IRAN



Islamic Republic of Iran

Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran

CAPITAL : Tehran

FLAG : The national flag is a tricolor of green, white, and red horizontal stripes, the top and bottom stripes having the Arabic inscription Allah Akbar ("God Is Great") written along the edge nearest the white stripe. In the center, in red, is the coat of arms, consisting of a stylized representation of the word Allah.

ANTHEM : The national anthem begins, "On the horizon rises the Eastern Sun."

MONETARY UNIT : The rial ( R ) is a paper currency of 100 dinars. There are coins of 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 rials, and notes of 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, and 10,000 rials. R 1 = $0.0001226 (or $1 = R 8,150) as of May 2003.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES : The metric system is the legal standard, but local units are widely used.

HOLIDAYS : National Day, 11 February; Oil Nationalization Day, 20 March; No Ruz (New Year), 21– 24 March; Islamic Republic Day, 1 April; 13th Day of No Ruz (Revolution Day), 2 April. Religious holidays (according to the lunar calendar) include Birthday of Imam Husayn; Birthday of the Twelfth Imam; Martyrdom of Imam 'Ali; Death of Imam Ja'afar Sadiq; 'Id al-Fitr; Birthday of Imam Reza; 'Idi-Qurban; 'Id-i-Qadir; Shab-i-Miraj; Martyrdom of Imam Husayn; 40th Day after the Death of Imam Husayn; Birthday of the Prophet; Birthday of Imam 'Ali.

TIME : 3:30 PM = noon GMT.


DEPENDENCIES

Iran has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Amanat, Abbas. Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.

Amirahmadi, Hooshang. Revolution and Economic Transition: The Iranian Experience. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990.

Amuzegar, Jahangir. Iran's Economy under the Islamic Republic. London and New York: St. Martin's, 1993.

Bina, Cyrus, and Hamid Zangeneh (eds.). Modern Capitalism and Islamic Ideology in Iran Bina and Hamid Zangeneh. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992.

Chandra, Satish and Baladas Ghoshal (eds.). Indonesia: A New Beginning? New Delhi, India: Sterling Publishers, 2002.

Chehabi, H. E. Iranian Politics and Religious Modernism: The Liberation Movement of Iran under the Shah and Khomeini. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1990.

Daneshvar, Parviz. Revolution in Iran. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996.

Elm, Mostafa. Oil, Power, and Principle: Iran's Oil Nationalization and its Aftermath. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1992.

Gasiorowski, Mark J. US Foreign Policy and the Shah: Building a Client State in Iran. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1991.

Hunter, Shireen. Iran after Khomeini. New York: Praeger, 1992.

Iran and the Arab World. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993.

Iranian Perspectives on the Iran-Iraq War. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1997.

Kamrava, Mehran. The Political History of Modern Iran: From Tribalism to Theocracy. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1992.

Karshenas, Massoud. Oil, State, and Industrialization in Iran. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Kashani-Sabet, Firoozeh. Frontier Fictions: Shaping the Iranian Nation, 1804–1946. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999.

Keddie, Nikki R. Iran and the Muslim World: Resistance and Revolution. Hampshire, England: Macmillan, 1995.

Lorentz, John H. Historical Dictionary of Iran. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1995.

Loveday, Helen. Iran. 2d ed. London: Hi Marketing, 1999.

Mackey, Sandra. The Iranians: Persia, Islam and the Soul of a Nation. New York: Dutton, 1996.

Mofid, Kamran. The Economic Consequences of the Gulf War. New York: Routledge, 1990.

O'Ballance, Edgar. Islamic Fundamentalist Terrorism, 1979–95: The Iranian Connection. Washington Square N.Y.: New York University Press, 1997.

O'Sullivan, Meghan L. Shrewd Sanctions: Statecraft and State Sponsors of Terrorism. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2003.

Paidar, Parvin. Women and the Political Process in Twentieth-Century Iran. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Shaffer, Brenda. Borders and Brethren: Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2002.

Simpson, John. Lifting the Veil: Life in Revolutionary Iran. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.

Standish, John F. Persia and the Gulf: Retrospect and Prospect. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998.

Wiesehofer, Josef. Ancient Persia: From 550 BC to 650 AD. New York: I. B. Tauris, 1996.

Zonis, Marvin. Majestic Failure: The Fall of the Shah. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.

Also read article about Iran from Wikipedia

User Contributions:

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: