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iran

Iran (Persian: ایران) is a Middle Eastern country located in southwestern Asia that until 1935 was referred to in the West as Persia. The name Iran is a modern cognate of Aryan meaning the Land of Aryans. Iran borders Pakistan (909km of border) and Afghanistan (936km) to the east, Turkmenistan (1000km) to the northeast, the Caspian Sea to the north, Azerbaijan (500km) and Armenia (35km) to the northwest, Turkey (500km) and Iraq (1458km) to the west, and finally the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the south. In 1979, a revolution led by the Ayatollah Khomeini established a theocratic Islamic Republic, which makes the present full name of the country Islamic Republic of Iran (جمهوری اسلامی ایران).

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Politics

Main article: Politics of Iran

Since the revolution of 1979 the Supreme Leader is the rahbar, or in the absence of a single leader a council of religious leaders. They are elected from the clerical establishment on the basis of their qualifications and the high popular esteem in which they are held. The supreme leader appoints the six religious members of the 12-member Council of Guardians, as well as the highest judicial authorities and is commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

The head of state is the president, elected by universal suffrage to a 4-year term by an absolute majority of votes and supervises the affairs of the executive branch. All presidential candidates must be approved by the Council prior to running. After his election, the president appoints and supervises the Council of Ministers (the cabinet), coordinates government decisions, and selects government policies to be placed before the parliament. The Council of Guardians certifies the competence of candidates for the presidency and the parliament.

The unicameral Iranian parliament, the Islamic Consultative Assembly or Majles-e Shura-ye Eslami, consists of 290 members elected to a 4-year term. The members are elected by direct and secret ballot. All legislation from the assembly must be reviewed by the Council of Guardians. The Council's six lay-members, all lawyers appointed by parliament, vote only on limited questions of the constitutionality of legislation; the six religious members consider all bills for conformity to Islamic principles.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Iran

Iran's landscape is dominated by rugged mountain ranges that separate various basins or plateaus from one another. The populous western part is the most mountainous, with ranges such as the Zagros and Alborz Mountains, the latter of which also contains Iran's highest point, the Damavand at 5,607 m. The eastern half consists mostly of uninhabited desert basins with the occasional salt lake.

The only large plains are found along the coast of the Caspian Sea and at the northern end of the Persian Gulf, where Iran borders on the mouth of the Arvand river (Shatt al-Arab). Smaller, discontinuous plains are found along the remaining coast of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman. The Iranian climate is mostly arid or semiarid, though subtropical along the Caspian coast. Iran is considered to be one of the fifteen states that comprise the so-called "Cradle of Humanity"

See also List of cities in Iran.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Iran

The economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale private trading and service ventures. The current administration has continued to follow the market reform plans of the previous one and has indicated that it will pursue diversification of Iran's oil-reliant economy.

The strong oil market in 1996 helped ease financial pressures on Iran and allowed for Tehran's timely debt service payments. Iran's financial situation tightened in 1997 and deteriorated further in 1998 because of lower oil prices. The subsequent rise in oil prices in 1999/2000 afforded Iran fiscal breathing room but does not solve Iran's structural economic problems, including the encouragement of foreign investment.

History

Category:Persian Gulf states
Category:Iran
Category:Middle Eastern countries

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "iran".