Geography of Iran
Iran, also called Persia, and
officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a country in Western Asia. It
is bordered to the west by Iraq and Turkey, to the northwest by Azerbaijan
and Armenia, to the north by the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan, to the east
by Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to the south by the Gulf of Oman and the
Persian Gulf. Iran covers an area of 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), making
it the fourth-largest country entirely in Asia and the second-largest in
Western Asia. It has a population of 85 million, making it the 17th-most
populous country in the world. Its capital and largest city is Tehran.
Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning
with the formation of the Elamite kingdoms in the fourth millennium BC. It
was first unified by the Iranian Medes in the seventh century BC, and
reached its territorial height in the sixth century BC, when Cyrus the Great
founded the Achaemenid Empire, which became one of the largest empires in
history and has been described as the world's first superpower. The
empire fell to Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC and was 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, a major world power for the next four
centuries. Arab Muslims conquered the empire in the seventh century
AD, which led to the Islamization of Iran. It subsequently became a major
center of Islamic culture and learning, with its art, literature,
philosophy, and architecture spreading across the Muslim world and beyond
during the Islamic Golden Age. Over the next two centuries, a series of
native Muslim dynasties emerged before the Seljuq Turks and the Mongols
conquered the region. In the 15th century, the native Safavids
re-established a unified Iranian state and national identity and
converted the country to Shia Islam. Under the reign of Nader Shah in
the 18th century, Iran once again became a major world power, though by
the 19th century a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant
territorial losses. The early 20th century saw the Persian
Constitutional Revolution. Efforts to nationalize its fossil fuel supply
from Western companies led to an Anglo-American coup in 1953, which resulted
in greater autocratic rule under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and growing Western
political influence. He went on to launch a far-reaching series of
reforms in 1963. After the Iranian Revolution, the current Islamic
Republic was established in 1979 by Ruhollah Khomeini, who became the
country's first Supreme Leader.
Facts about Iran
- Major cities: Tehran (capital), Isfahan, Kermanshah, Mashhad, Shiraz
- Official language: Persian
- Established: 678 BC
- Area: 1,648,195 km2
- Population: 83,183,741
- Supreme leader: Ali Khamenei
