IRAN

Mohammed Khatami
President

(pronounced "mow-HAH-muhd kah-TAW-mee")

"The need of the moment and the future is to stabilize and deepen democracy and realize the rights of the people alongside religion."

The Islamic Republic of Iran is bordered on the north by the Caspian Sea and the central Asian republics of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf, and on the west by Iraq and Turkey. Iran has an area of 1,648,000 sq km (636,290 sq mi).

The population was estimated to be 66,622,704 with an annual growth rate of about 0.77% in 2002. Persian, which belongs to the Indo-European family of languages, is Iran's official language, with Kurdish, Baluchi, Luri, Armenian, Azeri Turkish, and Arabic being the other principal tongues in this multi-ethnic country. Shiite Muslims comprise 93% of the population while Sunni Muslims, Zoroastrians, Christians, Jews, and the Bahai's constitute Iran's minorities.

The Iranian currency is the rial. The per capita gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at US $7,000 in 2001. Iran's primary export is crude petroleum. Its major trading partners are Japan, Germany, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Greece, the UK, Italy, and France.