Iran
Political leadership
Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei (since 4 June 1989)
President Hassan Rouhani (since 3 August 2013)
First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri (since 3 August 2013)
Land
Total 1,648,195 sq km; Land 1,531,595 sq km; Water 116,600 sq Km; (country comparison to the world: 19)
Boundaries
Total: 5,894 km
Border countries
Afghanistan | 921 km | Armenia | 44 km | Azerbaijan | 689 km |
Iraq | 1,599 km | Pakistan | 959 km | ||
Turkey | 534 km | Turkmenistan | 1,148 km |
Coastline
2,440 km; note – Iran also borders the Caspian Sea (740 km)
Population
81 million (March 2018)
Age structure
0-14 years: 24% 15-64 years: 70% 65+ 6% (March 2017)
Population growth rate
1.34% (March 2017 – March 2018)
Urbanisation
74.9% of total population (2018)
Major cities
TEHRAN (capital) 8.7 million; Mashhad 3.4 million; Esfahan 2.2 million; Karaj 1.97 million; Tabriz 1.8 million; Shiraz 1.9 million (2017 est.)
Ethnic groups
Persian, Azeri, Kurd, Lur, Baloch, Arab, Turkmen and Turkic tribes
Religions
Muslim 99.4% (Shia 90-95%, Sunni 5-10%), other (includes Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian) 0.3%, unspecified 0.4% (2011 est.)
Languages
Persian (official), Azeri and Turkic dialects, Kurdish, Gilaki and Mazandarani, Luri, Balochi, Arabic, other
Literacy
(Age 15+ can read and write) total population: 86.8%; male: 91.2%; female: 82.5% (2015 est.)
Real GDP
$563.83 billion (2017); $540.58 billion (2016)
GDP growth
4.30% (2017); 13.40% (2016)
GDP per capita
$6,946.9 (2017 est.); $6,733.9 (2016 est.)
Unemployment rate (of labour force)
12.1% (April Est. 2018); 12.6% (April Est. 2017)
Population below poverty line
0.2% (2014 est.)
Public debt
39.5% of GDP (2017 est.); 47.5% of GDP (2016 est.)
Inflation rate
9.6% (2017)