The area of Iran. Population, borders, characteristics of Iran

Iran is one of the largest Asian countries. It borders on countries such as Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Armenia. The capital is the city of Tehran. Iran is a country in which the first pockets of human civilization were located thousands of years ago. What are the main features of this country?

Main information and geographical characteristics of Iran

The main part of the country is located on the Iranian plateau. Here the plateaus alternate with high plains. In the northern part of the country there is the mountain range Elbrus. It is separated from the Caspian by a small strip of lowland. The climate of the country is continental subtropical. Iranian rivers are usually shallow. The largest lakes are Urmia and Hamun.

The whole area of Iran is divided into 27 districts, or "stop". The largest cities are Isfahan, Tabriz, Urmia, Abadan, Mashhad. Iran also includes some islands, located in the Persian and Ottoman Gulf. The total area of Iran is 1.65 million km ² . The state is on the 17th place in the world in terms of the size of the territory. Iranian currency is the monetary unit of rial.

Economy

A large part of Iran's area is rich in minerals. This is manganese, copper, chrome, zinc ore. The products of foreign trade are carpets and nuts, as well as fishing products. Most of the population living on Iran's square is engaged in agriculture. One of the main problems is the low fertility of soils and the lack of fresh water for irrigation. About a third of the total population is unemployed. Mostly they are young people.

Population

More than 60 ethnic groups live on Iranian territory. Most of them are Persians - they live in the southern and central parts of the country. In the north live gilants, Mazenderans, Talish. On the western territory - Kurds, Luras, Bakhtiari, on the eastern - Pashtuns, Baluchis, Tajiks. All these ethnic groups are ethnically close to the Persians. It is known that Iran is one of the most "young" countries in the world. The number of residents whose age does not exceed 15 years is about 25%. The next largest ethnic group is Azerbaijanis. According to various estimates, their number ranges from 20% to 40% of the total population. Why do so many Azerbaijanis live on both sides of the Iranian border? This is due to the fact that historically the territory of present-day Azerbaijan is part of the Iranian state system. They are part of the Iranian society. And in the western part of Iran, Kurds live (from 5% to 10% of the total number). The total population is 78.4 million people.

Languages in Iran

What languages are most common in Iranian usage? On this account, there are many misconceptions. Most Iranians are Persians by national composition. Hence, they say in Persian, or Farsi. Persian - the most common among the Iranian group of the Indo-European language tree. It has about 50 million carriers in Iran (more than 80% of the total population).

Farsi is not only the official language in Iran - it is spoken by the people of Afghanistan, Tajikistan and the Pamirs. There are also a few communities that use Farsi in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. For writing, Farsi speakers use a slightly modified Arabic alphabet - several letters have been added to it, which are not in Arabic itself. The Persian language contains a large number of borrowed lexical units from Arabic. This language influenced Farsi as a result of the conquests in the 7th century.

From the history of Farsi

Farsi has a fairly ancient history. The first sources of the ancient Persian language refer to the 1st millennium BC. E. Then a cuneiform letter was widely used. The oldest version of Farsi has undergone a transformation for 2 thousand years. Approximately in the 1st millennium BC. E. It was the era of the Middle Persian language, which was the official language of the Sassanid empire. In the 7th century AD E. Political transformations took place - the Persian territory was conquered by the Arabs. At that time, the Middle Persian language was used by small Zoroastrian diasporas and the ethnic group of Parsis in India.

The next stage is the New Persian language, which included elements from Arabic. Beginning with the IX century, Farsi very quickly acquires the status of the second literary language in the entire Muslim world. Currently, Farsi is significantly different from the classical New Persian language. These differences are visible in pronunciation, and in writing, and in vocabulary. The basis for oral speech, corresponding to the stylistic and grammatical norms, is the Teheran dialect.

President of Iran

At present, the head of Iran is Hasan Ruhani, who won the elections on May 20, 2017. About 41 million Iranians took part in the elections. 57% of the total number of voters voted for the incumbent president, and 38% voted for his opponent, Ibrahim Raisi. The state structure of Iran is such that the president takes the second place in terms of influence - in the political hierarchy the head of state is subordinate to the religious leader ("ayatollah"). The religious head is elected by a special council. Now he is Ali Khamenei.

