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Communications

Airports [time series]

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 [time series]

42 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

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

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

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 [time series]

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 [time series]

crude oil, 5,900 km; refined products, 3,900 km; natural gas, 3,300 km

Ports [time series]

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)

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

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

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

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

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Islamic Republic of Iran Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, and Revolutionary Guard Corps (includes Basij militia and own ground, air, and naval forces), Gendarmerie

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

8% of GNP, or $7.8 billion (1989 est.)

Military manpower [time series]

males 15-49, 12,302,967; 7,332,614 fit for military service; 569,647 reach military age (21) annually

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

principal products--rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits, nuts, cotton, dairy products, wool, caviar; not self-sufficient in food

Aid [time series]

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 [time series]

revenues $NA; expenditures $55.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $11.5 billion (FY88 est.)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

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 [time series]

14,579,000 kW capacity; 40,000 million kWh produced, 740 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates [time series]

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 [time series]

$12.3 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--petroleum 90%, carpets, fruits, nuts, hides; partners--Japan, Turkey, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, France, FRG

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$4-5 billion (1989)

Fiscal year [time series]

21 March-20 March

GNP [time series]

$97.6 billion, per capita $1,800; real growth rate 0-1% (1989)

Illicit drugs [time series]

illicit producer of opium poppy for the domestic and international drug trade

Imports [time series]

$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 (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate NA%

Industries [time series]

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) [time series]

50-80% (1989)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

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 [time series]

30% (1989)

Geography

Climate [time series]

mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast

Coastline [time series]

3,180 km

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly larger than Alaska

Continental shelf [time series]

not specific;

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

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 - current issues (Environment) [time series]

deforestation; overgrazing; desertification

Exclusive fishing zone [time series]

50 nm in the Sea of Oman, median-line boundaries in the Persian Gulf;

Land boundaries [time series]

5,492 km total; Afghanistan 936 km, Iraq 1,458 km, Pakistan 909 km, Turkey 499 km, USSR 1,690 km

Land use [time series]

8% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 27% meadows and pastures; 11% forest and woodland; 54% other; includes 2% irrigated

Natural resources [time series]

petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur

Terrain [time series]

rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts, mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts

Maritime claims (Territorial sea) [time series]

12 nm

Area (Total area) [time series]

1,648,000 km2; land area: 1,636,000 km2

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

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 [time series]

Tehran

Political parties (Communists) [time series]

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 [time series]

2-3 December 1979; revised 1989 to expand powers of the presidency

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

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

Executive branch [time series]

cleric (faqih), president, Council of Cabinet Ministers

Flag [time series]

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 [time series]

1 April 1979, Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Court 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 [time series]

the new Constitution codifies Islamic principles of government

Legislative branch [time series]

unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis-e-Shura-e-Islami)

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Islamic Republic of Iran

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

CCC, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, IDA, IDB, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, IPU, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNIDO, WHO

National holiday [time series]

Islamic Republic Day, 1 April (1979)

Political parties (Other political or pressure groups) [time series]

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 (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

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 [time series]

universal at age 15 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

Government type (Type) [time series]

theocratic republic

People

Birth rate [time series]

45 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate [time series]

10 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

51% Persian, 25% Azerbaijani, 9% Kurd, 8% Gilaki and Mazandarani, 2% Lur, 1% Baloch, 1% Arab, 3% other

Infant mortality rate [time series]

91 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force [time series]

15,400,000; 33% agriculture, 21% manufacturing; shortage of skilled labor (1988 est.)

Languages (Language) [time series]

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 [time series]

62 years male, 63 years female (1990)

Literacy [time series]

48% (est.)

Nationality [time series]

noun--Iranian(s); adjective--Iranian

Net migration rate [time series]

- 5 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Organized labor [time series]

none

Population [time series]

55,647,001 (July 1990), growth rate 3.1% (1990)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

95% Shia Muslim, 4% Sunni Muslim, 2% Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Bahai

Total fertility rate [time series]

6.3 children born/woman (1990)