Iran (Geopolity)

Note that this Iran is not the same as the Islamic Republic of Iran. This page is a factbook for the Geopolity RP server. Please do not edit this page.

Empire of Iran 𐬌𐬭𐬀𐬥𐬱𐬀𐬵𐬭 (Parsik) Iranšahr
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "𐬀𐬥𐬛𐬀𐬱 𐬥𐬀𐬐𐬆, 𐬔𐬎𐬟𐬙𐬀𐬭 𐬥𐬀𐬐𐬆, 𐬐𐬆𐬭𐬛𐬀𐬭 𐬥𐬀𐬐𐬆" (Parsik) (Andaš Nake, Guftar Nake, Kerdar Nake) "Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds"
Anthem: Long Live our Shahanshah
Iran on the globe
Capital and largest city	Rey
Official languages	Parsik in the Avestan alphabet
Recognized national languages	Avestan (Liturgical)
Recognized regional languages	Azeri, Kurdish, Luri, Gilaki, Mazandarani, Armenian, Turkmen, Arabic, Balochi, Pashto, Tajik, Qashqai, Suret, Khorasani Turkic, Tati, Talysh, Mandaic, Khalaj, Chaharmahali, and the endangered languages
Ethnic groups	77.9% Parsiks 3.3% Azeris 2.9% Kurds 2.7% Armenians 2.1% Mazandaranis 1.8% Lurs 1.4% Gilaks 1.2% Turkmens 1.1% Baloch 1% Arabs 1% Pashtuns 0.8% Talyshs 0.7% Qashqais 0.7% Tajiks 0.5% Jews 0.4% Khorasani Turks 0.3% Tats 0.1% Mandaeans 0.1% Assyrians 0.1% Khalajis 0.1% Chaharmahalis 0.1% Circassians 0.6% Other
Religion	94.2% Zoroastrianism (Official) 2.9% Christianity - 93.1% Armenian Apostolic Church - 4.7% Nestorianism - 2.2% Other Christianity 1.3% Islam - 39.6% Hanafi Sunnism - 23.5% Isma'ili Shi'ism - 18.3% Alevism - 12.7% Ahmadiyya - 5.4% Sufism - 0.5% Other Islam 0.5% Judaism 0.4% Manichaeism 0.2% Bahaʼí Faith 0.2% Yarsanism 0.1% Yazidism 0.1% Mandaeism 0.1% Irreligion or Other
Demonym(s)	Iranian
Government	Unitary Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
• Shahanshah	His Majesty Ardashir VI
• Shahbanu	Her Majesty Shirin III
• Crown Prince	His Highness Behram
• Wuzurg Framadar	The Honorable Ms. Behdis Gaanjia
• Leader of the Opposition	The Honorable Mrs. Roya Mithawala
• Speaker of the Mehestan	The Honorable Mr. Armun Moogana
• Chancellor of the Darbar	Her Excellency Ms. Donya Zahedi
• Chief Dadwar of the High Court	The Honorable Mr. Sasan Kadodwala
Legislature	The Imperial Diet
• Upper house	The Darbar
• Lower house	The Mehestan
Establishment History
Area
• Total	1,764,538 km2 (681,292 sq mi)
• Water (%)	1.1%
Population
• 2024 estimate	105,400,000
• 2020 census	103,674,582
• Density	59.7/km2 (154.6/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2024 estimate
• Total	$2.73 trillion
• Per capita	$25,888
GDP (nominal)	2024 estimate
• Total	$852.7 billion
• Per capita	$8,090
Gini	33.7 medium
HDI	0.881 very high
Currency	Iranian Drachm (֏)
Time zone	UTC+3:30 (IRST) [No DST]
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy (Z.E.R. and CE)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+98
ISO 3166 code	IR
Internet TLD	.ir

Iran, historically known as Persia by Western nations, and officially the Empire of Iran, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by the Ottoman Empire to the west, Russia to the northwest, the Central Asian Union to the northeast, the Caspian Sea to the north, and the Iranian Gulf to the south, near Arabia. With over 100 million people in an area of 1.76 million sq km (about 680 thousand sq mi), Iran ranks as the 3rd largest nation in the Middle East by both population (behind Egypt and the Ottoman Empire) and by area (behind Egypt and Arabia). The nation's capital and most populous city is Rey, with around 8 million people. Other major cities include Abarshahr, Spahan, Baku, Tawres, Istakhr, Huzaye, Kom, and Hormuz.

Iran is one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning with the Elamites in the fourth millennium BC. It was first unified by the Medes in the seventh century BC and reached its territorial height in the sixth century BC, when Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid Empire, one of the largest empires in antiquity. Alexander the Great conquered the empire in the fourth century BC, and it was subsequently divided into several Hellenistic states. An Iranian rebellion established the Parthian Empire in the third century BC, which was succeeded in the third century AD by the Sasanian Empire. After resistance to Arab Muslim attempts at a conquest of Iran, culminating in the victorious Battle of Nahavand, the Sasanians ruled the country until the Seljuk and the Mongol conquests of the 11th to 15th centuries. In the 15th century, the native House of Sasan re-established Iran with Zoroastrianism as the official religion, marking the beginning of modern Iranian history.

Under Khosrow VII in the mid 16th and early 17th century, Iran was a leading world power, though by the 20th century, it had lost significant influence through a series of conflicts with the Russian Empire. Under the liberal-minded Vistahm V, the early and mid-20th century saw a significant shift towards fusing Western ideals such as the abolition of the traditional caste system, while maintaining Zoroastrianism as the state religion. In 1906, a series of popular protests throughout major cities in support of greater freedoms, combined with the recent election of the liberal, center-left Democratic Struggle Party into power, resulted in the adoption of a new constitution that greatly reduced the powers of the Shahanshah, while greatly expanding the powers of the Imperial Diet and the newly-created High Court in lieu of the Council of Mobeds as the judicial branch of the Central Government. The Iranian government is considered one of the most free and fair in the Middle East with its strong democratic traditions following the adoption of the new 1906 Constitution.

Iran is a major emerging, middle and regional power, due to its large, technologically advanced industrial and financial capability, its business-friendly and entrepreneurial environment, its strategic location in the Asian continent, its military capabilities, its regional influence, its large reserves of fossil fuels, including the world's largest natural gas supply, third largest proven oil reserves, and being the world's focal point of Zoroastrianism, the 5th-largest world religion. It is a founding member of the United Assembly of Nations and an observer of the Global Security Association. Owing it to its long history and rich cultural legacy, Iran is home to many hundreds of national treasures, such as the ruins of Persepolis, Golestan Palace, and Falak-ol-Aflak, among other treasured sites. The people of Iran are multicultural and comprise a wide variety of ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups.

Etymology

The term Iran ("the land of the Aryans") derives from the Parsik endonym of the region, first attested in a third-century inscription at Naqsh-e Rostam, with the accompanying Parthian inscription using Aryan, in reference to the Iranians. The terms Eran and Aryan are oblique plural forms of gentilic nouns er- (Parsik) and ary- (Parthian), both deriving from Proto-Iranian language *arya- (meaning "Aryan", i.e. "of the Iranians"), recognised as a derivative of Proto-Indo-European language *ar-yo-, meaning "one who assembles (skilfully)". According to Iranian mythology, the name comes from Iraj, a legendary king.

Historically, Iran has been referred to as "Persia" by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who referred to all of Iran as "Persis" (Ancient Greek: Περσiς), meaning "the land of the Persians". "Persia" is the Pars province in southwest Iran, also known as "Pars". The Parsik word "Pars" (𐬞𐬀𐬭𐬯) is derived from Parsa (Old Parsik: 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿). Due to the province's historical importance, the term "Persia" originated from this region by the Greeks in around 550 BC, and Westerners started to refer the entire country as "Persia," until 1935, when Peroz VIII requested the international community to refer to the country by its native and original name, Iran. While the Iranians had been calling their nation Iran since at least 1000 BC, this name change was only made so that the Western World would begin to refer to the country by the same name as its people. Today, both Iran and Persia are used in cultural contexts, while Iran remains mandatory in official state and educational contexts.

History

Prehistory

The earliest attested archaeological artifacts in Iran confirm human presence since the Lower Palaeolithic. Iran's Neanderthal artifacts have been found mainly in the Zagros region, at sites such as Warwasi and Yafteh. From the tenth to the seventh millennium BC, early agricultural communities began to flourish in and around the Zagros region, including Chogha Golan, Chogha Bonut, and Chogha Mish. The occupation of grouped hamlets in the area of Susa ranges from 4395 to 3490 BC. There are dozens of prehistoric sites across the Iranian Plateau, pointing to the existence of ancient cultures and urban settlements in the fourth millennium BC.

