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> Iran [Islamic Republic of]
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General Information
Area: 1,648,000 sq km (636,296 sq miles).
Population: 62,746,000 (1999).
Population Density: 38.1 per sq km.
Capital: Tehran. Population: 6,758,845 (1996).
GEOGRAPHY: Iran is located in the Middle East, bounded to the north by Turkmenistan and the Caspian Sea, the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and the west by Iraq and Turkey. The centre and east of the country are largely barren undulating desert, punctured by qanats (irrigation canals) and green oases, but there are mountainous regions in the west along the Turkish and Iraqi borders and in the north where the Elburz Mountains rise steeply from a fertile belt around the Caspian Sea.
Government: Islamic Republic since 1979. Head of State: Supreme Leader (Rahbar-e Moazam) Ayatollah Ali Khameni since 1989. Head of Government: President Muhammad Khatami since 2001.
Language: Persian (Farsi) is the most widely spoken language. Arabic is spoken in Khuzestan in the southwest, and Turkish in the northwest around Tabriz. English, French and (to a lesser extent) German are spoken by many businessmen and officials.
Religion: Predominantly Islamic; mostly Shi’ite, with a minority of Sunnis. The 1976 census recorded 300,000 Christians, 80,000 Jews and 30,000 Zoroastrians.
Time: GMT + 3.5 (GMT + 4.5 from 20 March to 21 September).
Electricity: 220 volts AC, 50Hz. Plugs are of the round two-pin type.
Communications:
Telephone
IDD service available. Country code: 98. Outgoing international code: 00. Telephone booths are yellow.
Mobile telephone
GSM 900 network. Main network operators include Payam Kish (website: www.payamkish.com) and TCI (website: www.iran-telecom.com).
Fax/telegram
Facilities are available at main post offices. There are three charge bands. There are also fax facilities at the major hotels.
Internet
ISPs include Tehran Web (website: www.mz3.com) and Pishgaman Kavir Yazd (website: www.yazd.co.ir). There are Internet cafes in Teheran and other cities.
Post
Airmail to Western Europe can take at least two weeks. There are ten main Post offices in Tehran. Post boxes are yellow. Stamps can be bought at some cigarette kiosks. Post office hours: Generally Sat-Thurs 0730-1500, but some main post offices stay open until 2100.
Press
The main English-language papers are the Tehran Times, Kayhan International and Iran News.
BBC World Service and Voice of America frequencies: From time to time these change.
BBC (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice):
Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov):
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
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