1990 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1990 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
Climate
mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast
Coastline
3,180 km
Comparative area
slightly larger than Alaska
Continental shelf
not specific;
Disputes
Iran began formal UN peace negotiations with Iraq in August 1988 to end the war that began on 22 September 1980--troop withdrawal, freedom of navigation, sovereignty over the Shatt al Arab waterway and prisoner-of-war exchange are the major issues for negotiation; Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR; occupies three islands in the Persian Gulf claimed by UAE (Jazireh-ye Abu Musa or Abu Musa, Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg or Greater Tunb, and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Kuchek or Lesser Tunb); periodic disputes with Afghanistan over Helmand water rights; Boluch question with Afghanistan and Pakistan
Environment
deforestation; overgrazing; desertification
Exclusive fishing zone
50 nm in the Sea of Oman, median-line boundaries in the Persian Gulf;
Land boundaries
5,492 km total; Afghanistan 936 km, Iraq 1,458 km, Pakistan 909 km, Turkey 499 km, USSR 1,690 km
Land use
8% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 27% meadows and pastures; 11% forest and woodland; 54% other; includes 2% irrigated
Natural resources
petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur
Terrain
rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts, mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts
Territorial sea
12 nm
Total area
1,648,000 km2; land area: 1,636,000 km2
People and Society
Birth rate
45 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate
10 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Ethnic divisions
51% Persian, 25% Azerbaijani, 9% Kurd, 8% Gilaki and Mazandarani, 2% Lur, 1% Baloch, 1% Arab, 3% other
Infant mortality rate
91 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Labor force
15,400,000; 33% agriculture, 21% manufacturing; shortage of skilled labor (1988 est.)
Language
58% Persian and Persian dialects, 26% Turkic and Turkic dialects, 9% Kurdish, 2% Luri, 1% Baloch, 1% Arabic, 1% Turkish, 2% other
Life expectancy at birth
62 years male, 63 years female (1990)
Literacy
48% (est.)
Nationality
noun--Iranian(s); adjective--Iranian
Net migration rate
- 5 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Organized labor
none
Population
55,647,001 (July 1990), growth rate 3.1% (1990)
Religion
95% Shia Muslim, 4% Sunni Muslim, 2% Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Bahai
Total fertility rate
6.3 children born/woman (1990)
Government
Administrative divisions
24 provinces (ostanha, singular--ostan); Azarbayjan-e Bakhtari, Azarbayjan-e Khavari, Bakhtaran, Bushehr, Chahar Mahall va Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Fars, Gilan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Khorasan, Khuzestan, Kohkiluyeh va Buyer Ahmadi, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi, Mazandaran, Semnan, Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan
Capital
Tehran
Communists
1,000 to 2,000 est. hardcore; 15,000 to 20,000 est. sympathizers; crackdown in 1983 crippled the party; trials of captured leaders began in late 1983 and remain incomplete
Constitution
2-3 December 1979; revised 1989 to expand powers of the presidency
Diplomatic representation
none; protecting power in the US is Algeria--Iranian Interests Section, 2209 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington DC 20007; telephone (202) 965-4990; US--protecting power in Iran is Switzerland
Elections
President--last held NA July 1989 (next to be held April 1993); results--Ali Akbar Rafsanjani was elected with only token opposition; Islamic Consultative Assembly--last held 8 April and 13 May 1988 (next to be held April 1992); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(270 seats total) number of seats by party NA
Executive branch
cleric (faqih), president, Council of Cabinet Ministers
Flag
three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red; the national emblem (a stylized representation of the word Allah) in red is centered in the white band; Allah Akbar (God is Great) in white Arabic script is repeated 11 times along the bottom edge of the green band and 11 times along the top edge of the red band
Independence
1 April 1979, Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed
Judicial branch
Supreme Court
Leaders
Cleric and functional Chief of State--Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI (since 3 June 1989); Head of Government--President Ali Akbar RAFSANJANI (since 3 August 1989);
Legal system
the new Constitution codifies Islamic principles of government
Legislative branch
unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly
Long-form name
Islamic Republic of Iran
Member of
CCC, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, IDA, IDB, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, IPU, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNIDO, WHO
National holiday
Islamic Republic Day, 1 April (1979)
Other political or pressure groups
groups that generally support the Islamic Republic include Hizballah, Hojjatiyeh Society, Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, Muslim Students Following the Line of the Imam, and Tehran Militant Clergy Association; Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), People's Fedayeen, and Kurdish Democratic Party are armed political groups that have been almost completely repressed by the government
Political parties and leaders
there are at least seven licensed parties; the two most important are--Militant Clerics Association, Mehdi Mahdavi-Karubi and Mohammad Asqar Musavi-Khoinima; Fedaiyin Islam Organization, Sadeq Khalkhali
Suffrage
universal at age 15
Type
theocratic republic
Economy
Agriculture
principal products--rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits, nuts, cotton, dairy products, wool, caviar; not self-sufficient in food
Aid
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-80), $1.0 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.5 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $976 million; note--aid fell sharply following the 1979 revolution
Budget
revenues $NA; expenditures $55.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $11.5 billion (FY88 est.)
