IRAN

officially Islamic Republic of Iran, Farsi (Persian) Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran country, southwestern Asia, covering an area of 634,562 square miles (1,643,510 square km). The capital is Tehran (Teheran). Extending about 2,200 miles (3,540 km) from northwest to southeast and 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from northeast to southwest at its widest point, Iran is bordered on the north by Turkmenistan, the Caspian Sea, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, on the east by Pakistan and Afghanistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and on the west by Turkey and Iraq. The population in 1991 was estimated to be 57,050,000. officially Islamic Republic of Iran, Farsi (Persian) Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran, country in southwestern Asia. It has an area of 636,300 square miles (1,648,000 square kilometres). It is bounded on the north by Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, and the Caspian Sea, on the east by Pakistan and Afghanistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and on the west by Turkey and Iraq. Iran also controls about a dozen islands in the Persian Gulf. More than 30 percent of its 4,770-mile (7,680-kilometre) boundary is seacoast. The capital is Tehran (Teheran). Among Middle Eastern countries, Iran is unique in many ways. Its official language, Farsi (Persian), is Indo-European. While Iran adopted a modified version of the Arabic alphabet, it refused to lose its separate identity after the establishment of the Arab Empire in the 7th century. From the beginning of the Islamic era there was strong support for the house of 'Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law. 'Ali's claim of succession to the Prophet was disputed by the Sunnite majority, but his supporters proclaimed him first imam of their party. The party came to be called Shi'ah (Shi'ism), from shi'at 'Ali, party of 'Ali. When conversion to Islam began, Shi'ism was adopted by many, even though it was considered heresy at the time. Despite persecution the Shi'ite branch continued to grow, and in the 16th century it became the official religion of Iran. The concept of divine or sacred kingship, which originated in Mesopotamia, was an integral part of pre-Islamic Persian political culture and persists in the beliefs of the Shi'ites, who hold that sovereignty evolves from God and is expressed through his spokesmen on earth. Iran is the only country in the Middle East that uses the Islamic solar calendar, which originated before the beginning of the Persian Empire (550 BC). After the conversion of the vast majority of Iranians to Islam, the ancient Iranian calendar was adjusted to begin with the year of the Prophet Muhammad's immigration to Medina (the hijrah), equivalent to AD 622 in the Gregorian calendar. To convert from the Islamic solar calendar to the Gregorian, 621 or 622 years, depending on the time of year, are added to the Iranian year. (For example, the Iranian year 1361 began on March 21, 1982, and ended on March 20, 1983.) No-ruz (New Year's Day) falls on March 21, the vernal equinox. The Arabic lunar calendar is used for religious observances. Iran has played an important role in the Middle East, as an imperial power and as a factor in rivalries between East and West. Its strategic position and its vast resources, including petroleum and natural gas, make it a nation to be reckoned with in the modern world. Additional reading General works Helen Chapin Metz (ed.), Iran: A Country Study, 4th ed. (1989), provides a useful overview of all aspects of the country. Ehsan Yarshater (ed.), Encyclopdia Iranica (1985 ), is an extensive reference source. Physical and human geography The land W.B. Fisher (ed.), The Land of Iran, vol. 1 of The Cambridge History of Iran (1968), is perhaps the single most comprehensive and informative work on geography and social ecology. Fisher's Middle East: A Physical, Social, and Regional Geography, 7th rev. ed. (1978), includes a brief survey of Iran. Also useful are W. Barthold (V.V. Bartold), An Historical Geography of Iran (1984; originally published in Russian, 1903); and the section on Iran in The Middle East and North Africa (annual), a country survey with up-to-date statistical data. The people Jamshid A. Momeni (ed.), The Population of Iran: A Selection of Readings (1977), covers all aspects of Iran's human resources. Studies of various peoples include Fredrik Barth, Nomads of South-Persia: The Basseri Tribe of the Khamseh Confederacy (1961, reissued 1986); Richard Tapper, Pasture and Politics: Economics, Conflict, and Ritual Among Shahsevan Nomads of Northwestern Iran (1979), an anthropological study; and Lois Beck, The Qashqa'i of Iran (1986), a political ethnography. The essays in Richard Tapper (ed.), The Conflict of Tribe and State in Iran and Afghanistan (1983), assess tribal political and social structures in recent history. The economy Charles Issawi (ed.), The Economic History of Iran, 18001914 (1971), contains documents, statistical data, and commentary on economic conditions prior to World War I. It may be supplemented by Julian Bharier, Economic Development in Iran, 19001970 (1971), which includes analyses of individual economic sectors; Jahangir Amuzegar, Iran: An Economic Profile (1977); and Robert E. Looney, Economic Origins of the Iranian Revolution (1982). The important oil and gas industries are discussed in M. Froozan, M. Shirazi, and I. Ebtehaj-Sami'i, The Development of the Gas Industry in Iran, Tahqiqat-e Eqtesadi: Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, 7(1920):2547 (Summer and Autumn 1970); and Fereidun Fesharaki, Development of the Iranian Oil Industry: International and Domestic Aspects (1976). Agrarian reforms and their impact on rural Iran are detailed in Ann K.S. Lambton, Landlord and Peasant in Persia (1953, reprinted 1969), and The Persian Land Reform, 19621966 (1969); Eric J. Hooglund, Land and Revolution in Iran, 19601980 (1982); and Afsaneh Najmabadi, Land Reform and Social Change in Iran (1987). Administration and social conditions Useful texts include Marvin Zonis, The Political Elite of Iran (1971); Shahram Chubin and Sepehr Zabih, The Foreign Relations of Iran: A Study in Imperialism (1974); James A. Bill, The Eagle and the Lion: The Tragedy of American-Iranian Relations (1988), a detailed study covering the period from 1835 to the IranContra Affair of 198687; and R.K. Ramazani, The United States and Iran: The Patterns of Influence (1982). A. Reza Arasteh, Education and Social Awakening in Iran, 18501968, 2nd rev. ed. (1969), is a critical study of Iranian education. The interconnections of religion and politics are analyzed by Said Amir Arjomand, The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam: Religion, Political Order, and Societal Change in Shi'ite Iran from the Beginning to 1890 (1984); Nikki R. Keddie (ed.), Religion and Politics in Iran: Shi'ism from Quietism to Revolution (1983); and Roy Mottahedeh, The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran (1985), on the place of religion in 20th-century Iran, set in a historical context. 'Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'l, Shi'ite Islam, trans. from Farsi, 2nd ed. (1977), provides an authoritative study on the origins and growth of Shi'ism. Works on the religious background of the Islamic revolution of 1979 include Shahrough Akhavi, Religion and Politics in Contemporary Iran: Clergy-State Relations in the Pahlavi Period (1980); and Michael M.J. Fisher, Iran: From Religious Dispute to Revolution (1980). Culture Arthur Upham Pope, Masterpieces of Persian Art (1945, reissued 1970); and Hans E. Wulff, The Traditional Crafts of Persia: Their Development, Technology, and Influence on Eastern and Western Civilizations (1966), are well-documented studies with illustrations. R.W. Ferrier (ed.), The Arts of Persia (1989), is an extensive, well-illustrated survey covering the Neolithic Period to the 19th century, although it concentrates on Islamic arts. More information can be found in the bibliographies of the articles Iranian arts; and Islamic arts.