CIA World Fact Book, 2004/Iran


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!| Background:
 * Known as Persia until 1935, Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling monarchy was overthrown and the shah was forced into exile. Conservative clerical forces established a theocratic system of government with ultimate political authority nominally vested in a learned religious scholar. Iranian-US relations have been strained since a group of Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran on 4 November 1979 and held it until 20 January 1981. During 1980-88, Iran fought a bloody, indecisive war with Iraq that eventually expanded into the Persian Gulf and led to clashes between US Navy and Iranian military forces between 1987-1988. Iran has been designated a state sponsor of terrorism for its activities in Lebanon and elsewhere in the world and remains subject to US economic sanctions and export controls because of its continued involvement. Following the elections of a reformist President and Majlis in the late 1990s, attempts to foster political reform in response to popular dissatisfaction have floundered as conservative politicians have prevented reform measures from being enacted, increased repressive measures, and consolidated their control over the government.
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!| Location: !| Geographic coordinates: !| Map references: !| Area: land: 1.636 million sq km water: 12,000 sq km !| Area - comparative: !| Land boundaries: border countries: Afghanistan 936 km, Armenia 35 km, Azerbaijan-proper 432 km, Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave 179 km, Iraq 1,458 km, Pakistan 909 km, Turkey 499 km, Turkmenistan 992 km !| Coastline: !| Maritime claims: continental shelf: natural prolongation contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: bilateral agreements or median lines in the Persian Gulf !| Climate: !| Terrain: !| Elevation extremes: highest point: Kuh-e Damavand 5,671 m !| Natural resources: !| Land use: permanent crops: 1.39% other: 89.89% (2001) !| Irrigated land: !| Natural hazards: !| Environment - current issues: !| Environment - international agreements: signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation !| Geography - note:
 * Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Pakistan
 * 32 00 N, 53 00 E
 * Middle East
 * total: 1.648 million sq km
 * slightly larger than Alaska
 * total: 5,440 km
 * 2,440 km; note - Iran also borders the Caspian Sea (740 km)
 * territorial sea: 12 nm
 * mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast
 * rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts, mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts
 * lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
 * petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur
 * arable land: 8.72%
 * 75,620 sq km (1998 est.)
 * periodic droughts, floods; dust storms, sandstorms; earthquakes
 * air pollution, especially in urban areas, from vehicle emissions, refinery operations, and industrial effluents; deforestation; overgrazing; desertification; oil pollution in the Persian Gulf; wetland losses from drought; soil degradation (salination); inadequate supplies of potable water; water pollution from raw sewage and industrial waste; urbanization
 * party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
 * strategic location on the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, which are vital maritime pathways for crude oil transport
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!| Population: !| Age structure: 15-64 years: 67.2% (male 23,608,621; female 22,744,128) 65 years and over: 4.8% (male 1,645,246; female 1,673,755) (2004 est.) !| Median age: male: 23.3 years female: 23.7 years (2004 est.) !| Population growth rate: !| Birth rate: !| Death rate: !| Net migration rate: !| Sex ratio: under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.98 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2004 est.) !| Infant mortality rate: female: 42.69 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) male: 43.01 deaths/1,000 live births !| Life expectancy at birth: male: 68.31 years female: 71.07 years (2004 est.) !| Total fertility rate: !| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: !| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: !| HIV/AIDS - deaths: !| Nationality: adjective: Iranian !| Ethnic groups: !| Religions: !| Languages: !| Literacy: total population: 79.4% male: 85.6% female: 73% (2003 est.)
 * 69,018,924 (July 2004 est.)
 * 0-14 years: 28% (male 9,935,527; female 9,411,647)
 * total: 23.5 years
 * 1.07% (2004 est.)
 * 17.1 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * 5.53 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * -0.84 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
 * total: 42.86 deaths/1,000 live births
 * total population: 69.66 years
 * 1.93 children born/woman (2004 est.)
 * less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
 * 20,000 (2001 est.)
 * 290 (2001 est.)
