The 18th largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km, Iran has a population of over 70 million. It is a country of particular geostrategic significance owing to its location in the Middle East & central Eurasia. Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea and condominium, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power, and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas.

Some interesting facts are:

• Iran is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations
• Iran is made up of Persians (51%), Azeris (24%), Gilaki and Mazandarani (8%), Kurds (7%), Arabs (3%), Baluchi (2%), Lurs (2%), Turkmens (2%), Laks, Qashqai, Armenians, Persian Jews, Georgians, Assyrians, Circassians, Tats, Mandaeans, Gypsies, Brahuis, Hazara, Kazakhs and others (1%)
• Three fourth Iranians over 15 can read and write.
• Iran is the 2nd in the world in natural gas & oil reserves. It is OPECs 2nd largest oil exporter
• Iran's second largest export commodity is carpets
• Unemployment in Iran is about 12%.

Administrative Division

Government & Politics

The political system of the Islamic Republic is based on the 1979 Constitution. Accordingly, it is the duty of the Islamic government to furnish all citizens with equal and appropriate opportunities, to provide them with work, and to satisfy their essential needs, so that the course of their progress may be assured. The system comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. The Supreme Leader of Iran is responsible for delineation and supervision of the general policies of the Islamic Republic of The Supreme Leader is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces controls the military intelligence and security operations; and has sole power to declare war or peace.

The heads of the judiciary, state radio and television networks, the commanders of the police and military forces and six of the twelve members of the Council of Guardians are appointed by the Supreme Leader. The Assembly of Experts elects and dismisses the Supreme Leader on the basis of qualifications and popular esteem. The Assembly of Experts is responsible for supervising the Supreme Leader in the performance of legal duties.

After the Supreme Leader, the Constitution defines the President of Iran as the highest state authority. The President is elected by universal suffrage for a term of four years and can only be re-elected for one term. Presidential candidates must be approved by the Council of Guardians prior to running in order to ensure their allegiance to the ideals of the Islamic revolution.  

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Facts & Figures:

• Birth rate = 16.89 Births/1,000 population
• Death rate = 5.69 Deaths/1,000 population
• Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) = 30 in 100,000 live birth
• Crude Birth Rate (CBR) = 18.3%
• Crude Death Rate (CDR) = 6%
• Skilled Birth Attendance = 97.3%
• Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) = 17.9 Deaths/1,000 Live Births
• Life Expectancy at Birth =
  
  
  • Total population: 70.86 years
  • Male: 71.1 years
  • Female: 73.1 years
  
  
• Total Fertility Rate (TFR) = 1.78 children born/woman

Demographics of Iran

Iran's population increased dramatically during the latter half of the 20th century. In recent years, however, Iran's birth rate has dropped significantly. Studies project that Iran's rate of population growth will continue to slow until it stabilizes above 90 million by 2050. More than half of the population is under the age of 24, one quarter being 15 years of age or younger. Iran is ethnically and linguistically diverse, with some cities, such as Tehran, bringing various ethnic groups together.

The country's GDP grew in 2007 by 7.8%. Dropped to 0.5% in 2009 and its anticipated recover modestly to 2.9% in 2010. Unemployment remains high at 8.8% in men and 15.4% in women, whose rate of economic activity (labour force participation) is persistently low (16.6 versus 63.9 per cent for men in 2009). Poverty levels are falling: 2% of the population lives below the poverty line of $1 per day.

In 2006 the unemployment rate of economically active population aged15-24 reached 22.1 %. The relative distribution of economically active population in three major economic sections are: 20.8 % agriculture, 31.8 % industry, and 47.4 % services.

The country's main population & development challenges include:

• Maintaining Low Fertility Levels: Though Iranian women have reached the replacement level of fertility, it is vital that reproductive health services, including family planning, continue to expand to meet current and future needs. With half the country's population under the age of 24, the socioeconomic performance and reproductive behaviour of the baby boom generation of the 1980s will be a powerful force shaping Iran's future.

• Narrowing Gender Disparities: Despite significant achievements in health and education of women, there are a number of challenges in promoting gender equity, equality and empowerment of women in accordance with MDG 3 and pertinent international conferences and conventions. There is limited women's participation in wage labour outside the agricultural sector (14.7%). The significant progress achieved in female educational attainment has not been translated into increase in economic participation. There is a need for increased job opportunities for women and improved gender equality in the labour market. Creating conducive environment for women's economic participation is a pre-requisite to promoting Iran's economic competitiveness and active interaction with global economy, a primary goal of Iran's Twenty-Year Outlook (2005-2025). Furthermore, there is limited women's representation in Parliament (2.8%) and participation in governance and decision making positions.

• Demographic Dividend: The demographic dividend which is the rise in the rate of economic growth due to a rising share of working age people in a population is yet another population challenge in Iran. This occurs in the demographic transition due to the fact that the fertility rate falls and the youth dependency rate declines. Based on the last Population & Housing Census, the population aged 10 + reached 59,523 million of which 40.6% were economically active. It has been reported that 20,476 million were employed and 2,999 million unemployed (or seek for work). Of 35,538 million non-economically active populations, 13,117 million have been students, 16,057 million housewives, and 2,974 million income recipients.

• Reducing Sexually Transmitted Infections: From March 2009 to March 2010 the Government run clinics reported 110,177 cases of sexually transmitted infections. A total number of 20,547 cases of HIV positive were reported (92.7% of them men) till end of December 2009. Of the cases; 69.8% were reported to be injected IV users; 8.7% were sexually infected, 0.6% mother to child infections, 1.2% through blood transfusions, and the transmission causes of 19.7% of the cases were unknown. The Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MoHME) is stepping up efforts to ensure that the pandemic does not spread.

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Women

Iranian women have played an important role throughout history and today serve an active role in society. Iranian women can be seen working in a variety of areas such as politics, law enforcement, transportation industries, etc. Universities still tend to be dominated by women in Iran.

Health Care

The Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) has executive responsibility for health and medical education within the Iranian government. The Ministry has the legal authority to oversee, license and regulate the activities of the private health sector.

An elaborate system of health care network provides primary health care (PHC) to the vast majority of the Iranian public. MOHME owns and runs Iran's largest health care delivery network and medical schools. MOHME is in charge of provision of healthcare services through its network, medical insurance, medical education, supervision and regulation of the healthcare system in the country, policymaking, production and distribution of pharmaceuticals, and research and development.

Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has adopted a full generic-based National Drug Policy (NDP), with local production of essential drugs and vaccines as one of the main goals. MOHME has a mission to provide access to sufficient quantities of safe, effective and high quality medicines that are affordable for the entire population.

Family Planning

Iran is known as a family planning success story. The countrys dramatic decline in fertility from an average of 7 lifetime births per woman in 1986 now reached replacement level at 1.96 nationally, with only a minimal gap between urban and rural areas. Many of the strategies put in place two decades ago to address the country's bulging population a strong network of rural health centres, mandatory pre-marital counselling on family planning methods and free family planning services and contraceptives are still contributing to the general well being of Iranian families and promoting the health of mothers and children.