Iran

Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran / is a country located in Western Asia. It is the second largest country in the Middle East in terms of population after Egypt with a total of 81 million people, as well as the second largest country in the Middle East with an area after Saudi Arabia with an area of ​​1,648,195 km2, which makes it ranks eighteenth among countries in the world in terms of area إيران Iran is characterized by a location Geopolitical makes it the meeting point for three Asian domains (West, Central and Southern Asia). It is bordered to the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Iran overlooks the Caspian Sea (which is an inland sea bordered by Kazakhstan and Russia).
It is bordered to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, to the west by Iraq and to the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city, and the nation's political, cultural, commercial, and industrial milieu. Iran is a regional power and occupies an important place in international energy security and the global economy because of its large reserves of oil and natural gas. Where in Iran there is the second largest reserves of natural gas in the world and the fourth largest proven reserves of oil.

Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations. The first ruling dynasty formed in Iran during the Elamite Kingdom in 2800 BC. The Medes united Iran in an empire in 625 BC. And then the Iranian Achaemenid Empire, and then the Hellenic Seleucid Empire and two subsequent Iranian empires, the Parthians and Sassanids, arose before the Islamic conquest in 651 AD. And during the reign of the Islamic State dynasties. The Persian language and Persian culture spread throughout the Iranian plateau. The Iranian dynasties confirmed early on Iranian independence, and these dynasties are the Tahirid state, the Saffarid state, the Samanids, and the Boehites.

Iran is the eighteenth country in terms of area in the world, with an area of ​​1648195 km2. Its area is roughly equal to the area of ​​the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany combined, or somewhat more than Alaska, the largest US state by area. Iran lies between latitudes 24-40 north of the equator, and between longitudes 44- 64 east of Greenwich, its border with Azerbaijan is (380 km) (with the isolated Azerbaijani state of Nakhchivan (179 km) and Armenia (35 km) to the northwest, and the Caspian Sea From the north, Turkmenistan (992 km) to the northeast; Pakistan (909 km) and Afghanistan (936 km) to the east; Turkey (499 km) and Iraq (1458 km) to the west, and finally in the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the south.

Iran consists of the Iranian plateau, with the exception of the coasts of the Caspian Sea and Khuzestan Province. It is one of the world's most mountainous countries, dominated by rugged mountain landscapes, which are separated by various ranges such as separate basins and plateaus. The western mountainous part is the most populated, with ranges like the Caucasus, Zagros and the Alborz Mountains, and Mount Damavand, and is also the highest mountain in western Eurasia as of the Hindu Kush mountains.

The northern part of Iran is covered by dense rainforests called "northern" or the jungle of Iran. The eastern part consists mostly of desert basins such as Dasht (Koir). The largest desert in Iran is located in the north-central part of the country. Lot in the east with some salt lakes, because mountain ranges are too high to reach rain clouds to these areas. There are only wide plains along the coast of the Caspian Sea and on the northern end of the Persian Gulf, where the borders of Iran lie on the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab River (or in Arvand Road) Shat and the plains spread along the remaining coast of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.

In Iran, there are more than 110 languages ​​as follows: Persian, Azerbaijani, Kurdish, Turkmenistan, Balochi, Sistani, Qashqaiyah, Lari, Bandariya (Gulf), Arabic, Hebrew, Armenian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Tati, Mandaean, Mazandrani, Bukhari, Delicia, the Talcian, the royal, and the royal. And other languages ​​are unknown, however, Persian, Kurdish, Arabic, Balochi and Azeri remain among the most important languages ​​in the Republic.

Today, 98% of the Iranians are Muslims, Iran is about 89% of the Shiites and about 9% of the Sunnis and the community. The CIA website indicates that about 90-95% of the Muslims in Iran are Shiites and 5-10% of them are Sunnis. While the newspaper, Riyadh, quoting the sources of the Sunnis in Iran, indicates that their percentage exceeds 20%, and their number is about 20 million, distributed in different regions. Ismaili followers are spread in Iran.

In addition to Muslims, Iran has the largest minority of non-Muslims in the Baha'i community, and its followers are spread throughout all small communities in Iran. Although there are a large number of followers of the Bahai religion in Tehran, most Baha'is are of Persian origin, in addition to To a number of them among the Azeris and the Kurds. As for the followers of the Christian religion in Iran, it includes about 250,000 Armenians, about 32,000 Assyrians, a small number of Roman Catholics, and the Anglican Church,The Iranians of the Protestant Church who were converted by missionaries in previous centuries and so the majority of Christians who live in Iran are descendants of the original Christians who were converted during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. According to sources, the growth and conversion to Christianity has increased in the last two decades in Iran, causing concern for the Islamic government.

A study by Christian researcher and missionary Duane Miller from St. Mary's American University in Texas and the University of Edinburgh and Patrick Johnston from the Christian Missionary Organization estimated that in 1979 there were fewer than 500 Muslim converts in Iran in Iran, and in 2015 the number exceeded 100,000.

Although Judaism is one of the officially recognized religions in Iran, some claim that Jews in Iran have been widely persecuted because of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The number of Jews in Iran reached 100,000 in 1948, but in 2018 it decreased to about 8,500 due to the immigration of many of them to Israel and the United States, and the remaining Iranian Jews are distributed in Tehran and other major cities.

In addition to Christianity and Judaism, Zoroastrianism is another religion that is officially recognized in Iran. Although the followers of this religion do not represent a large number of the population in Iran, there are limited instances of bias against the Zoroastrians for being followers of this religion.