Iranian Flag

The Menas Associates country fact file page is devised to provide our readers with a checklist of information about the history, people, government, economy, geography, military and transnational issues affecting each one of the countries we write about.

Time: UTC+3:30
Area: 1,648,195 km²
Population: 74,196,000
Currency: Rial (IRR)
Capital: Tehran
Official languages: Farsi (58%)
Geography: Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Pakistan
Borders: Afghanistan (936 km), Armenia (35 km), Azerbaijan (432 km),
Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave (179 km), Iraq (1,458 km), Pakistan (909 km), Turkey (499 km), Turkmenistan (992 km)
Government: Theocratic republic
President: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (since 2005)
Parliament: Islamic Consultative Assembly
Military: service is compulsory from 19 years of age
Religion: Muslim (98%), (Shi'a 89%, Sunni 9%), other (includes: Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'2%)
Demographics: 30 provinces
Exports: petroleum, chemical and petrochemical products, fruits and nuts, carpets
Export partners: China (15.2%), Japan (14.2%), India (9.2%), South Korea (6.4%), Turkey (6.4%), Italy (4.5%)
Imports: industrial raw materials, intermediate goods, capital goods, foodstuffs, other consumer goods, technical services
Import partners: UAE (18.8%), China (12.6%), Germany (9%), South Korea (6.8%), Russia (5.2%), Italy (5%), France (4.1%)
Economy: Iran's economy thrives on export earnings estimated at approx $100 billion in foreign exchange reserves
Electricity consumption/production/exports/imports: 153.8 billion kWh, 192.6 billion kWh, 2.52 billion kWh, 1.842 billion kWh
Oil consumption/production/exports/imports: 1.497 million b/d, 3.707 million b/d, 2.21 million b/d, 162,500 b/d
Natural gas consumption/production/exports/imports: 119 billion m³, 116.3 billion m³, 4.246 billion m³, 7.048 billion m³
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur
Agriculture products: wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, sugar cane, fruits, nuts, cotton; dairy products, wool, caviar
Concerns: illicit drugs, people trafficking, refugees and internally displaced persons, international disputes.

* All the above data is selected from statistical review journals, published in the latter part of 2008/9. Therefore, please note that some facts/figures may vary according to source/time of documentation.