Iran

2008/9 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Middle Eastern Countries

جمهوری اسلامی ايران Jomhūrī-ye Eslāmī-ye Īrān Islamic Republic of Iran
Flag Emblem
Motto: Esteqlāl, āzādī, jomhūrī-ye eslāmī 1  (Persian) "Independence, freedom, Islamic Republic"
Anthem:  Sorūd-e Mellī-e Īrān ²
Capital (and largest city)		Tehran
Official languages		Persian
Demonym		Iranian
Government		Islamic Republic
-	Supreme Leader	Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
-	President	Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Unification
-	Unified by Cyrus the Great	559 BCE
-	Parthian (Arsacid) dynastic empire (first reunification)	248 BCE – 224 CE
-	Sassanid dynastic empire	224–651 CE
-	Safavid dynasty (second reunification)	May 1502
-	First Constitution	1906
-	Islamic Revolution	1979
Area
-	Total	1,648,195 km² ( 18th) 636,372  sq mi
-	Water (%)	0.7
Population
-	2006 (1385  AP) census	70,472,846³ ( 18th)
-	Density	42/km² ( 158th) 109/sq mi
GDP ( PPP)		2007 estimate
-	Total	$852 billion (2007)  ( 15th)
-	Per capita	$12,300  ( 65th)
GDP (nominal)		2005/2006 estimate
-	Total	$222,889 billion ( 29nd)
-	Per capita	$3,920 ( 89nd)
Gini (1998)		43.0 (medium)
HDI (2007)		▲ 0.759 (medium) ( 94th)
Currency		Iranian rial (ريال) ( IRR)
Time zone		IRST ( UTC+3:30)
-	Summer ( DST)	not observed ( UTC+3:30)
Internet TLD		.ir
Calling code		+98
1	bookrags.com
2	iranchamber.com
3	Statistical Centre of Iran. تغییرات جمعیت کشور طی سال‌های ۱۳۳۵-۱۳۸۵ (Persian). Retrieved on 2007- 05-16.
4	CIA Factbook

Iran, ( Persian: ايران, [ʔiˈɾɒn] ēränˈ, ĭrănˈ), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran ( Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ايران, pronounced [dʒomhuɾije ʔeslɒmije ʔiɾɒn]), formerly known internationally as Persia until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia. Located in the heart of the Persian Gulf, an important oil-producing area, Iran is bounded by the Gulf of Oman to its south-east and the Caspian Sea to its north. Shi'a Islam is the official religion, and Persian is the official language The 18th largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km², Iran has a population of over seventy million. Iran borders Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Russia to the north, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and Turkey and Iraq to the west.

Iran is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 4000 BCE. Throughout history, Iran has been of geostrategic importance because of its central location in Eurasia and is a regional power. Iran is a founding member of the UN, NAM, OIC, and OPEC. The political system of Iran, based on the 1979 Constitution, comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. The highest state authority is the Supreme Leader, currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran occupies an important position in international energy security and world economy due to its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. The name Iran is a cognate of Aryan, and means "Land of the Aryans". "Land of Kindness" (سرزمين مهر) is used as an alternative name for Iran in Persian literature and Iranian media.

Etymology

The term Iran (ایران) in modern Persian derives from the Proto-Iranian term Aryānām first attested in Zoroastrianism's Avesta tradition. Ariya- and Airiia- are also attested as an ethnic designator in Achaemenid inscriptions. The term Ērān from Middle Persian Ērān, Pahlavi ʼyrʼn, is found at the inscription that accompanies the investiture relief of Ardashir I at Naqsh-e Rustam. In this inscription, the king's appellation in Middle Persian contains the term ērān (Pahlavi: ʼryʼn), while in the Parthian language inscription that accompanies it, Iran is mentioned as aryān. In Ardashir's time ērān retained this meaning, denoting the people rather than the state.

Notwithstanding this inscriptional use of ērān to refer to the Iranian peoples, the use of ērān to refer to the empire is also attested by the early Sassanid period. An inscription of Shapur I, Ardashir's son and immediate successor, apparently "includes in Ērān regions such as Armenia and the Caucasus which were not inhabited predominantly by Iranians." In Kartir's inscriptions the high priest includes the same regions in his list of provinces of the antonymic Anērān. Both ērān and aryān comes from the Proto-Iranian term Aryānām, (Land) of the (Iranian) Aryas. The word and concept of Airyanem Vaejah is present in the name of the country Iran (Lit. Land of the Aryans) where Iran (Ērān), is modern-Persian of the word Aryānā.

Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the official name of the country is "Islamic Republic of Iran."

In the outside world the official name of Iran from 6th century BC until 1935 was Persia. In this year Reza Shah asked International community to call this country by its native name "Iran". A few years later some Persian scholars protested the government that changing the name has separated the country from its past so in 1959 Mohammad Reza Shah announced both terms can be used interchangeably. Now both terms are common but "Iran" mostly in modern political context and "Persia" in cultural and historical context.

Geography and climate

Satellite image of Iran

Iran is the eighteenth largest country in the world after Libya and before Mongolia. Its area roughly equals the size of the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany combined, or slightly smaller than the state of Alaska. Its borders are with Azerbaijan (432 km/268 mi) and Armenia (35 km/22 mi) to the north-west; the Caspian Sea to the north; Turkmenistan (992 km/616 mi) to the north-east; Pakistan (909 km/565 mi) and Afghanistan (936 km/582 mi) to the east; Turkey (499 km/310 mi) and Iraq (1,458 km/906 mi) to the west; and finally the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the south. Iran's area is 1,648,000  km² (approximately 636,300  sq mi).

Most of Iran is situated on the Iranian Plateau with the exception of the coast of the Caspian Sea and Khuzestan. Iran is one of the world's most mountainous countries, its landscape is dominated by rugged mountain ranges that separate various basins or plateaus from one another. The populous western part is the most mountainous, with ranges such as the Caucasus, Zagros and Alborz Mountains; the latter contains Iran's highest point, Mount Damavand at 5,604  m (18,386 ft), which is not only the country's highest peak but also the highest mountain on the Eurasian landmass west of the Hindu Kush. The eastern part consists mostly of desert basins like the saline Dasht-e Kavir, Iran's largest desert, located in the north-central portion of the country, and the Dasht-e Lut, in the east, as well as some salt lakes. This is because the mountain ranges are too high for rain clouds to reach these regions.

Mount Damavand is Iran's highest point.

The only large plains are found along the coast of the Caspian Sea and at the northern end of the Persian Gulf, where Iran borders the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab (or the Arvand Rūd) river. Smaller, discontinuous plains are found along the remaining coast of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman.

The landscape of Fars Province

Iran's climate is mostly arid or semiarid, to subtropical along the Caspian coast. On the northern edge of the country (the Caspian coastal plain) temperatures nearly fall below freezing and remain humid for the rest of the year. Summer temperatures rarely exceed 29 °C (84 °F). Annual precipitation is 680  mm (27  in) in the eastern part of the plain and more than 1,700 mm (67 in) in the western part. To the west, settlements in the Zagros Mountains basin experience lower temperatures, severe winters, sub-freezing average daily temperatures and heavy snowfall. The eastern and central basins are arid, with less than 200 mm (eight in) of rain and have occasional desert. Average summer temperatures exceed 38 °C (100 °F). The coastal plains of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman in southern Iran have mild winters, and very humid and hot summers. The annual precipitation ranges from 135 to 355 mm (five to fourteen inches).

Provinces and Cities

Iran is divided into 30 provinces (ostān), each governed by an appointed governor (استاندار, ostāndār). The provinces are divided into counties ( shahrestān), and subdivided into districts ( bakhsh) and sub-districts (dehestān).

After the revolution, Shahyad Tower was renamed Freedom Tower

Iran has one of the highest urban-growth rates in the world. From 1950 to 2002 the urban proportion of the population increased from 27% to 60%. The United Nations predicts that by 2030 the urban population will form 80% of the overall population. Most of the internal migrants have settled near the cities of Tehran, Isfahan, Ahvaz, and Qom. The listed populations are from the 2006/2007 (1385 AP) census.

Tehran, with population of 7,705,036, is the largest city in Iran and is the Capital city. Tehran is home to around 11% of Iran's population. Tehran, like many big cities, suffers from severe air pollution. It is the hub of the country's communication and transport network. Mashhad is the second largest Iranian city and is one of the holiest Shi'a cities in the world as it is the site of the shrine. It is the second largest city and with a population of 2.8 million is the centre of the province of Razavi Khorasan. It's the centre of tourism in Iran and between 15 and 20 million pilgrims go to the Imam Reza's shrine every year. Other major Iranian cities include Isfahan (population 1,583,609), Tabriz (population 1,378,935) and Karaj (population 1,377,450). Isfahan is the capital of Isfahan Province. The Naghsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The city also contains a wide variety of Islamic architectural sites ranging from the eleventh to the nineteenth century. Tabriz is situated north of the volcanic cone of Sahand south of the Eynali mountain. Tabriz is the largest city in north-western Iran and is the capital of East Azarbaijan Province. Karaj is located in Tehran province and is situated 20 km west of Tehran, at the foot of Alborz mountains, however the city is increasingly becoming an extension of the metropolitan Tehran.

