Iran

The Imperial State of Iran
The Imperial State of Iran کشور شاهنشاهی ایران ; Keshvare Shahanshahiye Iran
	Anthem: Ey Iran
	Map of Iran
Region	The Hope Federation
Capital	Tehran
Largest Largest City	Tehran
Official languages	Farsi
Demonym	Iranian
Government	Constitutional Monarchy
Legislature	Parliament
Establishment
Population
GDP (nominal)	2019 estimate
Gini (2016)	29.2; low
HDI (2016)	0.97; very high
Currency	Imperial Toman (ITI)
Time zone	IRST (UTC+3:30)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Drives on the	right
Calling code	+98
Internet TLD	.ir

This page is a work in progress by its author(s) and should not be considered final.

Iran, commonly called the Persia or the Empire and officially the Imperial State of Iran (Persian: کشور شاهنشاهی ایران‎, romanized: Keshvare Shahanshahiye Iran) is a country situated in West Asia. Iran is the world's third most populous country after Kroraina and the United States. Its territory spans the region between Europe and Asia, to its south it is bordered by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. To its north it is bordered by Russia and Kazakhstan, to its east it is border by Kroraina and to its west it is bordered by the Mediterranean and Turkey. Its location in the center of Eurasia has awarded it geostrategic importance.

Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning with the formation of the Elamite kingdoms in the fourth millennium BCE. It was first unified by the Iranian Medes in the seventh century BCE,] and reached its territorial height in the sixth century BCE under Cyrus the Great, whose Achaemenid Empire stretched from Eastern Europe to the Indus Valley, one of the largest empires in history. The empire fell to Alexander the Great in the fourth century BCE and was divided into several Hellenistic states. An Iranian rebellion established the Parthian Empire in the third century BCE, which was succeeded in the third century CE by the Sasanian Empire, a leading world power for the next four centuries.

Arab Muslims conquered the empire in the seventh century CE, and the subsequent Islamization of Iran led to the decline of the once dominant Zoroastrian religion. Iran's major contributions to art, philosophy, and science spread throughout the Muslim world and beyond during the Islamic Golden Age. Over the next two centuries, a series of native Muslim dynasties emerged before the Seljuq Turks and the Ilkhanate Mongols conquered the region. The rise of the native Safavids in the 15th century led to the reestablishment of a unified Iranian state and national identity, with the country's conversion to Shia Islam marking a turning point in Iranian and Muslim history.

Under Nader Shah, Iran was one of the most powerful states in the 18th century, though by the 19th century, a series of conflicts with the Russian Empire led to significant territorial losses. The Persian Constitutional Revolution in the early 20th century created a constitutional monarchy and the country's first legislature. A 1925 Coup led to the overthrow of the Qajar regime and installation of Reza Shah as Shah. His subsequent reforms, beginning with the Orders of Independence and subsequently the Democratic Responsibilities Act 1960 led to Iran developing into one of the world's leading democratic nations. Under Reza Shah, territorial losses against the Russians were reversed, with the annexation of Uzbekistan and the ascension of Turkmenitan, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The 1972 Iraqi Civil War was ended after Iranian intervention and a subsequent referendum in 1975 resulted in the annexation of Iraqi land. Syria and Lebanon ascended to the Empire after brief tensions with Egypt in 1982 were defused by joining the Imperial State. Iran's political system features a constitutional monarch (currently: Shahnaz Shahbanu) who is titled either King of Kings or Queen of Queens, the monarch appoints the Prime Minister on the confidence of the House of Representatives which is elected in instant-runoff voting (IRV). Iran's political system has been described as one of the most transparent and wholly democratic in the world, through the use of IRV and public financing of elections.

Iran is a founding member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC, and OPEC. It is a superpower in waiting according to some accounts, it has been suspected of having nuclear weapons since the 1990s however the government has officially not addressed such accusations. Its large reserves of fossil fuels—including the world's largest natural gas supply and the fourth largest proven oil reserves—exert considerable influence in international energy security and the world economy. The country's rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 22 UNESCO World Heritage sites. Historically a multi-ethnic country, Iran remains a pluralistic society comprising numerous ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups, the largest being Persians, Arabs, Azeris, Kurds, Mazandaranis and Lurs.

Iran also possesses an economic GDP per capita that rivals that of Western European nations, it has not seen a recession in 39 years.

Name

The term Iran derives directly from Middle Persian Ērān, first attested in a third-century inscription at Rustam Relief, with the accompanying Parthian inscription using the term Aryān, in reference to the Iranians. The Middle Iranian ērān and aryān are oblique plural forms of gentilic nouns ēr- (Middle Persian) and ary- (Parthian), both deriving from Proto-Iranian *arya- (meaning "Aryan", i.e. "of the Iranians"), recognized as a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *ar-yo-, meaning "one who assembles (skilfully)". In the Iranian languages, the gentilic is attested as a self-identifier, included in ancient inscriptions and the literature of the Avesta, and remains also in other Iranian ethnic names Alan (Ossetian: Ир Ir) and Iron (Ирон). According to the Iranian mythology, the country's name comes from name of Iraj, a legendary prince and shah who was killed by his brothers.

Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who referred to all of Iran as Persís (Ancient Greek: Περσίς; from Old Persian 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿 Pārsa), meaning "land of the Persians", while Persis itself was one of the provinces of ancient Iran that is today defined as Fars. As the most extensive interaction the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, the term persisted, even long after the Greco-Persian Wars (499–449 BC).

In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, Iran, effective 22 March that year. Opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision in 1959, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably. Today, both Iran and Persia are used in cultural contexts, while Iran remains irreplaceable in official state contexts and is more commonly used than Persia in general.

Historical and cultural usage of the word Iran is not restricted to the modern state proper. "Greater Iran" (Irānzamīn or Irān e Bozorg) refers to territories of the Iranian cultural and linguistic zones. In addition to modern Iran, it includes portions of the Caucasus, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Afghanistan, and Central Asia, regions that since 1982 have all returned to the Empire.

History

Prehistory

Classical Antiquity

Medieval Period

Early Modern Period

Savafids, Afsharids and Zands

Qajars

Pahlavi Dynasty

Ceontemporary Era

Georgaphy

Government and Politics

Monarch

Parliament

Prime Minister

Foreign Affairs

Military

Main Article: Imperial Defence Force

Economy

Education, Science and Technology

Demographics

Culture

Iran

Contents