The population of Iran was
estimated at 66,622,704 in 2002. This figure is more than double
the 1975 population of 33,379,000. Between 1956 and 1986 Iran's
population grew at a rate of more than 3 percent per year. The
growth rate began to decline in the mid-1980s after the
government initiated a major population control program. By 2002
the growth rate had declined to 0.8 percent per year, with a
birth rate of 18 per 1,000 persons and a death rate of 5 per
1,000. In 1998, 44 percent of the population was under age 15,
53 percent was between 15 and 64, and only 4 percent was aged 65
or older.
Overall population density in
2002 was 40 persons per sq km (105 per sq mi)
. Northern and western Iran are more densely populated than
the arid eastern half of the country, where population density
in the extensive desert regions is only 1 percent of the
national average. In 2000, 62 percent of the population lived in
urban areas. About 99 percent of rural Iranians resided in
villages. Only 240,000 were nomads (people without
permanent residences who migrate seasonally), a fraction of the
2 million nomads counted in 1966.
Tehrān, the country’s capital and
largest city, serves as the main administrative, commercial,
educational, financial, industrial, and publishing center.
Iran's other major cities include
Mashhad, a manufacturing and commercial center in the
northeast and the site of the country's most important religious
shrine;
Eşfahān, a manufacturing center for central Iran with
several architecturally significant public buildings from the
17th and 18th centuries;
Tabrīz, the main industrial and commercial center of the
northwest;
Shīrāz, a manufacturing center in the south near the ruins
of the ancient Persian capital of
Persepolis; and
Ahvāz, the principal commercial and manufacturing center in
the southwestern oil region.
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Iran’s population is made up of
numerous ethnic groups. Persians migrated to the region from
Central Asia beginning in the 7th century
bc
and established the first Persian empire in 550
bc.
They are the largest ethnic group, and include such groups as
the Gilaki, who live in Gilān Province, and the Mazandarani, who
live in Māzandarān Province. Accounting for about 60 percent of
the total population, Persians live in cities throughout the
country, as well as in the villages of central and eastern Iran.
Two groups closely related to the Persians both ethnically and
linguistically are the
Kurds and the Lurs. The Kurds, who make up about 7 percent
of the population, reside primarily in the Zagros Mountains near
the borders with Iraq and Turkey. The Lurs account for 2 percent
of the population; they inhabit the central Zagros region.
Turkic tribes began migrating into northwestern Iran in the 11th
century, gradually changing the ethnic composition of the region
so that by the late 20th century East Azerbaijan Province was
more than 90 percent Turkish. Since the early 1900s, Azeris (a
Turkic group) have been migrating to most large cities in Iran,
especially Tehrān. Azeris and other Turkic peoples together
account for about 25 percent of Iran’s inhabitants. The
remainder of the population comprises small communities of
Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Baluchis, Georgians, Pashtuns, and
others.
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Modern Persian is the official
language of Iran. An ancient literary language, Persian was
written in the Pahlavi script before the Arab conquest in the
7th century. A new form written in the Arabic script developed
during the 9th and 10th centuries; this is the basis of the
Modern Persian language used today (see
Persian Language;
Arabic Language: Arabic Script). As recently as 1950
there were several distinct dialects of spoken Persian, but due
to the spread of public education and broadcast media, a
standard spoken form, with minor regional accents, has evolved.
Important languages of minority groups that have their own
publications and broadcast programs include Azeri (a Turkic
language of the Altaic family), Kurdish, Arabic, and Armenian.
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Jafari Shia Islam has been the
official religion of Iran since the 16th century. Followers of
Shia Islam disagree with Sunni Muslims (see
Sunni Islam), who form the majority of Muslims in the Middle
East and the Islamic world, over the rightful succession to the
Prophet
Muhammad, the founder of Islam. Iran’s 1979 constitution
assigns to the Shia clergy important political leadership roles
in the government. An estimated 93 percent of all Iranians
follow Shia Islam, and nearly all are members of the Jafari
group. Because Jafaris believe there are 12 legitimate
successors, or
imams, to Muhammad, they are often called Twelvers. Most of
the remaining population belongs to other Islamic denominations,
primarily Sunni Islam. In towns where there are mixed Muslim
communities, religious tensions have surfaced frequently,
especially during major religious observances.
