Geography
Location: Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, between 
Iraq & Pakistan.
Map References: Middle east.
Area:
Total Area: 1.648 sq km.
Land Area: 1.636 sq km.
Land Boundaries: Total 5,440 km. Afghanistan 936 km, Armenia 35 km, Azerbaijan (North) 432 km, Azerbaijan (northwest) 179 km, Iraq 1,458 km, Pakistan 909 km, Turkey 499 km, Turkmenistan 992 km.
Coastline: 2,440 km.
Note: Iran also borders the Caspian Sea (740 km).
Climate: Mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast.
Terrain: Rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts, mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coast.

Agriculture
Accounts for about 20% of GDP; principal products-wheat, rice, other grains, 
sugar beets, fruits, nuts, cotton, dairy products, wool, caviar, not self-sufficient in food.
Related Topics : Agricultural History of Iran

People
Population: 64,625,.455 (July 1995 est.).
Population Growth Rate: 2.29% (1 995 est.).
Religions: Shi'a Muslim 95%, Sunni Muslim 4%, Zoroastrian, Jewish A Christian1%.
Languages: Persian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Baloch 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%, other 2%.
Labor Force:15.4 million.
By Occupation: Agriculture 33%, manufacturing 21%.

Politics
Government: Islamic Republic capital: Tehran
Independence: 1 April 1979 (Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed)
National Holiday: Islamic Republic Day; .1 April (1979)
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 of the green band and 11 times along the top edge of the red band.

Economy
Overview: Iran's economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and
other large enterprises, village agriculture and small-scale private trading and service ventures. Over the past several years, the government has introduced several measures 
to liberalize the economy and reduce government intervention. But most of these changes 
have moved slowly because of political opposition. Iran has faced increasingly severe 
financial difficulties since mid-1992 due to an import surge that began in 1989 and general financial mismanagement. At yearend 1993 the Iranian Government estimated that it owed foreign creditors about $30 billion; an estimated $8 billion of this debt was in arrears. At yearend 1994,Iran rescheduled $12 billion in debt. Earnings from oil exports which provide 90% of Iran's export revenues are provided less relief to Iran than usual, because of reduced oil prices.
National Product: GDP purchasing power parity $310 billion (1994 est.).
National Product Per Capita: $4,720 (1994 est.).
Inflation Rate: 35% (1994).
Unemployment Rate: Over 30% (1994 est.).
Exports: $16 billion (f.o.b., FY 92/93 est.).
Commodities: Petroleum 90%, carpets, fruits, nuts, hides
Partners: Japan, Italy, France, Netherlands, Belgium/Luxembourg, Spain and Germany.
Imports: $18 (c.i.f., FY 92/93 est.).
Commodities: Machinery, military supplies, metal works, foodstuffs, pharmaceutical, technical services, refined oil products.
Partners: Germany, Japan, Italy, UK, UAE.
Industrial Production: Growth rate 4.6% (1993 est.); account for almost 30% Of GDP, including petroleum .
Capacity: 19,080,000 kw.
Production: 50.8 billion kwh
Consumption Per Capita: 745 kwh (1993).
Industries: Petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and other building materials, food processing particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production), metal fabricating, armaments and military equipment .
Currency: 10 Iranian rials(IR) = 1 toman; note ;domestic figures are generally referred to in terms of toman.
Exchange Rate: Iranian rials(IR)per US $ 3,000 rials=US $ 1 (December 1994)
Fiscal Year:21 March - 20 March

Transportation
Railroads:4,850 km
Highways:140,200 km
Pipelines: Crude oil 5,900 km, petroleum products 3,900 km, natural gas 4,550 km.
ports: Abadan, Ahwaz, Bandar Beheshti, Bandar Abbas, Bandar Anzali, Bandar Bushehr, Bandar Imam Khomeini, Bandar Mah Shahr, Bandar Turkman, Jazireh-ye Khark, Jazireh- Lavan, Jazireh-Sirri, Khoram shahr, Noshahr
Airports: 261 with paved runways over 3,047 m: 28