 * noun: Iranian(s)
 * Persian 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%
 * Shi'a Muslim 89%, Sunni Muslim 9%, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i 2%
 * Persian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%, other 2%
 * definition: age 15 and over can read and write
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!| Country name: conventional short form: Iran local short form: Iran former: Persia local long form: Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran !| Government type: !| Capital: !| Administrative divisions: !| Independence: !| National holiday: note: additional holidays celebrated widely in Iran include Revolution Day, 11 February (1979); Noruz (New Year's Day), 21 March; Constitutional Monarchy Day, 5 August (1925) !| Constitution: !| Legal system: !| Suffrage: !| Executive branch: elections: leader of the Islamic Revolution appointed for life by the Assembly of Experts; president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 8 June 2001 (next to be held June 2005) election results: (Ali) Mohammad KHATAMI-Ardakani reelected president; percent of vote - (Ali) Mohammad KHATAMI-Ardakani 77% cabinet: Council of Ministers selected by the president with legislative approval; the Supreme Leader has some control over appointments to the more sensitive ministries head of government: President (Ali) Mohammad KHATAMI-Ardakani (since 3 August 1997); First Vice President Dr. Mohammad Reza AREF-Yazdi (since 26 August 2001) !| Legislative branch: elections: last held 20 February 2004 with a runoff held 7 May 2004 (next to be held February 2008) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats by party - conservatives/Islamists 190, reformers 50, independents 43, religious minorities 5, and 2 seats unaccounted for !| Judicial branch: !| Political parties and leaders: !| Political pressure groups and leaders: !| International organization participation: !| Diplomatic representation in the US: !| Diplomatic representation from the US: !| Flag description:
 * conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Iran
 * theocratic republic
 * Tehran
 * 28 provinces (ostanha, singular - ostan); Ardabil, Azarbayjan-e Gharbi, Azarbayjan-e Sharqi, Bushehr, Chahar Mahall va Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Fars, Gilan, Golestan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Kermanshah, Khorasan, Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh va Buyer Ahmad, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi, Mazandaran, Qazvin, Qom, Semnan, Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan
 * 1 April 1979 (Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed)
 * Republic Day, 1 April (1979)
 * 2-3 December 1979; revised 1989 to expand powers of the presidency and eliminate the prime ministership
 * the Constitution codifies Islamic principles of government
 * 15 years of age; universal
 * chief of state: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI (since 4 June 1989)
 * unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly or Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami (290 seats, note - changed from 270 seats with the 18 February 2000 election; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
 * Supreme Court - above a special clerical court, a revolutionary court, and a special administrative court
 * formal political parties are a relatively new phenomenon in the Islamic Republic and most conservatives still prefer to work through political pressure groups rather than parties; a loose pro-reform coalition called the 2nd Khordad front, which includes political parties as well as less formal pressure groups and organizations, achieved considerable success at elections to the sixth Majles in early 2000; groups in the coalition include: Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF); Executives of Construction Party (Kargozaran); Solidarity Party; Islamic Labor Party; Mardom Salari; Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization (MIRO); and Militant Clerics Society (Ruhaniyun); the coalition is expected to participate in the seventh Majles elections in early 2004; a new apparently conservative group, the Builders of Islamic Iran, took a leading position in the new Majles afte winning a majority of the seats in February 2004
 * political pressure groups conduct most of Iran's political activities; groups that generally support the Islamic Republic include Ansar-e Hizballah, Muslim Students Following the Line of the Imam, Tehran Militant Clergy Association (Ruhaniyat), Islamic Coalition Party (Motalefeh), and Islamic Engineers Society; active pro-reform student groups include the Organization for Strengthening Unity; opposition groups include Freedom Movement of Iran, the National Front, Marz-e Por Gohar, and various ethnic and Monarchist organizations; armed political groups that have been almost completely repressed by the government include Mujahidin-e Khalq Organization (MEK), People's Fedayeen, Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, and Komala
