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Iran
AsiaSouthern Asia
1.65 Million km²
Quick Facts
Capital
Tehran
Area
1,648,195 km²
Language
Persian (Farsi)
Currency
Iranian Rial (IRR)
Calling Code
+98
Drives On
Right
Internet
.ir
Timezone
IRST (UTC+3:30)
Script
Arabic (Persian variant)
Government
Islamic Republic
Independence
550 BC (Achaemenid Empire)
Map tiles by CARTO. Data by OpenStreetMap.
Iran is not what most people think it is. Behind the politics and headlines lies one of the oldest continuous civilizations on Earth - at least 7,000 years of history, a literary tradition that rivals any culture's, and a hospitality toward strangers so intense it borders on competitive sport. If you visit Iran, you will be invited to tea, to lunch, to dinner, to stay the night, to attend a wedding. Refusing is almost impossible. The Persians invented hospitality before it had a name.
The culture runs extraordinarily deep. The Cyrus Cylinder, often called the first declaration of human rights, dates to 539 BC. Rumi, born in 13th-century Persia, is the best-selling poet in the United States today. Persian gardens inspired the concept of paradise - the word itself comes from the Old Persian pairidaeza. Isfahan's mosques and palaces are among the most beautiful buildings ever constructed. Persian cuisine - saffron rice, stews of pomegranate and walnut, fragrant kebabs - is one of the world's great food traditions. And the landscape ranges from Alborz peaks topping 5,000 meters to the Dasht-e Lut, the hottest place on Earth. Iran is an entire civilization compressed into a single country.
Largest Cities in Iran
1
Tehran
Capital sprawling beneath the snow-capped Alborz Mountains, a city of 15 million in the metro area with world-class museums and bazaars
9,500,000
2
Isfahan
Half the world, the saying goes - a city of breathtaking mosques, bridges, and the vast Naqsh-e Jahan Square, a UNESCO masterpiece
2,200,000
3
Shiraz
City of poets, wine, and gardens, where the tombs of Hafez and Saadi draw pilgrims and the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque glows in stained glass
1,900,000
4
Tabriz
Azerbaijan's cultural capital in northwest Iran, home to the oldest covered bazaar in the Middle East, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
1,700,000
5
Mashhad
Iran's holiest city and second largest, home to the Imam Reza shrine complex visited by over 20 million pilgrims annually
3,300,000
6
Yazd
UNESCO-listed desert city of wind towers and Zoroastrian fire temples, where an ancient religion's sacred flame has burned for 1,500 years
530,000
Famous People from Iran
Rumi
Literature13th-century Sufi poet whose works on love and spirituality have made him the best-selling poet in the United States 800 years later
Cyrus the Great
PoliticsFounded the Achaemenid Empire and authored the Cyrus Cylinder, often considered the first declaration of human rights in 539 BC
Hafez
LiteratureIran's most beloved poet whose Divan is found in almost every Iranian home, consulted like an oracle on matters of the heart
Omar Khayyam
ScienceMathematician, astronomer, and poet who calculated the length of the year to extraordinary precision and wrote the Rubaiyat
Ferdowsi
LiteratureAuthor of the Shahnameh, the Persian Book of Kings - a 50,000-couplet epic that preserved the Persian language and identity
Abbas Kiarostami
FilmFilmmaker whose Taste of Cherry won the Palme d'Or, making Iranian cinema one of the most respected in world film
Avicenna
ScienceMedieval polymath whose Canon of Medicine was the standard medical textbook in Europe and the Islamic world for 500 years
Maryam Mirzakhani
ScienceFirst woman and first Iranian to win the Fields Medal, mathematics' highest honor, for her work on geometric surfaces
Traditional Cuisine of Iran
Chelo Kebab
Iran's national dish - saffron-infused basmati rice served with grilled kebab of minced lamb or beef, a raw egg yolk, and butter
Ghormeh Sabzi
Herb stew of fenugreek, parsley, cilantro with kidney beans and dried limes, arguably Iran's most beloved home-cooked meal
Tahdig
The crispy golden crust of rice from the bottom of the pot, the most fought-over part of every Iranian meal
Fesenjan
Rich stew of pomegranate and ground walnut sauce with chicken or duck, sweet, sour, and utterly unique
Zereshk Polo
Saffron rice studded with tart barberries and often served with chicken, a dish of stunning color and flavor contrast
Ash Reshteh
Thick noodle soup with beans, herbs, and kashk, traditionally served during Persian New Year celebrations
Dizi
Lamb and chickpea stew served in a stone pot, the broth drunk as soup and the solids mashed into a paste eaten with flatbread
Saffron Ice Cream
Persian ice cream flavored with saffron and rosewater, studded with pistachios, served between thin wafers as bastani
Nature & Landmarks in Iran
Dasht-e Lut
DesertUNESCO World Heritage desert where NASA recorded the hottest surface temperature on Earth at 70.7 degrees Celsius
Mount Damavand
MountainIran's highest peak and a dormant volcano at 5,610 meters, the tallest in the Middle East and a symbol of Iranian identity
Alborz Mountains
MountainDramatic mountain range separating Tehran from the Caspian Sea, with ski resorts just an hour from the capital
Caspian Hyrcanian Forests
ForestUNESCO World Heritage temperate rainforests along the Caspian coast, a relic of an ecosystem that dates back 50 million years
Persian Gardens
LandmarkNine UNESCO-listed gardens spanning 2,500 years of design, the origin of the English word paradise from Old Persian pairidaeza
Hormuz Island
IslandSurreal island in the Persian Gulf with red, orange, and silver beaches created by mineral-rich soils and volcanic geology
Badab-e Surt
LandmarkStunning terraced hot springs of orange and yellow mineral deposits in the mountains, Iran's answer to Pamukkale
Zagros Mountains
MountainIran's longest mountain range stretching 1,600 km, home to nomadic Bakhtiari and Qashqai tribes and rich oak forests
Sports in Iran
Wrestling
Ancient tradition with Olympic pedigree - Iran has won more Olympic medals in wrestling than in any other sport
Football
Qualified for six FIFA World Cups, football is by far the most popular sport in the country
Weightlifting
Multiple Olympic gold medalists including legendary super heavyweight champion Hossein Rezazadeh
Polo
Iran is the birthplace of polo, played by Persian nobility over 2,500 years ago, still practiced and celebrated today
Did You Know?
1
The word paradise comes from Old Persian pairidaeza, meaning walled garden - Persians literally invented the concept
2
Iran has 27 UNESCO World Heritage Sites spanning over 7,000 years of continuous civilization
3
Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, is consistently the best-selling poet in the United States
4
The Persian calendar, still used in Iran, is one of the most accurate solar calendars ever devised
5
Iranians celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, on the spring equinox with a 13-day festival that dates back over 3,000 years
6
Iran is one of the world's largest producers of saffron, the most expensive spice on Earth by weight
7
The ancient city of Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire and could seat 10,000 guests
8
Ta'arof is the elaborate Persian system of politeness where both parties insist the other goes first, a social ritual that can last several minutes
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