اطلاعات مربوط به کشور ايران Iran Information
Iran Information / General View
Time
+3 1/2 hours CUT
+8 1/2 hours EST |
Int. Airports
Tehran, Esfahan, Bandar-e Abbas,
Tabriz, Shiraz, Mahabad
|
Languages
Persian, Azari, Kurdish,Luri
Baloch, Arabic, Turkish...
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Type of Government
Theocratic Republic
|
|
Land Area
1,648,195 square kilometers
(631,660 square miles) |
Coast Line
3180 kilometers
(1,976 miles) |
Population
(July 2003 estimate)
68,278,826 |
|
The Islamic Republic of Iran
(Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran) covers 636,300 square miles (1,648,000 square
kilometers) in southwestern Asia. It is bounded on the north by Azerbaijan,
Armenia, Turkmenistan, and the Caspian Sea, on the east by Pakistan
and Afghanistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman,
and on the west by Turkey and Iraq. Iran also controls about a dozen
islands in the Persian Gulf. More than 30 percent of its 4,770-mile
(7,680-kilometre) boundary is seacoast. The capital is Tehran (Teheran).
Among Middle Eastern countries, Iran is unique in many ways. Its official
language, Farsi (Persian), is Indo-European. While Iran adopted a modified
version of the Arabic alphabet, it refused to lose its separate identity
after the establishment of the Arab Empire in the 7th century. From
the beginning of the Islamic era there was strong support for the house
of 'Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law. 'Ali's claim of succession to the Prophet
was disputed by the Sunnite majority, but his supporters proclaimed
him first imam of their party. The party came to be called Shi'ah (Shi'ism),
from shi'at 'Ali, "party of 'Ali." When conversion to Islam began, Shi'ism
was adopted by many, even though it was considered heresy at the time.
Despite persecution the Shi'ite branch continued to grow, and in the
16th century it became the official religion of Iran. The concept of
divine or sacred kingship, which originated in Mesopotamia, was an integral
part of pre-Islamic Persian political culture and persists in the beliefs
of the Shi'ites, who hold that sovereignty evolves from God and is expressed
through his spokesmen on earth.
Iran is the only country in the Middle East that uses the Islamic solar
calendar, which originated before the beginning of the Persian Empire
(550 BC). After the conversion of the vast majority of Iranians to Islam,
the ancient Iranian calendar was adjusted to begin with the year of
the Prophet Muhammad's immigration to Medina (the hijrah), equivalent
to AD 622 in the Gregorian calendar. To convert from the Islamic solar
calendar to the Gregorian, 621 or 622 years, depending on the time of
year, are added to the Iranian year. (For example, the Iranian year
1361 began on March 21, 1982, and ended on March 20, 1983.) No-ruz (New
Year's Day) falls on March 21, the vernal equinox. The Arabic lunar
calendar is used for religious observances.
Iran has played an important role in the Middle East, as an imperial
power and as a factor in rivalries between East and West. Its strategic
position and its vast resources, including petroleum and natural gas,
make it a nation to be reckoned with in the modern world.
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