Iran           Introduction        

Background:        Known as Persia until 1935, Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling shah was forced into exile. Conservative clerical forces subsequently crushed westernizing liberal elements. Militant Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran on 4 November 1979 and held it until 20 January 1981. During 1980-88, Iran fought a bloody, indecisive war with Iraq over disputed territory. The key current issue is how rapidly the country should open up to the modernizing influences of the outside world.

Iran           Geography  

Location:         Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Pakistan

Geographic coordinates:        32 00 N, 53 00 E

Map references:         Middle East

Area: total:  1.648 million sq km

land:  1.636 million sq km

water:  12,000 sq km

Area - comparative:        slightly larger than Alaska

Land boundaries:         total:  5,440 km

border countries:  Afghanistan 936 km, Armenia 35 km, Azerbaijan-proper 432 km, Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave 179 km, Iraq 1,458 km, Pakistan 909 km, Turkey 499 km, Turkmenistan 992 km

Coastline:         2,440 km; note - Iran also borders the Caspian Sea (740 km)