Iran- the country worth discovering
Iran is widely renowned for the rich diversity of its landscapes, climates, monuments, customs, and people’s lifestyles. If it had no other claim to respect, at least a continuous history of at least 7,000 years is a distinction that few countries can exhibit. Iran is an incredible place to visit. The lure of steep mountains, beautiful coastlines, and endless, rolling deserts is strong. About a million historical sites exist in Iran, according to the statistics of the Iranian Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO). It is obvious that even the most interesting of them can be visited only after numerous trips to this country. These trips are all the more pleasant because visitors to Iran never leave it without cherishing memories of its wonderfully Hospitable People. Every Iranian city has some special features that distinguish it from other towns, and in the corner of this spacious land there is something to marvel at and to enjoy. In addition, a relatively small number of tourists to Iran give the visitors a chance to wander around the world-famous sites, getting an almost private view of them. So if you want to get a first-hand experience of this fascinating a welcoming country, visit Iran, and do it now.
Name Origin:
The name of Iran comes from the Old Persian word meaning “the land of the Aryans”. However, until 1935, the English-speaking world knew this country as
Persia.
Area – comparative: Iran is the size of the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland all combined.
Climate: mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast.
Terrain: rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts and mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts.
Elevation extremes:
Lowest points: Caspian sea -28 m (-92 ft.)
Highest point: Damavand Peak 5,671 m (18600 ft.)
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur
Population: 82,034,589 (May 2018)
Population growth rate: 1.24% (2015)
Sex ratio: 1.03 (41,602,349 men to 40,432,240 women)
Ethnic groups: Persian 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur, 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkman2%, other 1%.
Languages: Persian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkish and Turkic dialects 26%. Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, other 3%.
Religions:
Shiite Muslim 89%, Sunnite Muslim 10%, Christian, Zoroastrian, Jewish, and other 1%.
Administrative divisions: 31 provinces (ostanha, singular-ostan)
Capital: Tehran
Government type: Republic
Economy overview: Iran’s economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale
private trading and service ventures. Reasonable oil prices in recent years have afforded Iran fiscal breathing room but have not solved Iran’s structural
economic problems, including the encouragement of foreign investment and the containment of inflation.
Major industries: oil, gas, agriculture, carpets
Industries: petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement, and other construction materials, food processing, (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil
production), metal fabricating, armaments.
Agriculture products: wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits, nuts, cotton, dairy products, wool, caviar.
Exports – commodities: petroleum 85%, carpets, fruits and nuts, iron and steel, chemicals.
GDP: purchasing power parity- $1,631 billion (2016).
Annual growth: 4.55%
Currency: Iranian Rial (IR).