History

Parthian and Sassanid Empires (248 BCE–651 CE)

Sassanid art

Parthia was led by the Arsacid Dynasty (اشکانیان Ashkâniân), who reunited and ruled over the Iranian plateau, after defeating the Greek Seleucid Empire, beginning in the late third century BCE, and intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between ca 150 BCE and 224 CE. These were the third native dynasty of ancient Iran and lasted five centuries. After the conquests of Media, Assyria, Babylonia and Elam, the Parthians had to organize their empire. The former elites of these countries were Greek, and the new rulers had to adapt to their customs if they wanted their rule to last. As a result, the cities retained their ancient rights and civil administrations remained more or less undisturbed.

Parthia was the arch-enemy of the Roman Empire in the east, limiting Rome's expansion beyond Cappadocia (central Anatolia). By using a heavily-armed and armoured cataphract cavalry, and lightly armed but highly-mobile mounted archers, the Parthians "held their own against Rome for almost 300 years". Rome's acclaimed general Mark Antony led a disastrous campaign against the Parthians in 36 BCE in which he lost 32,000 men. By the time of Roman emperor Augustus, Rome and Parthia were settling some of their differences through diplomacy. By this time, Parthia had acquired an assortment of golden eagles, the cherished standards of Rome's legions, captured from Mark Antony, and Crassus, who suffered "a disastrous defeat" at Carrhae in 53 BCE.

The end of the Parthian Empire came in 224 CE, when the empire was loosely organized and the last king was defeated by Ardashir I, one of the empire's vassals. Ardashir I then went on to create the Sassanid Empire. Soon he started reforming the country both economically and militarily. The Sassanids established an empire roughly within the frontiers achieved by the Achaemenids, referring to it as Erânshahr or Iranshahr, , "Dominion of the Aryans", i.e. of Iranians), with their capital at Ctesiphon. The Romans suffered repeated losses particularly by Ardashir I, Shapur I, and Shapur II. During their reign, Sassanid battles with the Roman Empire caused such pessimism in Rome that the historian Cassius Dio wrote:

The Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent under Khosrau II

In 632AD raiders from the Arab peninsula began attacking the Sassanid Empire. Iran was defeated in the Battle of al-Qâdisiyah, paving way for the Islamic conquest of Persia.

During Parthian, and later Sassanid era, trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the great civilizations of China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Indian subcontinent, and Rome, and helped to lay the foundations for the modern world. Parthian remains display classically Greek influences in some instances and retain their oriental mode in others, a clear expression of "the cultural diversity that characterized Parthian art and life". The Parthians were innovators of many architecture designs such as that of Ctesiphon, which bears resemblance to, and might have influenced, European Romanesque architecture. Under the Sassanids, Iran expanded relations with China, the arts, music, and architecture greatly flourished, and centres such as the School of Nisibis and Academy of Gundishapur became world renowned centres of science and scholarship.

From the fall of the Sassanid Dynasty to the Safavid Empire (652–1501)

Map of Iranian Dynasties around 1000AD

After the Islamic conquest of Persia, Iran was annexed into the Arab Umayyad Caliphate. But the Islamization of Iran was to yield deep transformations within the cultural, scientific, and political structure of Iran's society: The blossoming of Persian literature, philosophy, medicine and art became major elements of the newly-forming Muslim civilization. Culturally, politically, and religiously, the Iranian contribution to this new Islamic civilization is of immense importance. Indeed, the culmination of Iran caused the " Islamic Golden Age".

Abu Moslem, an Iranian general , expelled the Umayyads from Damascus and helped the Abbasid caliphs to conquer Baghdad. The Abbasid caliphs frequently chose their " wazirs" (viziers) among Iranians, and Iranian governors acquired a certain amount of local autonomy. Thus in 822 CE, the governor of Khorasan, Tahir, proclaimed his independence and founded a new Persian dynasty of Tahirids. And by the Samanid era, Iran's efforts to regain its independence had been well solidified.

Attempts of Arabization thus never succeeded in Iran, and movements such as the Shuubiyah became catalysts for Iranians to regain their independence in their relations with the Arab invaders. The cultural revival of the post-Abbasid period led to a resurfacing of Iranian national identity. The resulting cultural movement reached its peak during the ninth and tenth centuries. The most notable effect of the movement was the continuation of the Persian language, the language of the Persians and the official language of Iran to the present day. Ferdowsi, Iran's greatest epic poet, is regarded today as the most important figure in maintaining the Persian language.

