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| .ir Iran |
| Masoud Shafiee |
Overview Geography Iran has a land area of 636,296 square miles or 1,629,807 square kilometres, which makes it the 16th largest country in the world. It is bordered by the Caspian Sea, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to the north, Turkey and Iraq to the west, the Persian Gulf to the southwest, the Oman Sea to the south, and Pakistan and Afghanistan to the east. More than half of the country is mountainous, one-fourth is desert and the rest is cultivated. Iran has four distinguishable seasons, and temperature differences of over 40ºC have been recorded between different parts of the country, giving it much climatic diversity. Mount Damavand, part of the Alborz mountain range with a height of 5,671 metres, overlooks the capital city of Tehran, which has a population of 12.5 million. Iran’s unique geographical position in the Middle East and along the Silk Road, its free access to waterways, its special climatic conditions, and its rich natural reserves, including gas and oil, give it an edge over other countries. Iran has a population of 66.4 million that is growing at the rate of 1.5 percent. Life expectancy is 69.3 years. The population is very young with 60 percent under 24 years of age and 20.5 percent between 15 and 24 years. The urban population totals 41 million, while the rural population numbers about 25.4 million. Ethnic groups living in Iran include the Turk, Fars, Kurd, Lore, Baluch, Arab, Turkman and Armenian. Farsi (Persian) is the national and official language of the country. Turkish is also commonly used in the northwest provinces of Eastern and Western Azerbaijan, and Arabic is spoken in parts of Khuzestan in the southwest. English is taught as the second language in high schools, and as such the level of English literacy is relatively high. Education in Iran is mandatory up to high school. Both public and private educational institutions are available. There are about 18 million students in schools and nearly 2 million in universities. Tertiary education extends to doctoral degrees. About 300,000 - 320,000 students graduate each year from university. In the past 18 years, close to 150,000 students in total have graduated from ICT and related courses. Economy Iran recorded a GDP of more than US$107.5 billion with an annual growth rate of 5.9 percent in 2002. The average annual growth rate was projected at 5.8 percent for the period 2002 - 2006. Iran is OPEC’s second largest oil producer. It has approximately 9 percent of the world’s total oil reserves comprising some 94 billion barrels. It also has the second largest reserve of natural gas in the world at some 812 trillion cubic feet. Iran’s oil and gas industries require heavy investment and redevelopment. Some projects are being developed on a "buy-back" basis, whereby foreign oil giants such as Totalfina Elf and Shell act as contractors to the National Iranian Oil Company. Oil exports account for around 80 percent of foreign exchange earnings. The government controls over 80 percent of the economy with the assistance of organisations such as UNDP. The government has made the development of non-oil exports a priority. Traditionally, such exports have included carpets, pistachio nuts and dried fruit. Iran also possesses enormous mineral resources, including coal, copper, iron, zinc and gold, most of which have yet to be exploited. As a result, a number of processing industries have emerged, particularly steel. Iran is already the third largest producer of copper in the world. Apart from being endowed with natural resources, the country possesses other attributes, including a broad domestic industrial base, an educated and motivated workforce, as well as a strategic geographical location that gives it access to an estimated 300 million people in the Caspian region, the Persian Gulf states and countries further east. The government is encouraging import substitution through joint manufacturing ventures with foreign companies. . . . . . the complete text of this chapter is available for purchase and immediate download as a PDF file, please click here for more information. |
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