CENTER FOR IRANIAN STUDIES - کانون پژوهشهای ايران شناختی

Bounded by Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Armenia in the North, Turkey, Syria and Iraq in the West, Afghanistan and Pakistan by the East and the Persian Gulf in the South is Persia (Iran).

"Persia” is the Greek name of Pars, a province of modern day Iran. Meanwhile, the name Iran (Land of the Aryans) is derived from the Aryan people, who first moved from Central Asia, and settled in what is now Iran, some 35'00 to 4000 years ago.

Because of its size, Iran is a land of diversity and contrast, of sand deserts and rainforests, snow-capped mountains and coral islands. The land’s also rich in oil, gas and other minerals.
Iran’s plateau is 1,000 metres above sea level and there are two main mountain ranges, the Zagros and pictured below is the Alborz.

The latter contains an active volcanic peak, standing at 5,671 metres. Mt. Damavand (pictured below)

is one of the highest peaks in the world outside the Himalayas and the Andes.
Most of Iran has an annual rainfall of less than 20cm, but along the lush Caspian coast, the rainfall is six times as high. The temperature also varies from 50 degrees Celsius in the hot summer, to as low as 25 degrees below zero in parts of Azerbaijan.
Heavy snow is normal in the north of the country between November and March and frost occurs almost everywhere.
People and Religion
The vast majority of Iranians are Moslems of the Shi’a sect (89% of 70 million people). There are also many Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians (followers of Iran’s ancient religion before Islam) all around the country. The people of Iran are predominantly Aryan, there are also Indian, Jewish, Arab and Negroid Iranians that make up some of the ethnic groups present to this day. Most of these ethnicities can be traced back living together thousands of years back, in ancient Persia. Now these modern day Iranians can trace their roots back to their ancestries, which explains today’s diversity that still thrives.

History

The Iranian monarchy was one of the oldest in the world, dating back 2,500 years to the Achaemenian Empire, which was founded by Cyrus the Great.

This cylinder is the world’s first declaration of human rights, by Cyrus the Great.

While some European conquerors, like Alexander the Great, destroyed Persepolis (picture below)

and other areas, or exiled their people, the Persians supported the local cultures and religions. Persepolis was “The Gate of all Nations” before Alexander the Great defeated Xerxes and destroyed the ceremonial site to the ruins we have left now.

The tomb of Cyrus the Great

The founder of the first world empire lays to rest in the Fars province of Iran. He was particularly known for his tolerance towards his subjects, regardless of their nationality or religious beliefs.
The monarchy remained until 1978, where there was an Islamic Revolution and the last Shah (king) was forced into exile. By leaving Iran, the monarchy came to an end and Ayatollah Khomeini became the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Only one year after the Islamic Republic’s independence, Iran and Sadaam Hussein’s Iraq had an 8 year war which lasted till 1988, killing hundreds of thousands. In that decade a lot of people died, fled, and were born. This was in fact, a huge baby boom generation which is showing now as 80% of Iran’s population is in between 16 and 35 years of age.

Poetry and Culture

Long wars with the Roman Empire weakened Iran and enabled the Arab armies that were preaching Islam, to overrun the country in 642, but Persian culture continued to exert. For several centuries as Islam gradually replaced Zoroastrianism as the main religion and the country was divided into separate provinces under governors appointed by Caliph. However, several Iranian dynasties came to power, some strong enough to control Caliphate. A brilliant civilization developed at the courts of the Persian Princes, personified by such poets and philosophers as Rudaki, Ferdowsi, Avicenna, Ansari, Nasser Khosrow,

Omar Khayyam and Rumi (/Mowlavi), but this was almost completely destroyed by wave after wave of Mongol invasions in the 13th century.

Gradually however, Iran civilized and absorbed the conquerors and the cultural tradition was continued with great poets such as Sa’di and Hafiz. Often invaded and occupied, Iran (Persia) has nevertheless managed to retain its Persian character and traditions to the present day.

And after all, today's Iranians are very proud to have a world wide recognized source of academic knowledge on the whole Persian history and culture, including different aspects of life of this ancient nation. That is Encyclopaedia Iranica

Some Facts

Population:

68,688,433 (July 2006)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 26.1% 15-64 years: 69% 65 years and over: 4.9% Older people stand out in the crowd. Unlike countries such as Australia, it is quite the opposite in age structure.

Average age: 24.8 years (Recorded in 2005) One of the youngest populations in the world!

Male: 24.6 years Female: 25 years

Noun: Iranian(s) Adjective: Iranian

Religions:

Sunni Muslim 9%, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i 2% Shi'a Muslim 89%

Ethnic groups:
Persian 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, Other 1%

Persian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 2%, Other 2%

Literacy definition:

Ages 15 and over can read and write.

Total literate population:

79.4%

Male: 85.6% literate

Female: 73% literate

Average life expectancy for population: 70.26 years (est. 2006)