A Latin copy of Avicenna's Canon of Medicine, which was the standard medical text in Europe for seven centuries.

After an interval of silence Iran re-emerged as a separate, different and distinctive element within Islam. Iranian philosophy after the Islamic conquest, is characterized by different interactions with the Old Iranian philosophy, the Greek philosophy and with the development of Islamic philosophy. The Illumination School and the Transcendent Philosophy are regarded as two of the main philosophical traditions of that era in Persia.

The movement continued well into the eleventh century, when Mahmud-a Ghaznavi founded a vast empire, with its capital at Isfahan and Ghazna. Their successors, the Seljuks, asserted their domination from the Mediterranean Sea to Central Asia. As with their predecessors, the divan of the empire was in the hands of Iranian viziers, who founded the Nizamiyya. During this period, hundreds of scholars and scientists vastly contributed to technology, science and medicine, later influencing the rise of European science during the Renaissance.

In 1218, the eastern Khwarazmid provinces of Transoxiana and Khorasan suffered a devastating invasion by Genghis Khan. During this period more than half of Iran's population were killed, turning the streets of Persian cities like Neishabur into "rivers of blood", as the severed heads of men, women, and children were "neatly stacked into carefully constructed pyramids around which the carcasses of the city's dogs and cats were placed". Between 1220 and 1260, the total population of Iran had dropped from 2,500,000 to 250,000 as a result of mass extermination and famine. In a letter to King Louis IX of France, Holaku, one of the Genghis Khan's grandsons, alone took responsibility for 200,000 deaths in his raids of Iran and the Caliphate. He was followed by yet another conqueror, Tamerlane, who established his capital in Samarkand. The waves of devastation prevented many cities such as Neishabur from reaching their pre-invasion population levels until the twentieth century, eight centuries later. But both Hulagu, Timur, and their successors soon came to adopt the ways and customs of that which they had conquered, choosing to surround themselves with a culture that was distinctively Persian.

From the Safavid Dynasty to the Islamic Revolution (1501–1979)

Safavid Dynasty, an Iranian Kingdom at its Greatest Extent

Shah Ismail I, the founder of the Safavid Dynasty (1501 to 1736)

Iran's first encompassing Shi'a Islamic state was established under the Safavid Dynasty (1501-1722) by Shah Ismail I. The Safavid Dynasty soon became a major political power and promoted the flow of bilateral state contacts. The Safavid peak was during the rule of Shah Abbas The Great. The Safavid Dynasty frequently locked horns with Ottoman Empire, Uzbek tribes and the Portuguese Empire. The Safavids moved their capital from Tabriz to Qazvin and then to Isfahan where their patronage for the arts propelled Iran into one of its most aesthetically productive eras. Under their rule, the state became highly centralized, the first attempts to modernize the military were made, and even a distinct style of architecture developed. In 1722 Afghan rebels defeated Shah Sultan Hossein and ended the Safavid Dynasty, but in 1735, Nader Shah successfully drove out the Afghan rebels from Isfahan and established the Afsharid Dynasty. He then staged an incursion into India in 1738 securing the Peacock throne, Koh-i-Noor, and Darya-ye Noor among other royal treasures. His rule did not last long however, and he was assassinated in 1747. The Mashhad based Afshar Dynasty was succeeded by the Zand dynasty in 1750, founded by Karim Khan, who established his capital at Shiraz. His rule brought a period of relative peace and renewed prosperity.

The Zand dynasty lasted three generations, until Aga Muhammad Khan executed Lotf Ali Khan, and founded his new capital in Tehran, marking the dawn of the Qajar Dynasty in 1794. The capable Qajar chancellor Amir Kabir established Iran's first modern college system, among other modernizing reforms. Iran suffered several wars with Imperial Russia during the Qajar era, resulting in Iran losing almost half of its territories to Imperial Russia and the British Empire. In spite of The Great Game Iran managed to maintain her sovereignty and was never colonized, unlike neighbouring states in the region. Repeated foreign intervention and a corrupt and weakened Qajar rule led to various protests, which by the end of the Qajar period resulted in Persia's constitutional revolution establishing the nation's first parliament in 1906, within a constitutional monarchy.

Former Iranian prime minister, Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Queen Farah about to depart after a visit to the United States.