During the Bronze Age, the territory was home to several Iranian civilizations, including Elam, Jiroft, and Zayanderud. Elam, the most prominent of these, developed in the southwest alongside those in Mesopotamia, and continued its existence until the emergence of the Iranian empires. The advent of writing in Elam was parallelled to Sumer; the Elamite cuneiform developed beginning in the third millennium BC. Diverse artifacts from The Bronze Age, huge structures from the Iron Age and various sites dating back to the Sasanian and Parthian eras indicated suitable conditions for human civilization over the past 8,000 years in Piranshahr.

From the 34th to the 20th century BC, northwestern Iran was part of the Kura-Araxes culture, which stretched into the neighbouring Caucasus and Anatolia.

Ancient Iran

By the second millennium BC, the ancient Iranian peoples arrived in Iran from the Eurasian Steppe, rivalling the native settlers of the plateau. As the Iranians dispersed into the wider area of Greater Iran and beyond, the plateau was dominated by Median, Parsik, and Parthian tribes. The Ancient Iranian history began with the Elamite Empire in the fourth millennium BC, in the far west and southwest of Iran, stretching from the lowlands of Khuzestan and Ilam Province. In the Old Elamite period (Middle Bronze Age), Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered in Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Elam was part of the early urbanization of the Near East during the Chalcolithic period.

From the late tenth to the late seventh century BC, the Iranian peoples, together with the pre-Iranian kingdoms, fell under the domination of the Assyrian Empire, based in northern Mesopotamia. Under king Cyaxares, the Medes and Parsiks entered into an alliance with Babylonian ruler Nabopolassar, as well as the fellow Iranian Scythians and Cimmerians, and together they attacked the Assyrians. Civil war ravaged the Assyrian Empire between 616 and 605 BC, freeing their respective peoples from three centuries of Assyrian rule.

The frequent interference of the Assyrians in the Zagros led to the process of unifying the Median tribes by Deioces in 728 BC, the foundation of the Median Empire and their capital Ecbatana, unifying Iran as a nation and state for the first time in 625 BC. By 612 BC, the Medes overthrew the declining Assyrian Empire in alliance with the Babylonians. This marked the end of the Kingdom of Urartu, which was subsequently conquered and dissolved.

In 550 BC, Cyrus the Great defeated the last Median king, Astyages during the Medo-Iranian conflict, conquering Median territories and establishing the Achaemenid Empire by unifying other city-states. Later conquests under Cyrus and his successors expanded the empire to include Lydia, Babylon, Egypt, parts of the Balkans and Eastern Europe, as well as lands to the west of the Indus and Oxus rivers. In 539 BC Iranian forces defeated the Babylonian army at Opis, marking the end of around four centuries of Mesopotamian domination of the region by conquering the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

In 518 BC, Persepolis was founded by Darius the Great as the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire which, at its greatest extent, was the largest empire the world had yet seen, and it ruled over 44% of the world's population. The Achaemenid Empire has been recognized for its imposition of a successful model of centralized bureaucratic administration, its multicultural policy, building complex infrastructure such as road systems and an organized postal system, the use of official languages across its territories, and the development of civil services, including its possession of a large, professional army. Its advancements inspired the implementation of similar styles of governance by later empires. In 334 BC, Alexander the Great defeated the last Achaemenid king, Darius III, at the Battle of Issus, and burned down Persepolis. Following the premature death of Alexander in 323 BC, Iran fell under the control of the Seleucid Empire, and divided into several Hellenistic states.

Iran remained under the Seleucid occupation until 250–247 BC, when the native Parthians, led by Arsaces I, liberated the region of Parthia in northeast Iran, and rebelled against the Seleucids, founding the Parthian Empire. Parthians rose to become the main power in Iran, and the century-long geopolitical arch-rivalry between the Romans and the Parthians began, culminating in the Roman–Parthian Wars. Mithridates I greatly expanded the empire by seizing Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids. At its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now the central-eastern Ottoman Empire, to present-day Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and the Han dynasty of China, became a center of trade and commerce. As the Parthians expanded westward, they came into conflict with the Kingdom of Armenia, and eventually the late Roman Republic. The Romans and Parthians competed with each other to establish the kings of Armenia as their subordinate clients.

After nearly five centuries of Parthian rule, frequent civil wars between Parthian contenders to the throne proved more dangerous to the Empire's stability than foreign invasion. Parthian power evaporated when Ardashir I, the Iranian ruler of Istakhr, killed the last Parthian ruler, Artabanus IV, and founded the Sasanian Empire in 224 AD. Sassanids and their neighbouring arch-rival, the Roman-Byzantines, were the world's two dominant powers for over four centuries. The Sasanians established an empire within the frontiers achieved by the Achaemenids, with their capital at Ctesiphon. Late antiquity is considered one of Iran's most influential periods, as under the Sasanians, their influence reached ancient Rome (and through that as far as Western Europe), Africa, China, and India, and played a prominent role in the formation of the mediaeval art of both Europe and Asia. The period of Sasanian rule was a high point in Iranian history, characterized by a complex and centralized government bureaucracy, and revitalized Zoroastrianism as a legitimizing and unifying force of their rule.

Medieval Iran

On the Arabian peninsula, the rising power of the Rashidun Caliphate was beginning to be noticed by the Sasanians, with Caliph Umar attempting numerous times to invade the Sasanian heartland. However, the difficult terrain of the Zagros Mountains, coupled with guerilla warfare and a lack of mobility for the Rashidun cavalry led to the decisive defeat for the Caliphate at the Battle of Nahavand. Due to the Sasanians' regained strength following the conclusion of the Lazic War and rebuilding after the civil war, the Sasanians managed to resist the Rashidun invasions.

Following the attempted Muslim conquests in the region, the cultural exchanges and influence of Sasanian art, architecture, music, literature and philosophy on Islamic culture ensured the spread of Iranian culture, knowledge and ideas throughout the Muslim world. Islam still continued to spread past Iran and into Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent through Muslim Arab traders passing through the Silk Road. The period of Iranian history from 654 to 1040 is known as the Second Sasanian Golden Age, spurred by revival and innovation in Zoroastrian literature, philosophy, mathematics, medicine, astronomy and art. It also revived the Parsik and Avestan languages, with the most significant Parsik-language literature from this period being Shahnameh by Vandad Farkish, the country's national epic, which tells of the mythical and historical past of the various Zoroastrian Iranian empires from the creation of the world to the resistance against the Rashidun invasion.

The tenth century saw a mass migration of Turkic tribes from Central Asia to Iran. From 1040 to 1141, large portions of Iran were occupied under the Seljuk Empire, who later gave rise to the Sultanate of Rum in Anatolia. The Seljuks utilized the Sasanians as puppet rulers under the threat of execution to better administer their lands. Following the collapse of the Seljuk Empire in Iran, the region shattered into numerous Turco-Iranian and Sasanian kingdoms that continually engaged in warfare until the Mongol invasion of Iran from 1219 to 1221. Primary sources say that nearly 15 million Iranians were killed by the invading Mongols, although this has drawn skepticism due to such a high death count. The modern accepted number of Iranians killed was closer to 2 million, mainly in the northeastern regions closest to Central Asia.

Following the fracture of the Mongol Empire in 1256, Hulagu Khan established the Ilkhanate in Iran, against using the Sasanians as puppet administrators, collapsing in 1293 under Gaykhatu due to a civil war between the Buddhist Mongol court and the Muslim Mongol rulers (with the Sasanian dynasty being used as political pawns). The region once again ran once again shattered into numerous Turco-Iranian and Sasanian kingdoms. In 1370, yet another Turco-Mongol, Timur, took control over Iran, and established the Timurid Empire with the Sasanians as puppet figureheads to maintain control over the people. In 1447, following Shah Rukh's death, the Timurid Empire collapsed but lived on in Central Asia, leading to a power vacuum within Iran.

Early modern period

The neo-Sasanian dynasties by now had been mainly composed of native Iranian puppet rulers descended from the pre-Turkic Sasanian dynasty. One such puppet ruler, Khosrow VII (with the honorific of The Savior), who descended from a branch of the Sasanian dynasty based in Istakhr, managed to unify the various Sasanian branches under his rule through a combination of marriages with his house, warfare with a superior army, and execution of disloyal monarchs following the Timurid Empire's collapse in 1447. By 1455, the House of Sasan was officially declared as reunified under Khosrow, who proceeded to forcibly unify and centralize much of the central, northern, southern, and eastern regions of Greater Iran.

