Only 50% of the population are Persians, around 25% Azerbaijanis, around 7% Kurds, around 3% Arabs and a number of other ethnic groups, such as Gilake, Mazandarani, Arabs, Turkomans, Baluch, Christian Armenians, Assyrians, Georgians and others
Religion
The state religion in Iran is Islam. Overall, around 99% of the population profess Islam, with the vast majority belonging to the Shiite faith.
The remaining around 1% are distributed among Christians, the old religions of the Baha’i and Jews.
National language
The official language of the country is Persian (Farsi), the only official language. In addition, there are the languages of the various ethnic groups such as Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Kurdish, Lurian, Baluchi, Armenian and Arabic.
Capital, other cities
The capital of Iran is Tehran, with a population of around 8.8 million – in the greater area 16 million. According to Abbreviation Finder, IRN stands for Iran in English. Click to see other meanings of this 3-letter acronym.
Other cities are:
Mashhad with around 1.9 million residents
Isfahan with around 1.3 million residents
Tabriz with around 1.2 million residents
Shiraz with around 1.1 million residents
Ahuaz with around 825,000 residents
Ghom (Qom) with around 782,000 residents.
Yazd with around 486,500 residents.
Iran: geography, map
With its mountains and deserts, Iran stretches between Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan in the north, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east, Iraq and Turkey in the west and the Persian Gulf in the south. Check topmbadirectory for politics, flags, famous people, animals and plants of Iran.
The country has a common border with a total of seven states:
Iraq with a length of around 1,460 km,
Turkmenistan with a length of around 990 km,
Afghanistan with a length of around 940 km,
Pakistan with a length of around 910 km,
Azerbaijan with a length of around 610 km,
Turkey with a length of around 500 km,
Armenia with a length of around 40 km.
Its coastline to the Gulf is around 2,440 km long, plus 740 km of coastline to the Caspian Sea.
Area and land use
Iran covers a total area of 1,648,000 km².
Thereof:
ForestAround 7% of the country is wooded and around 42,000 km2 = 4,200,000 ha are dense forests.There are unique primeval forests in the north of the country.
Meadow and pasture landAround 27% of the land is used as meadow or pasture land.
Arable land and fieldsAround 9% of the land is used as arable land or fields. Mainly fresh fruit, grain, sugar beet and sugar cane are produced.
DesertsFor more information, see desert areas below
SwampsTalab-e-suleigan, of an area of an 8 km ² comprises.Talab-e-Tschagachur, with 23 km ²
Gavkuni swamp with an area of 17 km²
MountainsAround 50% of the country are mountains and hills. So among others:The Elbursgebirge extends with a length of about 600 km and a width of about 120 km in the north of Iran, between the Caspian Sea and the Persian highlands.The volcanic Sabalan and Talesh mountains are in the northwest and the Sagros mountain range on the western border.
Longitude and latitude
Iran extends over the following geographical latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and geographical longitude (abbreviation Δλ):
Δφ = from around 25 to 39 ° 45 ‘north latitude Δλ = from around 044 ° E to 063 ° 30′ east longitude
You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and Latitude.
Legal time
For Iran, the following value applies to Central European Time (CET), i.e. the time without summer time. A minus sign means that it is earlier there, a plus sign that it is later than CET:
Δt (CET) = + 2.5 h
Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones, time.
The highest point of the sun in Tehran
Tehran, the capital of Iran, lies at a northern latitude of around φ = 35.5 ° (35 ° 30 ‘).
If the sun is at the tropic, i.e. at δ = 23.5 °, summer begins in Tehran, on June 21st. Then, for the highest position of the sun at noon, according to Eq. 1 (see position of the sun):
35.5 ° = (90 ° – h) + 23.5 °
so:
H = 78 °
At 78 °, the sun in Tehran has the highest level of the entire year above the horizon (more precisely: above the horizon).
mountains
Damavand
The highest mountain in the country is the extinct Damavand volcano in the Elbursgebirge with a height of 5,671 m.
Other high mountains are:
Sabalán with a height of 4,811 m
Soleiman with a height of 4,805 m
Kûh-e-Zarde with a height of 4,548 m
Kûh-e-Hazâran with an altitude of 4,420 m
Desert areas
Around 50% of the country are deserts.
Dasht e Lut
The Dasht e Lut desert has an area of 166,000 km², making it the largest desert in Iran. It is located in the Iranian highlands. With temperatures of up to 50 °C in summer, it is one of the hottest and driest deserts on earth.
