Iran

theocratic republic

Iran as the 1992 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 75 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
1992

Every edition of Iran

Populationas each edition published it
61.18 million July 1992 · 55.65m in 1990
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
6.5 children per woman 1992 · 6.3 in 1990
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
64 deaths per 1,000 live births 1992 · 91 in 1990
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

12 fields
Total area
1,648,000km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Alaska
Coastline
2,440km
note: Iran also borders the Caspian Sea (740 km)Continental shelf: not specificExclusive fishing zone: 50 nm in the Sea of Oman; continental shelf limit, continental shelf boundaries, or median lines in the Persian GulfTerritorial sea: 12 nm
Land boundaries
5,440km
Afghanistan 936 km, Armenia 35 km, Azerbaijan (north) 432 km, Azerbaijan (northwest) 179 km, Iraq 1,458 km, Pakistan 909 km, Turkey 499 km, Turkmenistan 992 km

Land area

1,636,000 km2

Disputes

Iran and Iraq restored diplomatic relations in 1990 but are still trying to work out written agreements settling outstanding disputes from their eight-year war concerning border demarcation, prisoners-of-war, and freedom of navigation and sovereignty over the Shatt-al-Arab waterway; Iran occupies

two islands in the Persian Gulf claimed by the UAE:
  • Tunb as Sughra (Arabic), Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Kuchek (Persian) or Lesser Tunb, and Tunb al Kubra (Arabic), Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg (Persian) or Greater Tunb;
  • it jointly administers with the UAE an island in the Persian Gulf claimed by the UAE, Abu Musa (Arabic) or Jazireh-ye Abu Musa (Persian)

Climate

mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast

Terrain

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

Natural resources

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

Land use

  • arable land 8%;
  • permanent crops NEGL%;
  • meadows and pastures 27%;
  • forest and woodland 11%;
  • other 54%;
  • includes irrigated 2%

Environment

  • deforestation;
  • overgrazing;
  • desertification

People

14 fields
Population
61,183,138
(July 1992), growth rate 3.5% (1992)

Per 1,000 population(1992)

Birth
44Death
8Net migration
0

Ethnic divisions

Persian 51%Azerbaijani 25%Kurd 9%Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%Lur 2%Baloch 1%Arab 1%other 3%
Literacy
54%
(male 64%, female 43%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Infant mortality rate

64 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Life expectancy at birth

64 years male, 66 years female (1992)

Total fertility rate

6.5 children born/woman (1992)

Nationality

noun - Iranian(s); adjective - Iranian

Religions

Shi`a Muslim 95%, Sunni Muslim 4%, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i 1%

Languages

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

Government

Theocratic republic

20 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 Machall va Bakhtiari, Ecsfahan, Fars, Gilan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Khorasan, Khuzestan, Kohkiluyeh va Buyer Achmadi, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi, Mazandaran, Semnan, Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan

Independence

1 April 1979, Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed

Constitution

2-3 December 1979; revised 1989 to expand powers of the presidency and eliminate the prime ministership

National holiday

Islamic Republic Day, 1 April (1979)

Executive branch

cleric (faqih), president, Council of Ministers

Legislative branch

unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Leaders

Cleric and functional Chief of State:
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali HOSEINI-KHAMENEI (since 4 June 1989)
Head of Government:
President Ali Akbar HASHEMI-RAFSANJANI (since 3 August 1989)

Political parties and leaders

  • there are at least 18 licensed parties;
  • the three most important are - Tehran Militant Clergy Association, Mohammad Reza MAHDAVI-KANI;
  • Militant Clerics Association, Mehdi MAHDAVI-KARUBI and Mohammad Asqar MUSAVI-KHOINIHA;
  • Fedaiyin Islam Organization, Sadeq KHALKHALI

Suffrage

universal at age 15

Elections

President:
last held July 1989 (next to be held April 1993); results - Ali Akbar HASHEMI-RAFSANJANI was elected with only token opposition
Islamic Consultative Assembly:
  • last held 8 April 1992 (next to be held April 1996);
  • 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

Other political or pressure groups

  • groups that generally support the Islamic Republic include Hizballah, Hojjatiyeh Society, Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, Muslim Students Following the Line of the Imam;
  • armed political groups that have been almost completely repressed by the government include
    • Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK),
    • People's Fedayeen,
    • Kurdish Democratic Party
    ;
  • the Society for the Defense of Freedom

Member of

CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OIC, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation

  • none;
  • protecting power in the US is Pakistan - Iranian Interests Section, 2315 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008;
  • telephone (202) 939-6200
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 Alkbar (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

Iran's economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and | other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale private | trading and service ventures.

