Iran, once known for centuries as Persia, is located in southwest Asia between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf and bordered by Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
The name “Iran” means “land of the Aryans” (the original settlers) and Iran was the center of a great empire of the ancient world. The Iranians (or Persians) ruled nearly half of the ancient civilized world at its height in the 6th and 5th centuries B.C.
Iran was long ruled by shahs, or kings. The last shah was overthrown in 1979, when an Islamic republic was established. Tehran is Iran's capital and largest city.
The Iranians are an Aryan people. Their ancestors migrated to the Iranian plateau from Central Asia before 1000 BC. Iran’s official language is Persian (Farsi) and the great majority of Iranians (about 98 percent) are Muslims, or followers of Islam.
Iran is the most populous and the second-largest country in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia, and is a major exporter of oil. Its population was estimated as 68,688,433 in 2006 and its total area of 636,296 square miles (1,648,000 square kilometers) is slightly larger than Alaska.
Its monetary unit is the rial.
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