 * CP, ECO, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO
 * none; note - Iran has an Interests Section in the Pakistani Embassy; address: Iranian Interests Section, Pakistani Embassy, 2209 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007; telephone: [1] (202) 965-4990; FAX [1] (202) 965-1073
 * none; note - protecting power in Iran is Switzerland
 * three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red; the national emblem (a stylized representation of the word Allah in the shape of a tulip, a symbol of martyrdom) 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
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!| Economy - overview: !| GDP: !| GDP - real growth rate: !| GDP - per capita: !| GDP - composition by sector: industry: 41.2% services: 46.2% (2003 est.) !| Investment (gross fixed): !| Population below poverty line: !| Household income or consumption by percentage share: highest 10%: NA !| Inflation rate (consumer prices): !| Labor force: note: shortage of skilled labor (2003 est.) !| Labor force - by occupation: !| Unemployment rate: !| Budget: expenditures: $40.29 billion, including capital expenditures of $7.6 billion (2003 est.) !| Public debt: !| Agriculture - products: !| Industries: !| Industrial production growth rate: !| Electricity - production: !| Electricity - consumption: !| Electricity - exports: !| Electricity - imports: !| Oil - production: !| Oil - consumption: !| Oil - exports: !| Oil - imports: !| Oil - proved reserves: !| Natural gas - production: !| Natural gas - consumption: !| Natural gas - exports: !| Natural gas - imports: !| Natural gas - proved reserves: !| Current account balance: !| Exports: !| Exports - commodities: !| Exports - partners: !| Imports: !| Imports - commodities: !| Imports - partners: !| Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: !| Debt - external: !| Economic aid - recipient: !| Currency: !| Currency code: !| Exchange rates: note: Iran has been using a managed floating exchange rate regime since unifying multiple exchange rates in March 2002. !| Fiscal year:
 * Iran's economy is marked by a bloated, inefficient state sector, over reliance on the oil sector, and statist policies that create major distortions throughout. Most economic activity is controlled by the state. Private sector activity is typically small-scale - workshops, farming, and services. President KHATAMI has continued to follow the market reform plans of former President RAFSANJANI, with limited progress. Relatively high oil prices in recent years have enabled Iran to amass some $22 billion in foreign exchange reserves, but have not eased economic hardships such as high unemployment and inflation. In December 2003 a major earthquake devastated the city of Bam in southeastern Iran, killing more than 30,000 people.
 * purchasing power parity - $478.2 billion (2003 est.)
 * 6.1% (2003 est.)
 * purchasing power parity - $7,000 (2003 est.)
 * agriculture: 12.5%
 * 28.6% of GDP (2003)
 * 40% (2002 est.)
 * lowest 10%: NA
 * 16.4% (2003 est.)
 * 22.32 million
 * agriculture 30%, industry 25%, services 45% (2001 est.)
 * 15.7% (2002 est.)
 * revenues: $40.38 billion
 * 28.2% of GDP (2003)
 * wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits, nuts, cotton; dairy products, wool; caviar
 * petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production), metal fabricating, armaments
 * 3% excluding oil (2003 est.)
 * 124.6 billion kWh (2001)
 * 115.9 billion kWh (2001)
 * 0 kWh (2001)
 * 0 kWh (2001)
 * 3.804 million bbl/day (2001 est.)
 * 1.277 million bbl/day (2001 est.)
 * 2.2 million bbl/day (2003)
 * NA (2001)
 * 94.39 billion bbl (1 January 2002)
 * 61.5 billion cu m (2001 est.)
 * 65.59 billion cu m (2001 est.)
 * 110 million cu m (2001 est.)
 * 4.2 billion cu m (2001 est.)
 * 24.8 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)
 * $3.935 billion (2003)
 * $29.88 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
 * petroleum 80%, chemical and petrochemical products, fruits and nuts, carpets
 * Japan 21.8%, China 9.7%, Italy 6.3%, Taiwan 5.5%, Turkey 5.4%, South Korea 5.4% (2003)
 * $25.26 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
 * industrial raw materials and intermediate goods, capital goods, foodstuffs and other consumer goods, technical services, military supplies
 * Germany 11%, France 8.6%, China 8.4%, Italy 8.1%, UAE 7.9%, South Korea 6.5%, Russia 4.8%, Japan 4.1% (2003)
 * $25.13 billion (2003)
 * $10.96 billion (2003 est.)
 * $408 million (2002 est.)