In 1921, Reza Khan overthrew the weakening Qajar Dynasty and became Shah. Reza Shah initiated industrialization, rail road construction, and the establishment of a national education system. Reza Shah sought to balance Russian and British influence, but when World War II started, his nascent ties to Germany alarmed both Britain and Russia. In 1941, Britain and the USSR invaded Iran in order to utilize Iranian rail road capacity during World War II. The Shah was forced to abdicate in favour of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In 1951, Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh was elected prime minister. As prime minister, Mossadegh became enormously popular in Iran after he nationalized the Iran's oil reserves. In response, Britain embargoed Iranian oil and invited the United States to join in a plot to depose of Mossadegh; and, in 1953, President Eisenhower authorized Operation Ajax. The operation was successful, and Mossadegh was arrested on August 19, 1953. After Operation Ajax Mohammad Reza Pahlavi rule became increasingly autocratic. With American support, the Shah was able to rapidly modernize Iranian infrastructure, but he simultaneously crushed all forms of political opposition with his intelligence agency, SAVAK. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini became an active critic of the Shah's White Revolution and publicly denounced the government. Khomeini, who was popular in religious circles, was arrested and imprisoned for 18 months. After his release in 1964, Khomeini publicly criticized the United States government. The Shah was persuaded to send him into exile by General Hassan Pakravan. Khomeini was sent first to Turkey, then to Iraq and finally to France. While in exile, he continued to denounce the Shah.

Islamic Republic (1979–)

The Iranian Revolution, also known as the Islamic Revolution, began in January 1978 with the first major demonstrations against the Shah. After strikes and demonstrations paralysed the country and its economy, the Shah fled the country in January 1979 and Ayatollah Khomeini soon returned from exile to Tehran, enthusiastically greeted by millions of Iranians. The Pahlavi Dynasty collapsed ten days later on February 11 when Iran's military declared itself "neutral" after guerrillas and rebel troops overwhelmed troops loyal to the Shah in armed street fighting. Iran officially became an Islamic Republic on April 1, 1979 when Iranians overwhelmingly approved a national referendum to make it so. In December 1979 the country approved a theocratic constitution, whereby Khomeini became Supreme Leader of the country. The speed and success of the revolution surprised many throughout the world, as it had not been precipitated by a military defeat, a financial crisis, or a peasant rebellion. Although both nationalists and Marxists joined with Islamic traditionalists to overthrow the Shah, the revolution ultimately resulted in an Islamic Republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Donald Rumsfeld meets Saddam Hussein on 19–20 December 1983. Rumsfeld visited again on 24 March 1984, the day the UN reported that Iraq had used mustard gas and tabun nerve agent against Iranian troops. The New York Times reported from Baghdad on 29 March 1984, that "American diplomats pronounce themselves satisfied with Iraq and the U.S., and suggest that normal diplomatic ties have been established in all but name."

Iran's relationship with the United States deteriorated rapidly during the revolution. On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students seized U.S. embassy personnel, labelling the embassy a "den of spies". They accused its personnel of being CIA agents plotting to overthrow the revolutionary government, as the CIA had done to Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953. While the student ringleaders had not asked for permission from Khomeini to seize the embassy, Khomeini nonetheless supported the embassy takeover after hearing of its success. While most of the female and African American hostages were released within the first months, the remaining fifty-two hostages were held for 444 days. This is often considered a violation of the long-standing principle of international law that diplomats are immune from arrest ( diplomatic immunity). The students demanded the handover of the Shah in exchange for the hostages, and following the Shah's death in the summer of 1980, that the hostages be put on trial for espionage. Subsequently attempts by the Jimmy Carter administration to negotiate or rescue were unsuccessful until January 1981 when the Algiers declaration was agreed upon. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein decided to take advantage of what he perceived to be disorder in the wake of the Iranian Revolution and its unpopularity with Western governments. The once-strong Iranian military had been disbanded during the revolution. Saddam sought to expand Iraq's access to the Persian Gulf by acquiring territories that Iraq had claimed earlier from Iran during the Shah's rule. Of chief importance to Iraq was Khuzestan which not only has a substantial Arab population, but boasted rich oil fields as well. On the unilateral behalf of the United Arab Emirates, the islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs became objectives as well. With these ambitions in mind, Hussein planned a full-scale assault on Iran, boasting that his forces could reach the capital within three days. On September 22, 1980 the Iraqi army invaded Iran at Khuzestan, precipitating the Iran-Iraq War. The attack took revolutionary Iran completely by surprise.

Although Saddam Hussein's forces made several early advances, by 1982, Iranian forces managed to push the Iraqi army