Iran

theocratic republic

Iran as the 1990 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 74 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalTehran
Area1,648,000 km2
1990

Every edition of Iran

Populationas each edition published it
55.65 million July 1990 · 89.18m in 2025
Population growth% a year
Not in this edition 3.49% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 22.9 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
Not in this edition 65.26 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
6.3 children per woman 1990 · 1.53 in 2025
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
91 deaths per 1,000 live births 1990 · 9.7 in 2025
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
Not in this edition $1,500 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
Not in this edition 6% in 1993

Geography

13 fields

Land useshare of 1,648,000 km2

arable land 8%meadows and pastures 27%forest and woodland 11%other 54%NEGL% permanent crops; includes 2% irrigated
Total area
1,648,000km2
land area: 1,636,000 km2Comparative area: slightly larger than Alaska
Coastline
3,180km
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Land boundaries
5,492km total
Afghanistan 936 km, Iraq 1,458 km, Pakistan 909 km, Turkey 499 km, USSR 1,690 km

Continental shelf

not specific;

Exclusive fishing zone

50 nm in the Sea of Oman, median-line boundaries in the Persian Gulf;

Disputes

  • Iran began formal UN peace negotiations with Iraq in August 1988 to end the war that began on 22 September 1980--troop withdrawal, freedom of navigation, sovereignty over the Shatt al Arab waterway and prisoner-of-war exchange are the major issues for negotiation;
  • Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR;
  • occupies three islands in the Persian Gulf claimed by UAE (Jazireh-ye Abu Musa or Abu Musa, Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg or Greater Tunb, and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Kuchek or Lesser Tunb);
  • periodic disputes with Afghanistan over Helmand water rights;
  • Boluch question with Afghanistan and Pakistan

Climate

mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast

Terrain

  • rugged, mountainous rim;
  • high, central basin with deserts, mountains;
  • small, discontinuous plains along both coasts

Natural resources

petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur

Environment

  • deforestation;
  • overgrazing;
  • desertification

People

14 fields
Population
55,647,001
(July 1990), growth rate 3.1% (1990)

Per 1,000 population(1990)

Birth
45Death
10

Ethnic divisions

Persian 51%Azerbaijani 25%Kurd 9%Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%Lur 2%Baloch 1%Arab 1%other 3%

Religion

Shia Muslim 95%Sunni Muslim 4%Zoroastrian 2%Jewish; Christian; and Bahai
Literacy
48%
(est.)

Net migration rate

- 5 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate

91 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth

62 years male, 63 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate

6.3 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality

noun--Iranian(s); adjective--Iranian

Language

58% Persian and Persian dialects, 26% Turkic and Turkic dialects, 9% Kurdish, 2% Luri, 1% Baloch, 1% Arabic, 1% Turkish, 2% other

Labor force

  • 15,400,000;
  • 33% agriculture, 21% manufacturing;
  • shortage of skilled labor (1988 est.)

Government

Theocratic republic

18 fields

Long-form name

Islamic Republic of Iran

Type

theocratic republic

Capital

Tehran

Administrative divisions

24 provinces (ostanha, singular--ostan); Azarbayjan-e Bakhtari, Azarbayjan-e Khavari, Bakhtaran, Bushehr, Chahar Mahall va Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Fars, Gilan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Khorasan, Khuzestan, Kohkiluyeh va Buyer Ahmadi, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi, Mazandaran, Semnan, Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan

Independence

1 April 1979, Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed

Constitution

2-3 December 1979; revised 1989 to expand powers of the presidency

National holiday

Islamic Republic Day, 1 April (1979)

Executive branch

cleric (faqih), president, Council of Cabinet Ministers

Legislative branch

unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis-e-Shura-e-Islami)

Judicial branch

  • Supreme Court Cleric and functional Chief of State--Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI (since 3 June 1989);
  • Head of Government--President Ali Akbar RAFSANJANI (since 3 August 1989);

Political parties and leaders

  • there are at least seven licensed parties;
  • the two most important are--Militant Clerics Association, Mehdi Mahdavi-Karubi and Mohammad Asqar Musavi-Khoinima;
  • Fedaiyin Islam Organization, Sadeq Khalkhali

Suffrage

  • universal at age 15 President--last held NA July 1989 (next to be held April 1993);
  • results--Ali Akbar Rafsanjani was elected with only token opposition;
  • Islamic Consultative Assembly--last held 8 April and 13 May 1988 (next to be held April 1992);
  • results--percent of vote by party NA;
  • seats--(270 seats total) number of seats by party NA

Communists

  • 1,000 to 2,000 est. hardcore;
  • 15,000 to 20,000 est. sympathizers;
  • crackdown in 1983 crippled the party;
  • trials of captured leaders began in late 1983 and remain incomplete

Other political or pressure groups

  • groups that generally support the Islamic Republic include Hizballah, Hojjatiyeh Society, Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, Muslim Students Following the Line of the Imam, and Tehran Militant Clergy Association;
  • Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), People's Fedayeen, and Kurdish Democratic Party are armed political groups that have been almost completely repressed by the government

Member of

CCC, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, IDA, IDB, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, IPU, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNIDO, WHO

Diplomatic representation

  • none;
  • protecting power in the US is Algeria--Iranian Interests Section, 2209 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington DC 20007;
  • telephone (202) 965-4990;
  • US--protecting power in Iran is Switzerland

Flag

  • three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red;
  • the national emblem (a stylized representation of the word Allah) in red is centered in the white band;
  • Allah Akbar (God is Great) in white Arabic script is repeated 11 times along the bottom edge of the green band and 11 times along the top edge of the red band

Economy

17 fields
External debt
$4
-5 billion (1989)

Overview

Since the 1979 revolution, the banks, petroleum industry, transportation, utilities, and mining have been nationalized, but the new five-year plan--the first since the revolution--passed in January 1990, calls for the transfer of many government-controlled enterprises to the private sector.