Khosrow believed in the supremacy of the Sasanian dynasty and abhorred the so-called "Turkic menace," referring to the Turkic rulers that had ruled Iran for a total for over 300 years. He introduced several drastic changes across Iran, including establishing the pre-Turkic Parsik with the Avestan script as the sole official language of administration and as a national lingua franca with the Avestan language being an officially recognized liturgical language, the re-establishment of Zoroastrianism as the state religion, an official ban of Islam, the official abolition of the Iranian caste system (which had previously caused large social strife), as well as a large state-sponsored shift in the Persianization of the various peoples of Iran through language, religion, and culture, among other means. Despite these changes, he also continued several reforms that were introduced by previous Turkic rulers of Iran, including a more efficient organization of the military on a standard with the likes of the rivalrous Ottoman Empire, the increase in size of the artillery force, and continued to patronize and encourage some forms of Islamic and Turkic cultures, although with a majority of Zoroastrian influences. Following his consolidation of the Iranian heartland, Khosrow successfully conquered the territories of Azerbaijan and Khuzestan from the Ottoman Empire. This marked the beginning of several Iran-Ottoman conflicts that would continue to influence the Middle East to this day.

The relationship between the neo-Sasanian and the West began with the presence of the Portuguese in the Iranian Gulf from the 16th century, oscillating between alliances and open war between the 17th and 18th century. In 1588, Harvadh IV came to the throne during a troubled period where eastern Iran was being raided by Pashtun rebels, along with Azeri, Armenian, and Turkmen partisans wrecking havoc in regions of Iran. Under his leadership, Iran restrengthened its bureaucracy and managed to suppress much of the internal strife within the nation, as well as sacking Samarkand, one of the most prominent Central Asian Turkic cities. Because of his military genius, some historians have described him as the "Napoleon of Iran", "the Sword of Iran", and "the Second Alexander". Joseph Stalin used to read about Harvadh and admired him, calling him, along with Ivan the Terrible, "a teacher". Starting from a young age, Napoleon Bonaparte also used to read about and admire Harvadh. Napoleon considered himself the new Harvadh, and he himself was later called "European Harvadh". Despite his expansion, the Sasanian rule in Iran began to decay from the mid-17th to the beginning of the 20th century, exacerbated by increasing European meddling (especially through the Great Game).

Modern Iran

Between 1872 and 1905, protesters objected to the sale of concessions to foreigners by the monarch Peroz VIII, leading to the Constitutional Revolution in 1905. The Constitutional Revolution culminated in the abdication of Peroz VIII, the ascension of his son Vistahm V, and the official promulgation of the Imperial Constitution. Vistahm, having been educated in the West, learned of the political and social changes going on in Europe, especially the ideals of liberalism and feminism. Along with several prominent Iranian intellectuals, the new Imperial Constitution was loosely based on the Western European parliamentary model with the role of the monarch being reduced to one of a figurehead. The first democratic elections of Iran commenced in 1906, resulting in the institution of Sahand Pesuna as the first democratically elected head of government of Iran, a title called the Wuzurg Framadar (historically referring to the Shahanshah's advisor).

Iran remained neutral throughout World War I, instead focusing on domestic matters. Despite this, a joint Anglo-Russian invasion ended in disaster for Iran, with nearly 100,000 Iranian soldiers and civilians killed in the conflict. Following the end of World War I, the government, led by Wuzurg Framadar Alborz Parry, nationalized the oil and gas industry, which was then controlled primarily by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. In the interwar period, a rise in oil and gas prices, coupled with increasing Western modernization and industrialization, led to an increased period of prosperity until the Great Depression. In addition, Iran invaded and occupied many of the islands of the Iranian Gulf, with the exception of Bahrain, in a successful attempt to control the Gulf in Iran's interests. The various subsequent Arab states have claimed many of these islands as illegally occupied by Iran to the present day.

World War II saw Iran becoming a major conduit for British and American aid to the Soviet Union and an avenue through which over 120,000 Polish refugees and Polish Armed Forces fled the Axis advance, while also remaining officially neutral. At the 1943 Rey Conference, the Allied "Big Three"—Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill—issued the Rey Declaration to guarantee the post-war independence and boundaries of Iran. However, at the end of the war, Soviet troops established two puppet states in north-western Iran: the People's Government of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Mahabad. This led to the Iran crisis of 1946, one of the first confrontations of the Cold War, which ended after oil concessions were promised to the USSR and Soviet forces withdrew in May 1946. The two puppet states were soon overthrown, and the oil concessions were later revoked.

Post World War II, Iran generally remained friendly with most nations, being a founding member of UAN. Iran is noted for the large number of abstentions for most UAN resolutions not pertaining to the Middle East. A surge in oil prices from the 1950s to the early 1970s led to a massive surge in human development, education, and the Iranian economy as a whole. However, the 1973 oil crisis caused a massive economic slowdown, with only a 0.5% economic growth in the four quarters of 1973. With such a dependence on oil, the leadership sought to diversify from a massive reliance on one resource, mitigating the effects of Dutch disease. Many have considered Iranian diversification efforts to be successful, with Iran becoming one of the largest manufacturing, transport, educated, and scientifically advanced Middle Eastern countries as a result of government and private initiatives to aid in diversification. However, the continued reliance on oil and gas, which still makes up nearly 20% of exports, is still a major topic of concern for the government.

Iran remained neutral during the western-led invasion of Ottoman Iraq, but permitted western ships to enter its waters, a major point of contention between Iran and the Ottomans. Modern Iranian history has been shaped by Iran's relations with its immediate neighbors, especially a growing multilayered cold war between the nation and the Ottoman Empire. Tensions have surged in recent years over Iran's control of the majority of islands in the Iranian Gulf and military dominance of the Gulf, as well as Iran's strong relations with the Ottoman enemy of Cyprus. Iranian attempts to join the Global Security Association has been met with strong opposition from the Ottoman Empire due to historic rivalries and the potential increase in dominance of Iran in Middle Eastern affairs. However, a detente in Iranian-Ottoman and Iranian-CAU (an Ottoman ally) relations, has significantly improved Iranian relations with the Middle East.

Geography

Iran has an area of 1,764,538 km² (681,292 sq mi). It is the second-largest country in West Asia. It lies between latitudes 24° and 42° N, and longitudes 44° and 64° E. It is bordered to the west by the Ottoman Empire, to the north by the Caspian Sea; to the northwest by Russia, to the northeast by the Central Asian Union, and to the south by the Iranian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Iran is in a seismically active area. On average, an earthquake of magnitude seven on the Richter scale occurs once every ten years. Most earthquakes are shallow-focus and can be very devastating, such as the 2003 Bam earthquake.

Iran consists of the Iranian Plateau. It is one of the world's most mountainous countries, its landscape is dominated by rugged mountain ranges that separate various basins or plateaus. The populous western part is the most mountainous, with ranges such as the Talysh, Caucasus, Zagros, and Alborz, the last containing Mount Damavand, Iran's highest point, at 5,610 m (18,406 ft), which is also the highest volcano in Asia. Iran's mountains have impacted both political and the economic history of the country for several centuries.

The northern part of Iran is covered by the lush lowland Hyrcanian forests, near the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. The eastern part consists mostly of desert basins, such as the Kavir Desert, which is the country's largest desert, and the Lut Desert, as well as some salt lakes. The Lut Desert is the hottest recorded spot on the Earth's surface according to NASA, with 70.7 °C recorded in 2005. The only large plains are found along the coast of the Caspian Sea and at the northern end of the Iranian Gulf, where the country borders the mouth of the Arvand river. Nearly half of all the mud volcanoes on Earth are concentrated in Iran. Smaller, discontinuous plains are found along the remaining coast of the Iranian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Gulf of Oman.

Islands

Iranian islands are mainly located in the Iranian Gulf. A small number of Iranian islands can be visited by tourists, as most are in the possession of the military or wildlife protection, and entry to them is generally prohibited or requires a permit.

Iran took control of most Gulf Islands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with Bahrain being a notable exception. Despite the islands being small and having little natural resources or population, they are highly valuable for their key strategic location. Although Arabia claims sovereignty over them, it has constantly been met with a strong response from the Iranian government, based on their historical and cultural background. Iran has control over the islands.

Kish island, as a free trade zone, is touted as a consumer's paradise, with numerous malls, shopping centers, tourist attractions, and luxury hotels. Keshm is the largest island in Iran. Its salt cave, Namakdan, is the largest salt cave in the world and one of the world's longest caves.

Climate

Iran's climate is diverse, ranging from arid and semi-arid, to subtropical along the Caspian coast and the northern forests. On the northern edge of the country (the Caspian coastal plain), temperatures rarely fall below freezing and the area remains humid. Summer temperatures rarely exceed 29 °C (84.2 °F). Annual precipitation is 680 mm (26.8 in) in the eastern part of the plain and more than 1,700 mm (66.9 in) in the western part. Water scarcity poses the most severe human security challenge in Iran today.

To the west, settlements in the Zagros basin experience lower temperatures, severe winters with freezing average daily temperatures and heavy snowfall. The eastern and central basins are arid, with less than 200 mm (7.9 in) of rain and have occasional deserts. Average summer temperatures rarely exceed 38 °C (100.4 °F). The southern coastal plains of the Iranian Gulf and Gulf of Oman have mild winters, and very humid and hot summers. The annual precipitation ranges from 135 to 355 mm (5.3 to 14.0 in).