 * Iranian rial (IRR)
 * IRR
 * rials per US dollar - 8,193.89 (2003), 6,906.96 (2002), 1,753.56 (2001), 1,764.43 (2000), 1,752.93 (1999)
 * 21 March - 20 March
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!| Telephones - main lines in use: !| Telephones - mobile cellular: !| Telephone system: domestic: as a result of heavy investing in the telephone system since 1994, the number of long-distance channels in the microwave radio relay trunk has grown substantially; many villages have been brought into the net; the number of main lines in the urban systems has approximately doubled; and thousands of mobile cellular subscribers are being served; moreover, the technical level of the system has been raised by the installation of thousands of digital switches international: country code - 98; HF radio and microwave radio relay to Turkey, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Syria, Kuwait, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; submarine fiber-optic cable to UAE with access to Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG); Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line runs from Azerbaijan through the northern portion of Iran to Turkmenistan with expansion to Georgia and Azerbaijan; satellite earth stations - 9 Intelsat and 4 Inmarsat !| Radio broadcast stations: !| Radios: !| Television broadcast stations: !| Televisions: !| Internet country code: !| Internet hosts: !| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): !| Internet users:
 * 14,571,100 (2003)
 * 3,376,500 (2003)
 * general assessment: inadequate but currently being modernized and expanded with the goal of not only improving the efficiency and increasing the volume of the urban service but also bringing telephone service to several thousand villages, not presently connected
 * AM 72, FM 5, shortwave 5 (1998)
 * 17 million (1997)
 * 28 (plus 450 low-power repeaters) (1997)
 * 4.61 million (1997)
 * .ir
 * 5,269 (2004)
 * 100 (2002)
 * 4.3 million (2003)
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!| Railways: broad gauge: 94 km 1.676-m gauge standard gauge: 7,109 km 1.435-m gauge (189 km electrified) (2003) !| Highways: paved: 94,109 km (including 890 km of expressways) unpaved: 73,048 km (1998) !| Waterways: !| Pipelines: !| Ports and harbors: !| Merchant marine: by type: bulk 40, cargo 36, chemical tanker 3, container 7, liquefied gas 1, multi-functional large load carrier 5, petroleum tanker 33, roll on/roll off 8, short-sea/passenger 1 registered in other countries: 10 (2004 est.) !| Airports: !| Airports - with paved runways: over 3,047 m: 39 2,438 to 3,047 m: 25 914 to 1,523 m: 32 under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.) 1,524 to 2,437 m: 26 !| Airports - with unpaved runways: over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 9 under 914 m: 39 (2004 est.) 914 to 1,523 m: 129 !| Heliports:
 * total: 7,203 km
 * total: 167,157 km
 * 850 km (on Karun River and Lake Urmia) (2004)
 * condensate/gas 212 km; gas 16,998 km; liquid petroleum gas 570 km; oil 8,256 km; refined products 7,808 km (2004)
 * Abadan (largely destroyed in fighting during 1980-88 war), Ahvaz, Bandar 'Abbas, Bandar-e Anzali, Bushehr, Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni, Bandar-e Lengeh, Bandar-e Mahshahr, Bandar-e Torkaman, Chabahar (Bandar Beheshti), Jazireh-ye Khark, Jazireh-ye Lavan, Jazireh-ye Sirri, Khorramshahr (limited operation since November 1992), Now Shahr
 * total: 134 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 4,715,242 GRT/8,240,069 DWT
 * 303 (2003 est.)
 * total: 127
 * total: 178
 * 13 (2003 est.)
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!| Military branches: !| Military manpower - military age and obligation: !| Military manpower - availability: !| Military manpower - fit for military service: !| Military manpower - reaching military age annually: !| Military expenditures - dollar figure: !| Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
 * Islamic Republic of Iran regular forces (includes Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force and Air Defense Command), Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) (includes Ground Forces, Air Force, Navy, Qods Force [special operations], and Basij [Popular Mobilization Army]), Law Enforcement Forces
 * 18 years of age for compulsory military service; 16 years of age for volunteers; soldiers as young as 9 were recruited extensively during the Iran-Iraq war; conscript service obligation - 18 months (2004)
 * males age 15-49: 20,937,348 (2004 est.)
 * males age 15-49: 12,434,810 (2004 est.)
 * males: 912,569 (2004 est.)
 * $4.3 billion (2003 est.)
 * 3.3% (2003 est.)
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