Kavir
The second great desert is the Kavir salt desert, which joins the Lut in the north. Both deserts are practically not populated.
Rivers
Karun
The longest river in the country is the Karun with a total length of around 950 km. The river flows into the Persian Gulf and is the only navigable river in Iran
Sefid Rud
The Sefid Rud is the second longest river in Iran with a length of around 670 km. It flows in the northwest of the country and flows into the Caspian Sea at Rasht.
Diyala
The Diyala is a tributary of the Tigris. It has its source in Iran and flows through Iran and Iraq. Its total length is 443 km
Halil
The Halil flows in the province of Kerman. It rises in the Hazar Mountains at an altitude of 3,300 m and has a length of 390 km. It flows into Lake Hamun.
Karkheh
The Karkheh rises in the Zagros Mountains from the source rivers Kaschkan and Seymare. In Iraq it flows into the Tigris, which unites with the Euphrates at this point.
Its total length is 900 km
Qareh
The Qareh (Qhareh Su, Kara Su) is one of the tributaries of Lake Namak. Together with the Qom it has a length of approx. 400 km.
Qom
The river flows through the city of the same name, Qom. It is one of the tributaries of Lake Namak and, together with the Qareh, has a length of approx. 400 km.
Shatt al-Arab
The Shatt al-Arab is the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris and about 195 km long. Its southern part forms the border between Iran and Iraq. It flows into the Persian Gulf near Basra.
Zayandeh (Zayandeh Rud)
The approximately 400 km long river has its source in the Zagros Mountains in the Lorestan Province, flows through Isfahan and flows into Lake Gavkhuni, which is located in the swamp of the same name in the southeast of Isfahan
Lakes
The country includes numerous smaller and larger lakes.
Orúmíyeh
The largest lake is the Orúmíyeh with an area of about 4,500 km² to 6,000 km² depending on the season and the associated precipitation and water level.
Other larger lakes are:
Sistan with an area of around 5,000 km²
Namak, a salt lake with an area of around 750 km²
Islands
The country has 15 inhabited and 18 uninhabited islands:
Qeshm with an area of 1,445 km²
Kish with an area of 90.50 km²
Kharg with an area of 23 km², on this island in the Persian Gulf there are large silting facilities for oil tankers and a number of military bases.
Shatt al-Arab, Caspian Sea
In the north of the country, Iran borders the Caspian Sea, which is only part of the country. In the south, the country borders on the Shatt al-Arab and in the southwest on the Persian Gulf and in the extreme southeast on the Gulf of Oman.
Shatt al-Arab
Under the Shatt al-Arab one understands the approx. 195 km long confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris. Its southern part forms the border between Iran and Iraq. It flows into the Persian Gulf near Basra. on the border between Iraq and Iran.
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest inland lake in the world. With an area of 386,400 km² and a water volume of 78,700 km³, it has more than three times the volume of water than, for example, the Baltic Sea. Its main tributaries are the Volga, Urals, Kura, and Terek. the lake has no significant natural outflows, but there is a navigable connection to the Black Sea via the Volga, the Volga-Don Canal, the Don, the Sea of Azov – a tributary of the Black Sea and the Kerch Strait.
In addition to Iran, which is bordered to the north by the sea, nor Turkmenistan in the east and Azerbaijan are in the west, Kazakhstan in the north and Russia is greatest depth below the surface also in the north of the Caspian sea.The m at around 1025
The sea is about in north-south direction and has a length of around 1,200 km, with a maximum width in the southern part of around 425 km. The most famous city on the Caspian Sea is certainly Baku – the capital of Azerbaijan.
Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf lies between Iran, Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula. It covers an area of 235,000 km² – with a maximum depth of around 100 m and a water content of around 6,000 km³. In the south it goes over the less than approx. 60 km wide and strategically very important Strait from Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman and then into the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. In addition to Bahrain, the Persian Gulf also includes the following countries: Iraq, Iran, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The inflow of “fresh water” takes place via the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers – the Shatt al-Arab – on the border between Iraq and Iran. The salinity of the gulf is around 4%.
Gulf of Oman
The Gulf of Oman is the northwestern part of the Arabian Sea and stretches from the Strait of Hormuz – the strait to the Persian Gulf – to the Arabian Sea. The gulf is around 560 km long with a width at a typical point of eg 200 km. In addition to Iran, the Gulf borders in southwest Oman and in the west the United Arab Emirates.