Biodiversity

More than one-tenth of the country is forested, which are declared national. About 120 million hectares of forests and fields are government-owned for national exploitation. The most extensive forest is on the mountain slopes rising from the Caspian Sea, with stands of oak, ash, elm, cypress, and other valuable trees. On the plateau proper, areas of scrub oak appear on the best-watered mountain slopes, and villagers cultivate orchards and grow the plane tree, poplar, willow, walnut, beech, maple, and mulberry. Wild plants and shrubs spring from the barren land in the spring and afford pasturage, but the summer sun burns them away. Thee major types of forests in Iran and their respective areas are:

1. Caspian forests of the northern districts (33,000 km²)
2. Limestone mountainous forests in the northeastern districts (Juniperus forests, 13,000 km²)
3. Pistachio forests in the eastern, southern and southeastern districts (26,000 km²)
4. Oak forests in the central and western districts (100,000 km²)
5. Shrubs of the Dasht-e Kavir in the central and northeastern part of the country (10,000 km²)
6. Sub-tropical forests of the southern coast (5,000 km²) such as the Hara forests.

Iran's forests can be divided into five vegetation regions: Hyrcanian region, which forms the green belt of the north side of the country. The Turya region, which are mainly scattered in the center of Iran. Zagros region, which mainly contains oak forests in the west of the country. The Iranian Gulf region, which is scattered in the southern coastal belt. Arasbarani region, which contains rare and unique species. More than 8,200 plant species are grown in Iran. The land covered by Iran's natural flora is four times that of the Europe's.

The wildlife of Iran includes bears, the Eurasian lynx, leopards, cheetahs, foxes, gazelles, grey wolves, jackals, panthers, and wild pigs. Eagles, falcons, partridges, pheasants, and storks are also native to Iran. The most famous animals of Iran are the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah, Asiatic lion, and Caspian tiger.

Iran's living fauna includes 34 bat species, Iranian grey mongoose, small Iranian mongoose, golden jackal, Iranian wolf, foxes, striped hyena, leopard, Eurasian lynx, brown bear, and Asian black bear. Ungulate species include wild boar, urial, Armenian mouflon, red deer, and goitered gazelle. Domestic ungulates are represented by sheep, goat, cattle, horse, water buffalo, donkey and camel. Bird species like pheasant, partridge, stork, eagles and falcons are also native to Iran.

There are over 400 protected areas in Iran to preserve the biodiversity and wildlife of the country, with 50 of them being national parks.

Administrative divisions

Iran is subdivided into 18 provinces (Parsik: 𐬊𐬯𐬙𐬀𐬥), each governed from a local capital, which is also the largest city. The provincial authority is headed by an ostandar (equivalent to a governor). Each province is further subdivided into a number of rostags (equivalent to counties), which are centered around a town or city. This system of unitary administration is designed for simplicity.

The country has one of the highest urban growth rates in the world. From 1950 to 2020, the urban proportion of the population increased from 27% to 86%. Iran's population is concentrated in its western and central regions, along with the eastern province of Khorasan.

Map of the Provinces and Major Cities of Iran

Name	Capital & Largest City	Population	GDP (USD)	Other Major Cities
Hayastan	Yerevan (1,103,633)	4,826,103	15.9 billion	N/A
Azerbaijan	Baku (2,316,582)	9,013,468	84.3 billion	Ganja (483,088)
Shirvan	Tawres (2,548,017)	8,217,934	67.3 billion	Urmia (1,034,723) Artavil (529,374)
Gilan	Rasht (724,193)	3,625,166	21.6 billion	N/A
Kurdistan	Kirmanshah (1,103,936)	3,842,183	15.1 billion	Sisar (512,767)
Mada	Hamadan (683,254)	2,512,374	14.5 billion	Kasvin (462,748)
Rey	Rey (9,328,133)	10,175,216	124.1 billion	N/A
Mazandaran	Gurgan (450,656)	6,265,172	47.5 billion	Zadracarta (447,776)
Luristan	Shapurkhast (523,482)	4,528,374	40.5 billion	N/A
Parthav	Spahan (4,668,737)	8,715,209	74.3 billion	Kom (1,261,158) Arak (520,944) Kashan (432,557)
Pars	Istakhr (3,276,659)	7,723,807	67.8 billion	Bokht (493,581)
Khuzestan	Huzaye (1,363,934)	7,354,126	78.3 billion	Susa (443,971)
Khorasan	Abarshahr (2,174,837)	8,132,217	73.5 billion	Azarbarzin (643,702) Buzanjird (535,981)
Asagarta	Yazd (845,238)	4,128,665	39.6 billion	Berdeshir (738,374)
Hormozgan	Hormuz (1,027,664)	1,921,883	22.1 billion	N/A
Sistan	Birkand (354,216)	3,629,455	9.4 billion	N/A
Balochistan	Duzzap (586,279)	2,327,362	9.8 billion	Chabahar (350,264) Zabol (334,561)
Abarshahr	Sakanan (544,263)	2,383,163	11.1 billion	Shahrud (371,129)

Note: All numbers in parentheses next to the city names are their populations.

Government and politics

A representative democracy, Iran is a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a relatively recent yet vibrant democratic tradition, the second-oldest democratic state in the Middle East after Israel. Iran is a multiparty system with a generally vibrant, ever-changing political environment; only one political party, the Royalists, have stayed in their original form since the shift to constitutionalism. The current coalition government is between the Unity Party and the Liberals, the first two-party coalition in Iran's history.

The authority of the state is vested nominally in the Shahanshah, with the Shahanshah officially delegating all legislative, executive, and judicial responsibility to the Central Government via the Imperial Constitution, which lays the framework for the functioning of the Iranian state. The political system of Iran is mainly derived from the consensus-based parliamentarian systems used throughout continental Europe.

Imperial Diet

The legislative branch of the Central Government is composed of the bicameral Imperial Diet (Parsik: 𐬐𐬀𐬥𐬆𐬡𐬥𐬆𐬔𐬎𐬛𐬀𐬭 𐬱𐬀𐬵𐬀𐬥𐬱𐬀𐬵𐬀), made up of a lower house, the Mehestan, and an upper house, the Darbar. The Mehestan is composed of 800 Members of the Mehestan (MMs), and are elected for 4-year terms via a system of open-party list proportional representation with the least remainder method in 150 five-seat constituencies of roughly equal population with 50 leveling seats to make the Mehestan composition more proportional. Due to proportional representation, no one political party has ever achieved a simple majority, so multiparty coalitions have always been the norm. If a coalition cannot form or collapses in the middle of the 4-year term, the Shahanshah, on advice from the Wuzurg Framadar, may dissolve the Mehestan and call for snap elections within 3 months of the dissolution. The Mehestan is vested with the vast majority of legislative and executive power (the latter through the Council of State).

The Darbar is composed of 200 Members of the Darbar (MDs), all of whom are indirectly elected or appointed in a variety of methods. 140 MDs are indirectly elected by the provincial Mehestans, apportioned by population per subdivision, and serve up to 2 terms of 6 years each. 20 MDs are appointed by the Shahanshah on advice from the Wuzurg Framadar, and can also serve up to the same term limit. 10 MDs represent religious minorities - 2 of the Armenian Apostolic Church, 1 Shia Muslim (usually Ismail'i), 1 Alevi Muslim, 1 Ahmadiyya Muslim, 1 Jew, 1 Manichaean, 1 Baha'i, 1 Yazidi, and 1 Mandaean, who are appointed by the religious leaders of each group and confirmed by a simple majority vote by the members of each religious group. They also serve up to the same term limit. The remaining 30 members are reserved for the highest Zoroastrian mobeds (priests), and are referred to as the Holy Mobeds, or simply the Mobeds with the secondary title of being an MD. The Mobeds are allowed to serve until death or until resignation, the latter being the more common of the two due to the mobeds needing to tend to their religious duties. The Darbar is unable to be dissolved by the Shahanshah due to its intended purpose of serving as an advisory body to the Shahanshah and Mehestan. The Darbar is only able to delay laws, not block them, and advise the Mehestan and Shahanshah in aiding their duties to the Iranian people.

Council of State

The executive branch of the Central Government is composed of the Council of State (Parsik: 𐬯𐬵𐬆𐬡𐬭𐬀 𐬛𐬆𐬡𐬮𐬆𐬙𐬀), composed of the Wuzurg Framadar (trans. Prime Minister) and their Framadars (Ministers). The Wuzurg Framadar is the head of government, and thus is in charge of managing the executive branch responsibly. Once a coalition government forms, the Wuzurg Framadar is appointed by the Shahanshah on advice of the MMs of the coalition, and is confirmed by a simple majority of MMs. The Wuzurg Framadar then appoints the Framadars of the Council of State, each appointment of which is confirmed by a simple majority of MMs. Each Framadar can be either an MM or a non-Mobed MD. Each Framadar is in charge of one Ministry and reports directly to the Wuzurg Framadar. The Council of State is in charge of enforcing the laws passed by the Mehestan, dictating public policy, maintaining the military, and representing Iran to foreign nations through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since all Framadars are also MMs, the terms of Framadars are the same as their terms as MMs.

