Iran

Formerly known as persia, the Islamic Republic of Iran has long been the site of political struggle, especially for the control of oil, under the influence of foreign powers. In 1953, for example, after the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was nationalized by the democratically elected government, a traditional monarchy under a shah was reinstated with support from the United States and the United Kingdom. The country received worldwide attention in 1979 by expelling the ruling shah, a strong ally of the United States, and taking over the American Embassy in Tehran. Between 1980–88, Iran carried on a war with neighboring Iraq, ultimately facing the U.S. Navy in 1987–88. Recent elections have further cemented conservative power in Iran and have produced clashes with international organizations over nuclear capabilities. In February 2006, Iran's Atomic Energy Organization contracted with Russia to develop a joint uranium enrichment project. Two months later, the Iranian government announced that it would not yield to demands of the United Nations (UN) Security Council to halt such activities, but would begin producing nuclear fuel on an industrial scale.

Despite Iran's collecting around $40 billion in foreign exchange oil reserves, 40 percent of the Iranian population of 68,017,800 lives in poverty. With a per capita income of $12,900, Iran is ranked 99th in world incomes. More than 11 percent of the labor force is unemployed, yet Iran is experiencing a shortage of skilled labor. Some 27 percent of females and around 11 percent of males over the age of 15 are illiterate. Almost one-third of the workforce is engaged in agriculture, chiefly at the subsistence level. Seven percent of the population lack sustained access to safe drinking water, and 16 percent lack access to improved sanitation. Even so, the country has a strong and growing middle class and a large and widespread set of opportunities in education for both men and women. The UN Development Program (UNDP) Human Development Reports rank Iran 99th of 232 countries on qualityof-life issues.

Strategically located in the Persian Gulf and bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Caspian Sea, Iran has a coastline of 1,513 miles (2,440 kilometers). Iran shares land borders with Afghanistan, Armenia, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan as well as Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave.

The terrain varies from rugged mountains to a high, central basin with deserts giving way to small, isolated plains along the coasts of the gulf and the Caspian Sea. Except for the area along the Caspian coast where the climate is subtropical, Iran's climate is either arid or semiarid. In addition to large deposits of petroleum and natural gas, Iran's most valuable natural resources are coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, and sulfur.

Iran experiences periodic droughts and floods, and sand and dust storms are common. Earthquakes are a constant threat in Iran, such as the quake registering 7.5 on the Richter scale that hit the southeastern city of Bam in December 2003. The quake caused the deaths of more than 40,000 people and displaced an additional 100,000 individuals, who are still struggling to regain equilibrium. In March 2006, three new earthquakes struck Iran, causing 66 deaths and injuring over 1,000 people.

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