Sufism, or Islamic mysticism, is popular among Shia and
Sunni Muslims seeking spiritual interpretations of religion.
Iran also has small communities of Armenian and Assyrian
Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians. The Baha’i faith, which
originated in Iran during the 19th century, has several thousand
secret followers, even though it has been a target of official
persecution since the Islamic republic came to power in 1979.
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Public primary education was
introduced in Iran after the country’s first constitution was
drafted in 1906. Predominantly an urban system, it expanded only
gradually and did not include secondary education until 1925. At
the time of the 1979 Islamic revolution, only 60 percent of
Iranian children of primary school age, and less than 50 percent
of those of secondary school age, were enrolled in public
schools; overall adult literacy was only 48 percent. Since 1979
the government has given a high priority to education, with
programs focusing on adult literacy, new school construction,
and expansion of public colleges and other institutes of higher
education. By 2001 literacy for all Iranians aged 15 and older
had reached 94.6 percent. The literacy rate was higher for males
(96.6 percent) than for females (92.5 percent); the rate was
also higher in cities than in rural areas.
Both the public education system
and an expanding private school system consist of a five-year
primary school cycle, a three-year middle school cycle, and a
four-year high school cycle. Education is compulsory for
children between the ages of 6 and 11. All villages now have at
least a primary school, and 89.6 percent of primary school-aged
children were enrolled in school in 1996. Dropout rates begin
during middle school and increase significantly during high
school. In 1996 only 74.2 percent of secondary school-aged
children were enrolled in secondary school. Dropout rates are
significantly higher in rural areas, where there is a shortage
of high schools within easy commuting distance. Although
educational opportunities for girls improved after the
revolution, the dropout rate is still higher for girls. Although
87 percent of girls of eligible age attended primary school,
only 69 percent attended secondary school.
Iran has more than 30
tuition-free public universities and many other institutes of
higher learning. These include medical universities and
specialized colleges providing instruction in teacher training,
agriculture, and other subjects. In all, only 17 percent of
Iranians of relevant age were enrolled in institutions of higher
learning in 1996. Tehrān serves as a center for higher
education, with more than 15 universities and numerous colleges
and institutes. Other important universities are located in
Hamedān, Eşfahān, Shīrāz, and Tabrīz. In addition to the public
system, Iran has a private system of higher education that
consists of theological colleges and the Islamic Free
University, which has been developing campuses in cities
throughout the country since its establishment in the late
1980s.
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Iranian society in the early 20th
century consisted of a narrow ruling elite (the Qajar dynasty
monarch and his extended family, court-appointed officials in
Tehrān and provincial capitals, major landlords, and chiefs of
large nomadic tribes); a middle tier, including urban bazaar
merchants, the Shia clergy, and artisans; and a large, poor
segment comprising mostly share-cropping peasants and nomads but
also some town dwellers engaged in service-sector trades.
Following the overthrow of the Qajar dynasty in 1925,
Reza Shah Pahlavi implemented wide-ranging economic
development programs that stimulated the industrialization and
urbanization of the country. These changes led to the emergence
of two new, urban social groups: a middle class of professionals
and technocrats (technical experts) and a working class engaged
in manual and industrial labor. Reza Shah’s son and successor,
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, continued the development
programs, and the two new social groups gradually expanded.