The Wuzurg Framadar needs to command a majority of MMs to pass laws, and so coalition governments are often formed. If a coalition collapses, the Council of State collectively resigns and serves a demissionary purpose that may only run the affairs of the nation and enforce existing laws, and not pass new laws until a snap election is held and a new coalition is formed.

Political Parties

Composition of the Mehestan (Lower house)

Government

• Unity Party (UNI): Center-right nationalist and liberal-conservative political party.

Leader: Ms. Behdis Gaanjia

Seats in the Mehestan: 325

Seats in the Darbar: 45

• Liberals (LIB): Centrist to right-leaning liberal/libertarian political party, focused on a reduction in government size.

Leader: Mr. Behzad Behizadeh

Composition of the Darbar (Upper house)

Seats in the Mehestan: 99

Seats in the Darbar: 19

Opposition

• Iranian Social Party (SOC): Center-left social democratic political party. Official opposition since 2018.

Leader: Mrs. Roya Mithawala

Seats in the Mehestan: 162

Seats in the Darbar: 28

• Greens (GRE): Center-left political party with a stance on green politics, generally considered a major ally of the Social Party.

Leader: Mrs. Parivash Palamkot

Seats in the Mehestan: 54

Seats in the Darbar: 12

• Royalists (ROY): Right-wing traditionalist conservative political party that seeks for a greater role of the Shahanshah in Iranian politics.

Leader: Farzin Malbari

Seats in the Mehestan: 43

Seats in the Darbar: 10

• United People's Alliance (UPA): Right-wing to far-right ultranationalist and Zoroastrian-supremacist party with significant religious undertones and heavy Islamophobic tendencies.

Leader: Mr. Farhang Nouzari

Seats in the Mehestan: 37

Seats in the Darbar: 9

• Iranian Turkic Party (ITP): Syncretic political party formed to advocate for the rights of the various Turkic peoples of Iran. Generally has an alliance with the ALU.

Leader: Mr. Erksun Demiroren

Seats in the Mehestan: 22

Seats in the Darbar: 6

• Kurdistan Alliance (KUR): Syncretic political party that advocates for the rights of the Kurdish people of Iran.

Leader: Mr. Dilistan Aryan

Seats in the Mehestan: 20

Seats in the Darbar: 5

• Azeri Liberation Union (ALU): Syncretic political party that advocates for the rights of the Azeri people of Iran.

Leader: Mr. Bahadur Iravani

Seats in the Mehestan: 13

Seats in the Darbar: 4

• Armenian Freedom Front (AFF): Syncretic political party that advocates for the rights of the Armenian people of Iran.

Leader: Mrs. Koharig Bamanian

Seats in the Mehestan: 11

Seats in the Darbar: 2

• Iranian Muslim League (IML): Right-wing conservative (some far-right Qutbist factions) Islamist political party that advocates for Muslim rights within Iran.

Leader: Mr. Mansour Kardan

Seats in the Mehestan: 6

Seats in the Darbar: 0

• Workers' Party of Iran (WPI): Far-left Marxist-Leninist communist party, only one to call for the overthrow of the monarchy.

Leader: Ms. Arezou Achhadwala

Seats in the Mehestan: 6

Seats in the Darbar: 0

• Independents (IND): Generally centrist/syncretic independent Representatives and Deputies primarily focused on greater political cooperation.

Seats in the Mehestan: 2

Seats in the Darbar: 0

Provincial and Local Government

Iran's provinces are delegated with limited power to conduct affairs within the province similar to delegation of powers in a federal system, although most power is still vested in the Central Government. Each Provincial Government is similar to the Central Government with a unicameral Provincial Mehestan, executive Provincial Council of State, and a Provincial Court.

Rostags (equivalent to counties) have Municipal Governments in a similar fashion to Provincial Governments. In cities, these are called City Governments. The provinces are given some autonomy to manage their own affairs, including education, healthcare, infrastructure, conservation, taxation, and other aspects that are normally used in federal states, although the Central Government still contains the vast majority of power.

The House of Sasan

The royal house of Iran is the House of Sasan, commonly called the Sasanian dynasty outside of Iran. The royal house has its origins from the first Sasanian dynasty that ruled Iran from 224 until the conquest of Iran by the Ghaznavids in 977. Used as puppet rulers, the Sasanians were for many years controlled by outsider dynasties, mainly of Turkic origin. Following the collapse of the Timurids in 1507, the House of Sasan re-established control over Iran, continuing to rule the nation till this day.

The House of Sasan symbolizes Iran's brilliance and radiance to the world. Residing in Golestan Palace, the royal family is humble, yet powerful, strong, yet calm. The House of Sasan unites Iran in its diversity, and serves as a beacon of divine radiance to all.

Law

Iranian law is derived from a variety of sources, a testament to Iran's rich and diverse history. Iranian customary law is a combination of European civil law and Zoroastrian laws based on the Avesta. For religious minorities, halakha, canon law, Baha'i laws, Mandaean, Manichaean, and Yazidi laws are recognized as legally binding for personal issues pertaining to each religious minority, while some aspects of sharia are recognized and may or may not be legally binding.

The judicial branch of the Central Government is composed of the High Court (Parsik: 𐬛𐬀𐬛𐬔𐬀𐬵 𐬆𐬀𐬮𐬀), alongside subordinate courts in the Iranian court system. The High Court is the supreme court of the land and is the final arbitrator of all disputes regarding the Imperial Constitution between the Imperial Diet and Council of State, disputes between provinces, and the final court of appeals. The High Court is composed of 13 Dadwars (Justices), including one Chief Dadwar, that serves on the High Court for a period of one 12-year term. All Justices are appointed by the Shahanshah and confirmed by a simple majority of MDs.

The court system in Iran is hierarchial, with Provincial Courts handling major disputes within that province, and Rostag Courts handling disputes within that rostag (provincial subdivision). There are also separate local criminal and civil courts within rostags and large cities. If a civil or criminal trial is of noteworthy or high significance, it is usually directly delegated to the Rostag Court, although this is very rare.

Foreign relations

With the exception of Slavic Rhodesia and Mannsenland due to their human rights abuses, Iran maintains foreign relations with every nation in the world. Iran is a Strategic Partner of the Global Security Association (GSA) and and interested party with the Eurasian Economic Community (EEC). Due to ideological differences, religious differences, and competing geopolitical ambitions, Iran maintains poor relations with its neighbors the Ottoman Empire and Arabia, although relations with the Central Asian Union have substantially improved following the peaceful resolution of a Caspian Sea EEZ dispute and Iran's official delisting of the Blue Wolves Organization as a terrorist organization.

Iran's seeking for membership status in the GSA and EEC has been met with vetoes from the Ottoman Empire and CAU due to opposing geopolitcal ambitions, although the potential acceptance into the former has substantially improved with Iran making conciliatory gestures towards its neighbors as a sign of goodwill. The Central Asian Union and the Ottoman Empire have claimed Iran abuses the rights of ethnic minorities, particularly Azeris, accusing Iran of "forcible Persianization and de-Turkification," despite little tangible evidence of such atrocities actually happening.

Iran maintains sizeable influence in the Middle East, with warm relations with Cyprus and Palestine, two adversaries of the Ottoman Empire. Warm relations with South Slavia have also brought ire to the Ottoman Empire. The Iranian control of the namesake Gulf also gives Iran significant leverage over its neighbors over the exporting of valuable trade commodities, including manufactured goods, consumer products, and petroleum. Furthermore, a high popularity among Kurdish and Alevi populations towards Iran in the Ottoman Empire have been of significant concern towards the Ottoman government as well as a source of power projection by the Iranian Government.

Military

Among one of the most powerful in the Middle East and a growing power within Asia, the Imperial Iranian Armed Forces (Parsik: 𐬥𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬡𐬵𐬀 𐬨𐬆𐬯𐬮𐬵 𐬯𐬵𐬀𐬵𐬀𐬥𐬯𐬵𐬀𐬵𐬀 𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬥) are composed of the Spada (Army), Narwa (Navy), Hewaspada (Air Force), and Khaspada (Special Forces). With 650,000 active-duty soldiers and 350,000 reservists, Iran's military is the second-largest in the Middle East by size after the Ottoman Empire. It is mandatory for every male to serve for 12 months in the military once he turns 18, although women may serve for 9 months if they choose to enlist. The Nazmiyeh are the law enforcement force of Iran, and have hybrid elements of a civilian police force and gendarmie. Iran's defense budget amounts to nearly $42.5 billion, or nearly 4.2% of GDP.