An unusual tradition of communication

Tourists who visit Iran for the first time are usually confused. When they want to pay for taxi services - the driver refuses money. They come to the store - the same thing happens. What is the reason? It turns out that in Iran cultural practice is adopted under the intricate name "taarof". Of course, as in other countries, people do not get gifts for goods in stores or services for free. The practice of taarof is a local brand - it is a manifestation of true Persian politeness. If someone is invited to visit or to dinner, the duty of the invited person is to play up to the inviter and at first to refuse. The practice of taarof in Iran is suitable for almost any situation of communication.

Famous Persian carpets

Among the Persians, there is a saying: "The Persian carpet is impeccable in its faultlessness, accurate in inaccuracy." Where did it originate? In fact, errors and inaccuracies in Persian carpets are created deliberately. So the Persians tend to show that only God can create something perfect. If we ignore the issues of religion, the Persian carpet is an important element of the Iranian culture. After all, he has more than 2 millennia. The ability to weave carpets is especially common in some regions - for example, in the city of Kashan they are passed down from generation to generation.

In the Qur'an, the process of creating the world is described: the earth was created by Allah in six days. The first in the infinite emptiness of the Cosmos arose seven heavenly bodies. And then beneath them was a beautiful carpet of earth. Therefore, the carpet in the eastern tradition is associated with a mini-model of the kingdom of God on earth. The level of welfare in the East is estimated by how many carpets are in a person's house, and how expensive they are. If the family for some reason could not afford to carpet its dwelling, she evoked compassion. Historians believe that for the first time carpets were invented by the ancient Asian nomadic tribes.

The real gold of Iran

It is known that Iran is the largest producer of caviar, one of the most expensive products on the whole globe. It is from here that its most rare kind is delivered and at the same time the most expensive one. Beluga caviar under the name "Almas" costs more than 2 million rubles in just one kilogram. The age of fish for this caviar ranges from 60 to 100 years.

And this is not all. The Iranian tradition of producing saffron has about 3 millennia. About 90% of all exports of this spice are produced here. In this saffron is more expensive than many jewelry. Its price is about 4 thousand rubles per gram.

Beliefs of Ancient Iran

In place of modern Iraq and Iran, once there was Mesopotamia. Cities that appeared here in antiquity, modern historians called the cities of the Mesopotamia. They reached the peak of their power in the Sasanid era. Ancient Iranian urban culture was formed under the influence of Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism.

Zoroastrianism is a very ancient monotheistic belief. It is named after a founder named Zarathustra. The inhabitants of ancient Greece considered Zarathustra a philosopher and an astrologer. They also renamed the prophet to Zoroaster (from the ancient Greek "astra" - "star"). According to one version, the prophet lived in the II millennium BC. E. According to the researcher Mary Boyce, Zarathustra lived on the territory east of the Volga.

Manichaeism came about in the III century. N. E. His prophet was Mani, or Manes, who preached in 240 AD. E. In the capital of the Sassanid Empire - Ctesiphonte. The prophet Mani was convinced that all religions of the world are one. The basis of Manichaeism was the opposition of good and evil.

Myths about Iran

In fact, Iran has a very high level of public safety. The last hostilities took place here more than 30 years ago. This misconception has spread because of tourists, inclined to confuse Iran and Iraq. Despite the fact that Iran is neighboring with Afghanistan and Iraq, it is absolutely safe to stay on its territory. The Iranians are a very friendly and hospitable people. Every year more and more tourists come here from different countries.

Iran also has a high level of education and culture, especially among women. More than half of university students are girls. Women also work in offices, can do business, take part in elections. In Iran, women are accepted to wear handkerchiefs, but they do not wear a veil covering their face. Among the beautiful half of the population of Iran, many women of fashion who love bright clothes.

Iran is in third place in the world in terms of the number of cultural monuments of UNESCO, second only to Italy and Egypt. The history of ancient Persia, the heir of which is modern Iran, has more than 5 thousand years. Previously, among the Iranians was widespread saying: "Who visited Isfahan - saw half of the world."