17 fields
External debt
$10billion
(1990 est.)

Budget

Revenues
$63 billionExpenditures
$80 billion
expenditures, including capital expenditures of $23 billion (FY90 est.)

Overview

Iran's economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale private trading and service ventures. After a decade of economic decline, Iran's GNP grew roughly 4% in FY90 and 10% in FY91. An oil windfall in 1990 combined with a substantial increase in imports contributed to Iran's recent economic growth.

Iran has also begun implementing a number of economic reforms to reduce government intervention (including subsidies) and has allocated substantial resources to development projects in the hope of stimulating the economy. Nevertheless, lower oil revenues in 1991 - oil accounts for more than 90% of export revenues and provides roughly 65% of the financing for the five-year economic development plan - and dramatic increases in external debt are threatening development plans and could prompt Iran to cut imports, thus limiting economic growth in the medium term.

GNP

exchange rate conversion - $90 billion, per capita $1,500; real growth rate 10% (FY91 est.)

Exports

$17.8 billion (f.o.b., 1990)

commodities:
petroleum 90%, carpets, fruits, nuts, hides
partners:
Japan, Italy, France, Netherlands, Belgium/Luxembourg, Spain, and Germany

Imports

$15.9 billion (c.i.f., 1990)

commodities:
machinery, military supplies, metal works, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, technical services, refined oil products
partners:
Germany, Japan, Italy, UK, France

Industrial production

growth rate NA%

Electricity

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

Industries

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

Agriculture

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

Illicit drugs

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

Economic aid

  • US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-80), $1.0 billion;
  • Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $1.675 billion;
  • Communist countries (1970-89), $976 million;
  • note - aid fell sharply following the 1979 revolution

Currency

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

Exchange rates

  • Iranian rials (IR) per US$1 - 65.515 (January 1992), 67.505 (1991), 68.096 (1990), 72.015 (1989), 68.683 (1988), 71.460 (1987);
  • note - black-market rate 1,400 (January 1991)

Fiscal year

21 March - 20 March

Communications

9 fields

Airports, 214 total, 188 usable

permanent-surface runways
81runways | over 3,659 m
16runways 2,440-3,659 m
16runways 1,220-2,439 m
71

Networkskm

Highways
140,072Railroads
4,850Inland waterways
904
Highways: ; 42,694 km paved surfaces; 46,866 km gravel and crushed stone; 49,440 km improved earth; 1,200 km (est.) rural road network · Railroads: ; 4,760 km 1.432-meter gauge, 92 km 1.676-meter gauge; 480 km under construction from Bafq to Bandar Abbas, rail construction from Bafq to Sirjan has been completed and is operational · 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

  • 4,850 km total;
  • 4,760 km 1.432-meter gauge, 92 km 1.676-meter gauge;
  • 480 km under construction from Bafq to Bandar Abbas, rail construction from Bafq to Sirjan has been completed and is operational

Highways

  • 140,072 km total;
  • 42,694 km paved surfaces;
  • 46,866 km gravel and crushed stone;
  • 49,440 km improved earth;
  • 1,200 km (est.) rural road network

Inland waterways

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

Pipelines

  • crude oil 5,900 km;
  • petroleum products 3,900 km;
  • natural gas 4,550 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 Raja, Khorramshahr (largely destroyed in fighting during 1980-88 war)

Merchant marine

  • 134 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,466,395 GRT/8,329,760 DWT;
  • includes 38 cargo, 6 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 32 oil tanker, 4 chemical tanker, 3 refrigerated cargo, 47 bulk, 2 combination bulk, 1 liquefied gas

Civil air

48 major transport aircraft

Telecommunications

  • radio relay extends throughout country;
  • system centered in Tehran;
  • 2,143,000 telephones;
  • broadcast stations - 77 AM, 3 FM, 28 TV;
  • satellite earth stations - 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT;
  • HF radio and radio relay to Turkey, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan

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); | Law Enforcement Forces

3 fields

Branches

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

Manpower availability

  • males 15-49, 13,267,810;
  • 7,895,591 fit for military service;
  • 552,408 reach military age (21) annually

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $13 billion, 14-15% of GNP (1991 est.)

Central Intelligence Agency. “Iran.” The World Factbook 1992. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/iran/1992.

How to cite ← 1991 edition 1993 edition →