Iran boasts a modern, capable military, with major defense partners including Russia, India, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and Japan. Additionally, Iran has developed a robust and sophisticated domestic military industry capable of producing indigenous tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles, submarines, radar systems, helicopters, naval vessels, fighter planes, firearms, artillery, and advanced weaponry, particularly in rocketry. Consequently, Iran has the largest ballistic missile arsenal in the Middle East and is only the 5th country in the world with hypersonic missile technology. It is the world's 6th missile power. Iran designs and produces a variety of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and is considered a global leader and superpower in drone warfare and technology. It is one of the world's five countries with cyberwarfare capabilities and is an active player in the international cyber arena.

Human rights

Human rights in Iran, including the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, along with many other rights, are protected by the Imperial Constitution and generally not infringed upon, a vastly better situation as compared to Iran's neighbors. Despite this, there are several flaws regarding the state of human rights in Iran.

Iran has been criticized by several nations and human rights groups for claims of unequal treatment against Muslims, which number 1% of Iran's population. Major topics of controversy include Iran's restrictions on dawah as well as a controversial failed proposal to ban the niqab and burqa. Additionally, the Azam Square in Kom was a major site of dispute between Shia Muslims, Sunni Muslims, and Baha'is. The city council's decision to build a Shia mosque and Baha'i House of Worship in the square has been met with protests from the Sunni community of Iran, claiming favoritism towards Shia Muslims. Iran's open acceptance of certain Islamic groups considered unorthodox by most Muslims, including Alevis and Ahmadi Muslims, have sparked outrage among the Sunni Muslim population.

Economy

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Science and technology

Iran is a world leader in science and technology In the biomedical sciences, Iran's Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics is renowed in the Middle East for its research and work. In 2006, Iranian scientists successfully cloned a sheep at the Royan Research Center in Rey. Stem cell research is among the top in the world. Iran ranks highly in nanotechnologies. Iranian scientists have made major scientific contributions. In 1960, Aryan Javan co-invented the first gas laser, and fuzzy set theory was introduced by Lotfi Zohrab.

Historic launch of Safir.

Cardiologist Tofigh Mussivand invented and developed the first artificial cardiac pump, the precursor of the artificial heart. Furthering research in diabetes, the HbA1c was discovered by Samuel Rahbar. Many papers in string theory are published in Iran. In 2014, Iranian mathematician Farah Vaadwala became the first woman, and Iranian, to receive the Fields Medal, the highest prize in mathematics.

Iran increased its publication output nearly tenfold from 1996 through 2004, and ranked first in output growth rate, followed by China. The Iranian humanoid robot Surena, which was designed by engineers at the University of Rey, was unveiled in 2010. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has placed Surena among the five most prominent robots, after analyzing its performance.

The Iranian Space Agency (ISA) was established in 2004. Iran became an orbital-launch-capable nation in 2009. Iran placed its domestically built satellite Omid into orbit on the 30th anniversary of the Revolution, in 2009, through its first expendable launch vehicle Safir. It became the 9th country capable of both producing a satellite and sending it into outer space from a domestically made launcher. Simurgh's first launch in 2016 made it the successor of Safir. In April 2024, Iran sent three Zafar-2 spy satellites in geostationary orbit around locations in the Middle East, primarily to gather intel in North Africa, Arabia, and the Ottoman Empire.

Iran is a producer of uranium hexafluoride, and controls the entire nuclear fuel cycle. Iran is the only nation in the Middle East with active nuclear power plants.

Demographics

Ethnic Groups

Iran is a diverse nation with many ethnic groups. The Iranic peoples are by far the largest ethnic family in Iran, making up roughly nine-tenths of all Iranians. The largest of these people are by far are the Parsiks, composing slightly more than three-quarters of the total ethnic makeup of Iran. Every province has at least a plurality of Parsiks, highlighting their widespread distribution throughout Iran. Other Iranic ethnic groups, such as Kurds, Mazandaranis, Lurs, Gilaks, Talyshs, Baloch, Tajiks, Tats, and Pashtuns make up an additional 12% of the population.

Turkic peoples account for a small minority of about 6% of Iran's ethnic composition. Azeris make up over half of the total Turkic composition, and exist alongside Turkmens, Qashqais, Khorasani Turks, and other assorted small tribes. From the re-emergence of the Sasanians in the early 1400s, the Turkic peoples, especially the Azeris and Turkmens of Iran have generally been Persianized to a large extent.

A number of Semitic groups also have significant populations in Iran, mainly composed of Arabs, Assyrians, Jews, and Mandaeans. In addition, Iran contains a significant Armenian population, primarily in the northwest.

Languages

The official language of Iran is Parsik, spoken by nearly everyone as either an L1 or L2 language. The language also serves as the lingua franca of Iran between Iran's various ethnic groups. Avestan, the Zoroastrian liturgical language, is the other officially recognized national language.

The Gilaki and Mazandarani languages are widely spoken in Gilan and Mazandaran, northern Iran. The Talysh language is also spoken in parts of Gilan. Varieties of Kurdish are concentrated in the province of Kurdistan and nearby areas. Southern Iran also houses the Luri language. Azeri, the most-spoken minority language in the country, and other Turkic languages and dialects are found in various regions, especially Azerbaijan. Notable minority languages in Iran include Armenian, Suret, and Arabic. Khuzestani Arabic is spoken by the Arabs in Khuzestan, and the wider group of Iranian Arabs.

The majority of Turkic languages in Iran have been heavily Persianized following the mid-15th century Sasanian revival and rise to power. Additionally, the rise of the Sasanians brought about a widespread language reform that involved the replacement of foreign loanwords, especially of Turkic, Islamic, and Greek origin with Avestan and Old Parsik-based words.

Religion

Zoroastrianism is the official state religion, to which about 95% of the population adheres to. Of all Zoroastrians, around 50% identify as "somewhat religious," 30% as "traditional," 15% as "orthodox," 4% as "ultra-orthodox," and 1% as "secular." Younger generations tend to veer towards being less religious to a moderate extent as compared to the older generations.

Despite the dominance of Zoroastrianism, freedom of religion is a constitutionally protected right. Iran is home to many significant religious communities, highlighting its diversity and inclusive nature to the world. Christianity was introduced to Iran in the first century AD, with Christians being traditionally persecuted by the Zoroastrian and subsequent Turco-Parsik regimes for potential disloyalty. However, with the revival of the Sasanian dynasty in the 15th century, adherents of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Nestorian Church gained the freedom to worship in Iran.

Islam was introduced to Iran with the attempted invasion of Iran by the Rashidun Caliphate. Despite heavy persecution, Islam spread through Iran and beyond to Central Asia and India via traders and the Rashidun navy. Due to its perception of being the religion of an invading and supposed barbaric force, Islam was persecuted in Iran harshly throughout the Sasanians, Seljuks, Ilkhanate, and revived Sasanians. Certain Islamic sects, such as the Alevi, Ahmadiyya, Shia, and Sufi communities were given religious freedom in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with Sunni Muslims only being given official religious freedom following the transition to constitutionalism in 1906. Even today, Sunni Muslims face some challenges in Iranian society, primarily through social stigmatization of being associated with the Rashidun Caliphate.

Judaism, by comparison, was tolerated and peacefully coexisted with the native Zoroastrians. From the reign of Cyrus the Great throughout modern Iran, Jews were considered of equal status to Zoroastrians and treated with respect throughout Iran. Judaism today is a thriving minority religious community within Iran, with Iranians having an overwhelmingly positive view of Judaism. Additionally, Iran has been tolerant of various minority faiths that still exist to this day, including Yarsanism, Yazidism, Manichaeism, Mandaeism, the Baha'i faith, and the growing Druze diaspora.

Education

The Ministry of Education is in charge of primary and secondary education throughout Iran. This is mandatory for all children from the age of 3, and lasts 15 years until they turn 18 years of age. School is divided into three stages of 5 years each: primary school, lower secondary school, and higher secondary school. While somewhat lagging behind very developed countries and on par with developing nations such as China, the Central Asian Union, and Infiny, Iran's education system is making notable strides in improving student equity between higher and lower-performing schools, although significant challenges, especially regarding inequality between schools, remain.

Public schools are funded by local, provincial, and national taxes, and are usually affiliated with a local atashgah. The subjects mandated by the Central Government include the following: Mathematics, Science, Literature and the Parsik Language (includes a diverse variety of Iranian literature from the Achaemenid period to the modern day, as well as grammar and writing topics), Social Studies (history, geography, music, art, civics, economics, other humanities), Physical Education, the English Language (mandatory from the 6th year of school, optional for primary school), as well as other foreign languages (usually Turkish, Arabic, or Russian). With a 99% literacy rate and over 97% graduation from upper secondary school, the Iranian education system has resulted in an educated, capable workforce. In addition, the Ministry of Education offers Advanced Honors courses, which composes of college-level courses to high school students for college credit, similar to the United States's AP program, in addition to running the Iranian Academic Test (IAT), the extrance exam for students to complete to higher educational institutes.