Currency
Iranian rial (plural--rials); 1 Iranian rial (IR) = 100 dinars; note--domestic figures are generally referred to in terms of the toman (plural--tomans), which equals 10 rials
Electricity
14,579,000 kW capacity; 40,000 million kWh produced, 740 kWh per capita (1989)
Exchange rates
Iranian rials (IR) per US$1--70.019 (January 1990), 72.015 (1989), 68.683 (1988), 71.460 (1987), 78.760 (1986), 91.052 (1985)
Exports
$12.3 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--petroleum 90%, carpets, fruits, nuts, hides; partners--Japan, Turkey, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, France, FRG
External debt
$4-5 billion (1989)
Fiscal year
21 March-20 March
GNP
$97.6 billion, per capita $1,800; real growth rate 0-1% (1989)
Illicit drugs
illicit producer of opium poppy for the domestic and international drug trade
Imports
$12.0 billion (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--machinery, military supplies, metal works, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, technical services, refined oil products; partners--FRG, Japan, Turkey, UK, Italy
Industrial production
growth rate NA%
Industries
petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and other building materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production), metal fabricating (steel and copper)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
50-80% (1989)
Overview
Since the 1979 revolution, the banks, petroleum industry, transportation, utilities, and mining have been nationalized, but the new five-year plan--the first since the revolution--passed in January 1990, calls for the transfer of many government-controlled enterprises to the private sector. War-related disruptions, massive corruption, mismanagement, demographic pressures, and ideological rigidities have kept economic growth at depressed levels. Oil accounts for 90% of export revenues. A combination of war damage and low oil prices brought a 2% drop in GNP in 1988. GNP probably rose slightly in 1989, considerably short of the 3.4% population growth rate in 1989. Heating oil and gasoline are rationed. Agriculture has suffered from the war, land reform, and shortages of equipment and materials. The five-year plan seeks to reinvigorate the economy by increasing the role of the private sector, boosting nonoil income, and securing foreign loans. The plan is overly ambitious but probably will generate some short-term relief.
Unemployment rate
30% (1989)
Communications
Airports
201 total, 175 usable; 82 with permanent-surface runways; 17 with runways over 3,659 m; 17 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 68 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Civil air
42 major transport aircraft
Highways
140,072 km total; 46,866 km gravel and crushed stone; 49,440 km improved earth; 42,566 km bituminous and bituminous-treated surfaces; 1,200 km (est.) of rural road network
Inland waterways
904 km; the Shatt al Arab is usually navigable by maritime traffic for about 130 km, but closed since September 1980 because of Iran-Iraq war
Merchant marine
133 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,631,836 GRT/8,662,454 DWT; includes 36 cargo, 6 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 33 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 4 chemical tanker, 3 refrigerated cargo, 49 bulk, 2 combination bulk
Pipelines
crude oil, 5,900 km; refined products, 3,900 km; natural gas, 3,300 km
Ports
Abadan (largely destroyed in fighting during 1980-88 war), Bandar Beheshti, Bandar-e Abbas, Bandar-e Bushehr, Bandar-e Khomeyni, Bandar-e Shahid Rajai, Khorramshahr (largely destroyed in fighting during 1980-88 war)
Railroads
4,601 km total; 4,509 km 1.432-meter gauge, 92 km 1.676-meter gauge; 730 km under construction from Bafq to Bandar Abbas
Telecommunications
radio relay extends throughout country; system centered in Tehran; 2,143,000 telephones; stations--62 AM, 30 FM, 250 TV; satellite earth stations--2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT; HF and microwave to Turkey, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait, and USSR
Military and Security
Branches
Islamic Republic of Iran Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, and Revolutionary Guard Corps (includes Basij militia and own ground, air, and naval forces), Gendarmerie
Defense expenditures
8% of GNP, or $7.8 billion (1989 est.)
Military manpower
males 15-49, 12,302,967; 7,332,614 fit for military service; 569,647 reach military age (21) annually