War-related disruptions, massive corruption, mismanagement, demographic pressures, and ideological rigidities have kept economic growth at depressed levels. Oil accounts for 90% of export revenues. A combination of war damage and low oil prices brought a 2% drop in GNP in 1988. GNP probably rose slightly in 1989, considerably short of the 3.4% population growth rate in 1989.

Heating oil and gasoline are rationed. Agriculture has suffered from the war, land reform, and shortages of equipment and materials. The five-year plan seeks to reinvigorate the economy by increasing the role of the private sector, boosting nonoil income, and securing foreign loans. The plan is overly ambitious but probably will generate some short-term relief.

GNP

$97.6 billion, per capita $1,800; real growth rate 0-1% (1989)

Budget

revenues $NA; expenditures $55.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $11.5 billion (FY88 est.)

Exports

  • $12.3 billion (f.o.b., 1988);
  • commodities--petroleum 90%, carpets, fruits, nuts, hides;
  • partners--Japan, Turkey, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, France, FRG

Imports

  • $12.0 billion (c.i.f., 1988);
  • commodities--machinery, military supplies, metal works, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, technical services, refined oil products;
  • partners--FRG, Japan, Turkey, UK, Italy

Industrial production

growth rate NA%

Electricity

14,579,000 kW capacity; 40,000 million kWh produced, 740 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries

petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and other building materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production), metal fabricating (steel and copper)

Agriculture

principal products--rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits, nuts, cotton, dairy products, wool, caviar; not self-sufficient in food

Illicit drugs

illicit producer of opium poppy for the domestic and international drug trade

Aid

  • US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-80), $1.0 billion;
  • Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.5 billion;
  • Communist countries (1970-88), $976 million;
  • note--aid fell sharply following the 1979 revolution

Currency

  • Iranian rial (plural--rials);
  • 1 Iranian rial (IR) = 100 dinars;
  • note--domestic figures are generally referred to in terms of the toman (plural--tomans), which equals 10 rials

Exchange rates

Iranian rials (IR) per US$1--70.019 (January 1990), 72.015 (1989), 68.683 (1988), 71.460 (1987), 78.760 (1986), 91.052 (1985)

Fiscal year

21 March-20 March

Communications

9 fields

Merchant marine, 133 ships by type

cargo 36roll-on/roll-off cargo 6petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker 33chemical tanker 4refrigerated cargo 3bulk 49combination bulk 2133 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,631,836 GRT/8,662,454 DWT

Airports, 201 total, 175 usable

permanent-surface runways
82runways over 3,659 m
17runways 2,440-3,659 m
17runways 1,220-2,439 m
68

Networkskm

Highways
140,072Railroads
4,601Inland waterways
904
Highways: ; 46,866 km gravel and crushed stone; 49,440 km improved earth; 42,566 km bituminous and bituminous-treated surfaces; 1,200 km (est.) of rural road network · Railroads: ; 4,509 km 1.432-meter gauge, 92 km 1.676-meter gauge; 730 km under construction from Bafq to Bandar Abbas · Inland waterways: ; the Shatt al Arab is usually navigable by maritime traffic for about 130 km, but closed since September 1980 because of Iran-Iraq war

Railroads

  • 4,601 km total;
  • 4,509 km 1.432-meter gauge, 92 km 1.676-meter gauge;
  • 730 km under construction from Bafq to Bandar Abbas

Highways

  • 140,072 km total;
  • 46,866 km gravel and crushed stone;
  • 49,440 km improved earth;
  • 42,566 km bituminous and bituminous-treated surfaces;
  • 1,200 km (est.) of rural road network

Inland waterways

904 km; the Shatt al Arab is usually navigable by maritime traffic for about 130 km, but closed since September 1980 because of Iran-Iraq war

Pipelines

  • crude oil, 5,900 km;
  • refined products, 3,900 km;
  • natural gas, 3,300 km

Ports

Abadan (largely destroyed in fighting during 1980-88 war), Bandar Beheshti, Bandar-e Abbas, Bandar-e Bushehr, Bandar-e Khomeyni, Bandar-e Shahid Rajai, Khorramshahr (largely destroyed in fighting during 1980-88 war)

Civil air

42 major transport aircraft

Telecommunications

  • radio relay extends throughout country;
  • system centered in Tehran;
  • 2,143,000 telephones;
  • stations--62 AM, 30 FM, 250 TV;
  • satellite earth stations--2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT;
  • HF and microwave to Turkey, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait, and USSR

Defense Forces

Islamic Republic of Iran Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, and Revolutionary Guard Corps (includes Basij militia and own ground, air, and naval forces), Gendarmerie

3 fields

Military manpower

males 15-49
12,302,967fit for military service
7,332,614reach military age (21) annually
569,647
Defense expenditures
8%of GNP
or $7.8 billion (1989 est.)

Branches

Islamic Republic of Iran Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, and Revolutionary Guard Corps (includes Basij militia and own ground, air, and naval forces), Gendarmerie

Central Intelligence Agency. “Iran.” The World Factbook 1990. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/iran/1990.

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