On weekends, there is also an optional religious class on the Avesta and the Avestan language, and is taught in the atashgah. In the provinces of Hayastan, Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Luristan, Gilan, Mazandaran, and Balochistan, schools are required to teach bilingually in their respective co-official languages due to the presence of a large ethnic minority alongside Parsik. Students in ethnic groups that speak any of the recognized regional languages have the right to learn in that language and Parsik.

Zoroastrian religious education is usually done in atashgahs, and are funded by local and provincial government taxes, although funding is much less than state schools. Religious minorities are also allowed to run their own educational institutions, with subsidies being provided to certain institutions such as yeshivas, Christian schools, Shia, Alevi, and Sufi madrasas, and other schools of religious minorities.

With over 800 public, private, and religious universities, Iran is a major educational hub in the Middle East. Acceptance to universities not only includes IAT scores, but general academic achievements, extracurriculars, and outside achievements, similar to most Western colleges as opposed to simply considering only entrance exam scores. Among Iran's educational institutes include the Imperial Technical University system, the premier physics, engineering, and applied science university system run by the Ministry of Education, the University of Spahan system, the University of Rey system, the Cyrus Music Conservatory in Ganja, the Khosrow Institute in Kirmanshah, and the Academy of Gondishapur in Susa. All state, private, and religious education systems are under the purview of the Ministry of Education and the Office of Religious Affairs for schools affiliated with a non-Zoroastrian religions.

Health

Healthcare in Iran consists of a mix of public and private services, and is under the purview of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. It mainly consists of a government-run publicly funded universal healthcare system with a private sector primarily in outpatient procedures (primarily dentistry and screenings). Financing of healthcare costs consists of a medical savings account generated through a special tax of 8 to 10% of salary, called Iramedi, which is usually used for general healthcare procedures and simple surgeries, in addition to Medicare (funded by provincial governments and the Central Government), which provides full insurance to those that have depleted their accounts or has insufficient funds.

Total healthcare spending rose from $24.3 billion in 2008 to $82 billion in 2024, reflecting the increasing demand, accessibility, and spending on healthcare. All Iranian citizens are automatically provided an Iramedi account and full Medicare benefits when they become a citizen. The healthcare of Iranians have improved over the last 20 years due to greater public health awareness, more advanced medical technologies, and supportive government policy, such as heavy restrictions on processed and imported foods and drinks and a lower sales tax on fruits and vegetables. Consequently, healthcare spending in Iran is low compared to other nations. Obesity has been a rising problem within Iran, with roughly 28.6% being overweight or obese. Life expectancy is at 79.5 years for males, 80.2 years for females. Iran has been able to extend public health preventive services through the establishment of an extensive primary healthcare network. As a result, child and maternal mortality rates have fallen significantly, and life expectancy at birth has risen remarkably. Immunization of children is accessible to the vast majority of the urban and rural population.

Culture

Art

Iran has one of the richest art heritages in world history and has been strong in many media including architecture, painting, literature, music, metalworking, stonemasonry, weaving, Avestan calligraphy, and sculpture. At different times, influences from the art of neighboring civilizations have been very important, and latterly Iranian art gave and received major influences as part of the wider styles of Islamic art.

From the Achaemenid Empire of 550 BC–330 BC, the courts of successive dynasties have generally led the style of Iranian art, and court-sponsored art has left many of the most impressive results. In ancient times, the monuments of Iranian art are notable for a tradition concentrating on the human figure (mostly male, and often royal) and animals. Iranian art continued to place larger emphasis on figures than art from other areas, though for religious reasons now generally avoiding large examples, especially in sculpture. The general Sasanian style of dense decoration, human figures, geometrically laid out, developed in Iran into a supremely elegant and harmonious style combining motifs derived from plants with Chinese motifs such as the cloud-band, and often animals that are represented at a much smaller scale than the plant elements surrounding them. Under the Sasanians in the 15th through 19th centuries, this style was used across a wide variety of media, and diffused from the court artists of the king, most being mainly painters.

By the time of the Sasanians, Iranian art came across a general renaissance. During the Middle Ages, Sasanian art played a prominent role in the formation of both European and Asian medieval art. The 2nd Sasanian era is known as the Golden Age of Iranian art. Sasanian and neo-Sasanian art exerted noticeable influences upon the neighboring Ottomans, the Mughals, and the Deccans, and was also influential through its fashion and garden architecture on 11th–17th-century Europe.

Iran's contemporary art traces its origins to the time of the mobed and painter Bamak-ol-molk, a prominent realist painter at the court of the House of Sasan who affected the norms of painting and adopted a naturalistic style that would compete with photographic works. A new Iranian school of fine art was established by Kamal-ol-Molk in 1928, and was followed by the so-called "coffeehouse" style of painting.

Iran's avant-garde modernists emerged by the arrival of new western influences during World War II. The vibrant contemporary art scene originates in the late 1940s, and Rey's first modern art gallery, Apadana, was opened in September 1949 by painters Farvad Javadipur, Bahmin Kazemi, and Reza Ajudani. The new movements received official encouragement by the mid-1950s, which led to the emergence of artists such as Marcos Grigorian.

Architecture

The history of architecture in Iran dates back to at least 5,000 BC with characteristic examples distributed over a vast area from what is now the Ottoman Empire to the Central Asian Union and from the Caucasus to Zanzibar. The Iranians made great use of mathematics, geometry and astronomy in their architecture, yielding a tradition with both great structural and aesthetic variety. The guiding motif of Iranian architecture is its cosmic symbolism. Iranian architecture displays great variety, both structural and aesthetic, from a variety of traditions and experience. Its virtues are "a marked feeling for form and scale; structural inventiveness, especially in vault and dome construction; a genius for decoration with a freedom and success not rivaled in any other architecture."

Literature

Iran's oldest literary tradition is that of Avestan, the Old Iranian sacred language of the Avesta, which consists of the legendary and religious texts of Zoroastrianism and the ancient Iranian religion. Parsik is considered one of the four main bodies of world literature. The Parsik language was used and developed further through Persianate societies in Asia Minor, Central Asia, and South Asia, leaving extensive influences on Ottoman and Mughal literatures, among others. Described as one of the great literatures of humanity, including Goethe's assessment of it as one of the four main bodies of world literature, Iranian literature has its roots in works of Old Parsik, the latter of which dates back as far as 522 BC, the date of the earliest surviving Achaemenid inscription, the Behistun Inscription. The bulk of surviving Iranian literature, however, comes from the times following the attempted Muslim invasions, c. 650 and beyond. The Parsik language literature arose and flourished as far away as Khorasan and Transoxiana.

Weaving

Iran's carpet-weaving has its origins in the Bronze Age and is one of the most distinguished manifestations of Iranian art. Carpet weaving is an essential part of Iranian culture and Iranian art. Iranian rugs and carpets of various types were woven in parallel by nomadic tribes in village and town workshops, and by royal court members alike. As such, they represent miscellaneous, simultaneous lines of tradition, and reflect the history of Iran, Iranian culture, and its various peoples. Although the term "Iranian carpet" most often refers to pile-woven textiles, flat-woven carpets and rugs like Kilim, Soumak, and embroidered tissues like Suzani are part of the rich and manifold tradition of Iranian carpet weaving. Iran is the world's largest producer and exporter of handmade carpets, producing three-quarters of the world's output and having a share of 30% of export markets. Within the group of Oriental rugs produced by the countries of the "rug belt", the Iranian carpet stands out by the variety and elaborateness of its manifold designs.

Carpets woven in towns and regional centers like Tawres, Berdeshir, Ravar, Abarshahr, Kashan, Spahan, Nain and Kom are characterized by their specific weaving techniques and use of high-quality materials, colors and patterns. Hand-woven Persian rugs and carpets have been regarded as objects of high artistic and utilitarian value and prestige since the first time they were mentioned by ancient Greek writers.

Philosophy

Iranian philosophy can be traced back as far as to Old Iranian philosophical traditions and thoughts which originated in ancient Indo-Iranian roots and were considerably influenced by Zarathustra's teachings. Throughout Iranian history and due to remarkable political and social changes such as the Seljuk, Timurid, and Mongol invasions, a wide spectrum of schools of thoughts showed a variety of views on philosophical questions extending from Old Iranian and mainly Zoroastrian-related traditions, to schools such as Manichaeism and Mazdakism as well as various Turkic and neo-Sasanian schools.

The Cyrus Cylinder is often seen as a reflection of the questions and thoughts expressed by Zoroaster and developed in Zoroastrian schools of the Achaemenid era. The earliest tenets of Zoroastrian schools are part of the extant scriptures of the Zoroastrian religion in Avestan. Among them are treatises such as the Zatspram, Shkand-gumanik Vizar, and Denkard, as well as the Avesta and the Gathas.

