A simple visual guide to Iran and its people

Iran has re-emerged astatine the centre of planetary attention, pursuing Israeli attacks connected the Middle East’s second-largest state connected June 13.

Stretching from the Caspian Sea successful the northbound to the Gulf of Oman successful the south, Iran’s scenery is arsenic varied arsenic its history, with cardinal entree to captious waterways, including the Strait of Hormuz, done which 20 percent of the world’s oil flows.

Iran’s past spans millennia, making it 1 of the world’s astir past and culturally affluent nations, continuously inhabited and influential passim history.

In this ocular explainer, Al Jazeera provides a snapshot of Iran’s geography, cardinal cities, colonisation makeup, and taste diversity.

Iran astatine a glance

With a colonisation of 92 million, Iran is the 17th-largest state successful the satellite by colonisation and onshore area.

Iran’s nominal gross home merchandise (GDP) is $418bn, ranking it 36th successful presumption of the system size. It has an unemployment complaint of astir 7.2 percent.

The country’s big literacy complaint is 89 percent, with younker literacy nearing 99 percent, though these rates alteration betwixt agrarian and municipality areas.

The state is affluent successful lipid and gas, ranking arsenic the world’s ninth-largest lipid shaper and third-largest earthy state producer.

How large is Iran?

Located successful Western Asia, Iran is the second-largest state successful the Middle East aft Saudi Arabia and the 17th-largest successful the world, covering astir 1.65 cardinal quadrate kilometres (636,000 quadrate miles).

Iran shares onshore borders with 7 countries, the longest being Iraq, followed by Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Turkiye and Armenia.

Iran covers astir one-sixth the equivalent onshore country of the United States, astir arsenic ample arsenic the authorities of Alaska.

It is astir one-sixth the size of Europe, astir one-fifth the size of Australia, astir fractional the size of India and astir 80 times larger than Israel.

Where are Iran’s main colonisation centres?

Most of Iran’s 92 cardinal radical unrecorded successful the occidental fractional of the country, wherever the terrain features rugged mountains alongside fertile valleys and stream basins that prolong overmuch of the population.

With 9.6 cardinal inhabitants, Tehran has been the superior since 1795 and is the country’s largest city. Situated beneath the Alborz Mountains, Tehran’s past dates backmost much than 6,000 years.

Mashhad, successful the northeast, is Iran’s second-largest metropolis with 3.4 cardinal radical and a past spanning much than 1,200 years. It is simply a large spiritual and taste centre and is location to the Imam Reza Shrine, which brings successful millions of pilgrims from astir the world.

Isfahan, the third-largest city, is location to immoderate 2.3 cardinal people. More than 2,500 years old, the metropolis was erstwhile the superior of the Safavid Empire, which lasted from 1501 to 1722. Isfahan hosts large acquisition institutions and is simply a centre for textiles, alloy and manufacturing, on with atomic and aerospace industries.

Other populous cities crossed Iran include: Shiraz (1.7 million), Tabriz (1.7 million), Karaj (1.6 million), Qom (1.4 million) and Ahvaz (1.3 million).

Demographic breakdown

Nearly 60 percent of Iran’s colonisation is beneath the property of 39, according to figures from the United Nations Statistics Division.

The country’s median property is 33-34 years, and astir 77 percent of Iranians unrecorded successful municipality areas.

The largest property groups successful Iran are those aged 30-34 and 35-39, meaning astir of the colonisation was calved aft the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Pahlavi Shah regime.

However, determination has been a important emigration of Iranian professionals successful caller years, mostly driven by economical hardship.

What are Iran’s ethnicities?

Iran is simply a highly divers country, some ethnically and culturally. Persians marque up astir 61 percent of the population, portion important number groups see Azerbaijanis (16 percent), Kurds (10 percent) and others, specified arsenic Lurs (6 percent), Arabs (2 percent), Baloch (2 percent) and Turkic groups (2 percent).

Iran is predominantly Shia Muslim, making up astir 90 percent of the population, portion Sunni Muslims and different Muslim sects relationship for astir 9 percent. The remaining 1 percent includes astir 300,000 Baha’i, 300,000 Christians, 35,000 Zoroastrians, 20,000 Jews, and 10,000 Sabean Mandeans according to the Minority Rights Group.

In borderline regions specified arsenic Kurdistan, Khuzestan and Sistan-Baluchestan, taste groups play a cardinal relation successful shaping the country’s taste and spiritual diverseness arsenic good arsenic its determination politics.

While Persian (Farsi) is the authoritative nationalist language, galore regions crossed the state talk a assortment of different languages.