,143,000 telephones; stations--62 AM, 30 FM, 250
TV; satellite earth stations--2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian
Ocean INTELSAT; HF and microwave to Turkey, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait, and
USSR
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Islamic Republic of Iran Ground Forces, Navy, Air
Force, Air Defense, and Revolutionary Guard Corps (includes Basij
militia and own ground, air, and naval forces);
a merger of the Komiteh, Police, and Gendarmerie has produced a new
Security Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 12,750,593; 7,588,711 fit for
military service; 576,321 reach military age (21) annually
Defense expenditures: $13 billion, 13.3% of GNP (1991 est.)