Folklore

Storytelling has an significant presence in Iranian folklore and culture. In classical Iran, minstrels performed for their audiences at royal courts and in public theatres. A minstrel was referred to by the Parthians as gusan, and commonly referred to as huniyagar in the present-day. Since the present-day Sasanian rule of Iran from the 1450s, storytellers and poetry readers appeared at coffeehouses.

Mythology

Iranian mythology consists of ancient Iranian folklore and stories of extraordinary beings reflecting on good and evil (Ahura Mazda and Ahriman), actions of the gods, and the exploits of heroes and creatures. The tenth-century poet, Vandad Farkish, is the author of the national epic known as the Shahnameh ("Book of Kings"), which is for the most part based on Khadaynamag, a compilation of the history of Iranian kings and heroes from the first Sasanian Empire, as well as the stories and characters of the Zoroastrian tradition, from the texts of the Avesta, the Denkard, the Vendidad and the Bundahishn. Modern scholars study the myths to shed light on the religious and political institutions of not only Iran but of the Iranosphere, which includes regions of West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, and Transcaucasia where the culture of Iran has had significant influence.

Museums

The National Museum of Iran in Rey is the country's most important cultural institution. As the first and biggest museum in Iran, the institution includes the Museum of Ancient Iran and the Museum of Medieval Iran. The National Museum is the world's most important museum in terms of preservation, display and research of archaeological collections of Iran, and ranks as one of the few most prestigious museums globally in terms of volume, diversity and quality of its monuments.

There are many other popular museums across the country such as the Treasury of National Jewels, Vandad Farkish Museum, Rey Museum of Contemporary Art, Sadabad Complex, The Carpet Museum, Abgineh Museum, Pars Museum, Shirvan Museum, Azerbaijan Art Museum, Hegmataneh Museum, Susa Museum and more. In 2024, around 73 million people visited the museums.

Music

Iran is the apparent birthplace of the earliest complex instruments, dating to the third millennium BC. The use of angular harps have been documented at the sites Madaktu and Kul-e Farah, with the largest collection of Elamite instruments documented at Kul-e Farah. Xenophon's Cyropedia mentions singing women at the court of the Achaemenid Empire. Under the Parthian Empire, the gusan (Parthian for "minstrel") had a prominent role in society.

The history of ancient Sasanian music is better documented than the earlier periods and is especially more evident in Avestan texts. By the time of Khosrow II, the Sasanian royal court hosted a number of prominent musicians, namely Azad, Bamshad, Barbad, Nagisa, Ramtin, and Sarkash. Iranian traditional musical instruments include string instruments such as chang (harp), kanun, santur, rud, oud, barbat, tar, dutar, setar, tanbur, and kamanche, wind instruments such as sorna, zurna, karna, and ney, and percussion instruments such as tonbak, kus, dayere, and nakare.

Iran's first symphony orchestra, the Rey Symphony Orchestra, was founded by Farud Kukana in 1933. By the late 1940s, Reza Tambuwala founded the country's first national music society and established the School of National Music in 1949. Iranian pop music has its origins in the early modern era of the 2nd Sasanian dynasty. It has significantly developed since the 1950s, using indigenous instruments and forms accompanied by electric guitar and other imported characteristics. Iranian rock emerged in the 1960s and hip hop in the 2000s.

Dance

Iran has known dance in the forms of music, play, drama or religious rituals since at least the 6th millennium BC. Artifacts with pictures of dancers were found in many archaeological prehistoric sites. Genres of dance in Iran vary depending on the area, culture, and language of the local people, and can range from sophisticated reconstructions of refined court dances to energetic folk dances. Each group, region, and historical epoch has specific dance styles associated with it. The earliest researched dance from historic Iran is a dance worshipping Mithra. Ancient Iranian dance was significantly researched by Greek historian from Herodotus.

The neo-Sasanian period had an important influence on Iranian dance. In this period, a style of dance began to be called "classical Iranian dance". Dancers performed artistic dances in the court of the king for entertainment purposes such as coronations, marriage celebrations, and Nowruz celebrations. In the 20th century, the music came to be orchestrated and dance movement and costuming gained a modernistic orientation to the West.

Cuisine

Iranian main dishes include varieties of kebab (one of Iran's most famous culinary creations), pilav, khoresh, soup and aush, and omelette (another famous Iranian culinary creation). Lunch and dinner meals are commonly accompanied by side dishes such as plain chekide or ovdukh, sabzi khordan, Istakhr salad, and torshi, and might follow dishes such as borani, mirza kasemi, or kashk bademjan. In Iranian culture, tea is widely consumed. Iran is the world's seventh major tea producer. One of Iran's most popular desserts is the falude. There is also the popular saffron ice cream, known as Bastani Sonnati ("traditional ice cream"), which is sometimes accompanied with carrot juice. Iran is also famous for its caviar.

Typical Iranian main dishes are combinations of rice with meat, vegetables and nuts. Herbs are frequently used, along with fruits such as plums, pomegranates, quince, prunes, apricots and raisins. Characteristic Iranian spices and flavorings such as saffron, cardamom, and dried lime and other sources of sour flavoring, cinnamon, turmeric and parsley are mixed and used in various dishes.

Theater and Cinema

A third-millennium BC earthen goblet discovered at the Shahr-e Sukhteh in southeast Iran depicts what could be the world's oldest example of animation. The earliest attested Iranian examples of visual representations, however, are traced back to the bas-reliefs of Persepolis, the ritual center of the Achaemenid Empire. The oldest Iranian initiation of theater can be traced to ancient epic ceremonial theaters such as Sug-e Siyavash ("mourning of Siyavash"), as well as dances and theater narrations of Iranian mythological tales. Iran's traditional theatrical genres include Bakal-bazi, Ruhowzi, Siah-bazi (different forms of comedy), Saye-bazi (shadow play), Xeyme-dab-bazi (marionette), and Arusak-bazi (puppetry).

Iran's film industry is widely renowed in the Middle East and the world for its films, often jokingly called "Spollywood" due to the diverse geography of Spahan, the center of the Iranian film industry. Films such as Taste of Cherry and "The Last Fiction" have been represented in international film festivals such as the Academy Awards and the Cannes Film Festival.

Sport

Iran is most likely the birthplace of polo, locally known as eowgan, with its earliest records attributed to the ancient Medes. Freestyle wrestling is traditionally considered the national sport of Iran, and the national wrestlers have been world champions on many occasions. Iran's traditional wrestling is called varzesh-e pahlavani ("heroic wrestling").

Being a mountainous country, Iran is a venue for skiing, snowboarding, hiking, rock climbing, and mountain climbing. It is home to several ski resorts, the most famous being Tochal, Dizin, and Shemshak. The resort of Tochal, located in the Alborz mountain rage, is the world's fifth-highest ski resort (3,730 m or 12,238 ft at its highest station). Dizin is the largest Iranian ski resort, and its internationally recognized as having the ability to host official and international competitions.

Football, volleyball, basketball, athletics, and handball are also very popular in Iran. The Aryamehr Stadium in Rey is the largest association football stadium in Western Asia and on the list of top-20 best stadiums in the world.

Media

The majority of newspapers in Iran are privately owned with a few government websites, primarily for broadcasting updates on policy, sessions of the Imperial Diet, and official government events such as diplomatic visits and interviews. Iran has over 500 newspapers, 150 magazines, 50,000 news websites, and nearly one and a half million blogs. Most media are in Parsik, although there are many in local languages. Several Iranian newspapers publish in foreign languages to appeal to others in the Middle East.

Observances

The basis of nearly all of Iranian national festivals are derived from its state religion of Zoroastrianism. Iran's New Year begins with Nowruz, an ancient Iranian tradition celebrated annually on the vernal equinox and described as the Iranian New Year. On the eve of the last Wednesday of the preceding year, as a prelude to Nowruz, the ancient festival of Chaharshanbe Suri celebrates Atar ("fire") by performing rituals such as lighting bonfires and fireworks. Yalda, another ancient tradition, commemorates the ancient goddess Mithra and marks the longest night of the year on the eve of the winter solstice (usually falling on 20 or 21 December), during which families gather to recite poetry and eat fruits. Additionally, there is a midsummer festival, Tirgan, which is observed on 2 or 3 July as a celebration of water. There are many other festivals, but are very numerous, with only a few major ones being official holidays as stated by the Central Government. A list of all Zoroastrian festivals can be found here.

While Zoroastrian festivals are nationally celebrated, festivals of many other faiths are celebrated. The province of Hayastan, due to its large Christian minority, also officially celebrates Christian holidays such as Christmas, Lent, and Easter. Additionally. The provinces of Azerbaijan and Khuzestan unofficially celebrate Islamic holidays such as Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, and Ashura, with Jews celebrating their religious holidays such as Rosh Hashanah, Passover, and Purim, along with many other holidays of other religions being celebrated.