Fanack Home / Iran / Facts and Figures
September 5th, 2012 / September 3rd, 2018

Facts and Figures

Political leadership

Iran

Khamenei

Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei (since 4 June 1989)

President Hassan Rouhani (since 3 August 2013)

First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri (since 5 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

Afghanistan921 kmArmenia44 kmAzerbaijan689 km
Iraq1,599 kmPakistan959 km
Turkey534 kmTurkmenistan1,148 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)

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