By the late 1970s, however, the
professional and technocratic middle class had divided into
secular and religious factions. Both groups contributed to the
overthrow of the shah in 1979; the secular group objected to the
autocratic rule and economic corruption of the monarchy, while
the religious group feared that the shah’s embrace of the West
threatened traditional Islamic morality. The religious middle
class, in alliance with the Shia clergy and under the leadership
of
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, gradually split from the
secular middle class and consolidated power after the
revolution. This group pursued an accelerated industrialization
program, causing further expansion of the middle-income
population from 15 percent of the total population in 1979 to 40
percent by 1996. The working class also expanded, while the
peasant and nomad populations decreased; together these three
low-income groups accounted for 53 percent of the population.
High-ranking officials, physicians, and entrepreneurs made up
the upper-income group (7 percent of the population).
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Codes of personal conduct and
group behavior that far predate the Islamic conquest of the 7th
century continue to influence Iranian culture. Enduring cultural
values include obligations to extended family, hospitality
toward guests, and striving to act morally. However, social
changes during the 20th century have affected these values. For
example, the new professional middle class began living in
nuclear family (consisting only of father, mother, and
children), rather than extended family, residences. Busy
lifestyles in large cities and eight-hour workdays proved
incompatible with the custom of spontaneously inviting friends
home for a meal. The increase in educational opportunities for
girls since 1979 raised expectations among women for work
opportunities outside the home. The rapid expansion of the
middle class since the revolution has stimulated the growth of a
consumer society in which various material goods are perceived
as status symbols.
The 1979 revolution was heavily
imbued with religious rhetoric. Its leaders subsequently banned
many forms of entertainment that they considered sinful,
including casinos, nightclubs and dance halls, movies that
featured nudity or sexual themes, and musical genres such as pop
and rock. For more wholesome entertainment, the government
encouraged Iranian traditional and Western classical music, new
films emphasizing family values, and recreational and sports
facilities segregated by gender. Both men and women were
required to dress modestly in public. For women, modest dress,
or hejab, meant covering their hair with a scarf and
having no exposed flesh other than their hands and faces; for
men it meant wearing long trousers and long-sleeve shirts.
The population gradually adapted
to the various restrictions and continued to enjoy
pre-revolutionary leisure activities such as attending sports
events, especially soccer, the national pastime. The general
decline in public entertainment venues contributed to an
increase in home entertaining. Popular foods at such gatherings
include fresh seasonal fruit, greens, and nuts. Also popular are
traditional Iranian dishes of steamed rice served with minced
lamb and chicken kebabs cooked over charcoal or with traditional
stews made with simmered meat, fruits, legumes, and spices. Tea
is always served to guests in the home and the workplace; fruit
juices and carbonated beverages also are popular. The sale and
consumption of alcoholic beverages has been prohibited since
1979, although there is a black market for bootleg vodka and
wine. Other general recreational and leisure activities include
hiking, picnicking, watching television and videos, and making
seasonal visits to Caspian Sea beaches and various historical
sites and religious shrines. In large cities, shopping and
attending movies, concerts, theaters, museums, and poetry
readings also are popular.
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Although government programs have
reduced the number of families with annual incomes below the
officially defined poverty line from 47 percent in 1979 to 19
percent in 1996, poverty continues to be a major social problem.
To lessen the impact of poverty, the government provides
low-income families with various subsidies for food, fuel, and
utilities. Health care services remain inadequate in rural
areas. Another serious social problem is the widespread
recreational use of illegal drugs, especially among young men,
despite the government’s heavy use of the print and broadcast
media to educate the public about the harmful effects of
addiction and drug-related crime.
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Public social services in Iran
include a national health insurance program that provides free
or low-cost health care in government-run city hospitals and
village clinics. A social security program, funded by a special
tax on wages and salaries, provides pensions for retired public
sector employees and some private sector employees. It also
provides survivor benefits to widows of deceased retirees and
veterans killed in action, disability payments to family heads
incapacitated by work-related injuries or catastrophic
illnesses, and special payments for minor-aged children of
deceased workers. Numerous private organizations also provide
various social services for low-income people.
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