Population: In mid-2005 Iran’s population was estimated at 68 million, approximately one-third of which lived in rural settlements and two-thirds in urban population centers. Population density was 41.8 people per square kilometer. Urbanization has been steady; in 1976 only 47 percent of the population lived in urban areas. In 2005 the annual population growth rate was 0.86 percent. Net migration in 2005 was –2.64 persons per 1,000 population. In 2004 Iran hosted an estimated 2.1 million refugees, 1.85 million of whom were from Afghanistan and 220,000 from Iraq. Under repatriation agreements, an estimated 1 million Afghan and 107,000 Iraqi refugees had returned home by 2005.

Demography: According to a 2005 estimate, 27.1 percent of Iran’s population was younger than 15, and only 4.9 percent was older than 64; the population was 51 percent male. In 2005 the overall life expectancy was 70.0 years: 68.6 years for men, 71.4 years for women. The birthrate was 16.8 per 1,000 population; the death rate, 5.6 per 1,000 population; and the infant mortality rate, 41.6 per 1,000 live births. Between 1979 and 2005, the fertility rate decreased from about 7 to 1.8 children born per woman.

Ethnic Groups and Languages: The main ethnic groups in Iran are Persian (60 percent), Azeri (20 percent), Kurdish (7 percent), Lur (3 percent), Arab (2 percent), Baloch (2 percent), Turkmen (2 percent), Turkish tribal groups, such as the Qashqai (2 percent), and non-Persian, non-Turkic groups such as Armenians, Assyrians, and Georgians (2 percent). Persian, the official language, is spoken as a mother tongue by 60 percent of the population and as a second language by an additional 15 percent. Other languages in use are Azeri Turkish and Turkic dialects (24 percent), Kurdish (7 percent), Luri (3 percent), Arabic (2 percent), and Balochi (2 percent). Azeri and Kurdish autonomy movements arose in the 1940s, and a Kurdish autonomy movement was active in the period 1979–83.

Religion: The constitution declares Shia Islam as the official religion of Iran. At least 90 percent of Iranians are Shia Muslims, up to 7 percent are Sunni Muslims, and 2 percent adhere to various other Islamic sects such as the Ahl-e Haqq. Other religions are Christianity (mainly Armenians and Assyrians, about 300,000 followers), Bahaism (250,000 to 300,000), Zoroastrianism (30,000 to 60,000), and Judaism (20,000 to 30,000). The constitution recognizes Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism as legitimate minority religions. Bahaism is not recognized as a legitimate minority religion, and since 1979 Baha’is have experienced periodic bouts of persecution. Individuals of all religions are required to observe Islamic codes on dress and gender segregation in public. Individuals of minority religions are prohibited from serving in senior administrative positions in many government ministries. In the early 2000s, Christians have been emigrating from Iran at the rate of 15,000 to 20,000 per year.

Education and Literacy: In 2003 the literacy rate of the population was 79.4 percent. The rate for males was 85.6 percent and the rate for females, 73 percent. Under the constitution, primary education (between ages six and 10) is compulsory. The government reports that 95 percent of children receive primary and secondary education. Primary, secondary, and higher education is free, although private schools and universities charge tuition. The majority of Iran’s 113,000 pre-collegiate public schools are single-sex beyond kindergarten. Universities are coeducational. Minority religions except Bahaism maintain private schools, but supervisors must be Muslim, and one hour per week of Islam is a required subject, as in public schools. Iran has 107 public universities, where entry is very competitive; more than 550,000 students, 57 percent of them female, were enrolled in 2004. The largest public university is the University of Tehran, which has enrolled about 32,000 graduate and undergraduate students annually since 1998. All of the other major cities in Iran also have public universities. In 2004 the largest private university, the Islamic Free University, had 110 branches all over Iran and a total enrollment of 700,000. Some 33 other private universities enrolled a total of 23,000 students.

Health: The overall quality of public health care improved dramatically after the 1978–79 Revolution because public health has been a top priority of the government. The constitution entitles Iranians to basic health care, and most receive subsidized prescription drugs and vaccination programs. An extensive network of public clinics offers basic care at low cost, and general and specialty hospitals operated by the Ministry of Health provide higher levels of care. In most large cities, well-to-do persons use private clinics and hospitals that charge high fees. Specialized medical facilities are concentrated in urban areas, but rural communities have relatively good access to primary care physicians at clinics in villages, where the government-sponsored primary health care system has raised the level of health education and prenatal care since the late 1990s. Immunization of children is accessible to most of the urban and rural population. In the early 2000s, estimates of the number of physicians varied from 8.5 to 11 per 10,000 population. About 46 percent of physicians were women. There were about seven nurses and 11 hospital beds per 10,000 population. Some 650 hospitals were in operation. In the early 2000s, about 65 percent of the population was covered by the voluntary national health insurance system. More expensive private health insurance plans also were available.

As Iran’s health system has improved, the role of communicable diseases as causes of death has diminished relative to that of noncommunicable diseases. Therefore, in the early 2000s the main natural causes of death have been cardiovascular disease and cancer. Opium and other drug addictions constitute a major and growing health problem; in 2005 estimates of the number of drug addicts ranged from 2 to 4 million. Increased drug use has driven up the incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In 2005 two-thirds of the official total of 9,800 HIV cases were attributed to drug use. Iran has established a national HIV treatment system, including 150 testing sites and a free needle exchange program. Earthquakes regularly take several thousand lives in Iran. The Bam earthquake of December 2003 killed nearly 28,000 people.

Welfare: Iran’s Ministry of Social Affairs supervises public programs for pensions, disability benefits, and income for minor children of deceased workers. Welfare programs for the needy are managed by more than 30 individual public agencies and semi-state organizations, as well as by several private non-governmental organizations. In 2003 the government began to consolidate its welfare organizations in an effort to eliminate redundancy and inefficiency. The largest welfare organization is the Bonyad-e Mostazafin (Foundation of the Underprivileged), a semi-public foundation originally founded in 1979 with the assets of the last shah’s family; it operates a wide variety of charitable activities. In late 2005, President Ahmadinejad formed the Reza Love Fund to provide financial assistance to young couples seeking financial stability. Initial capitalization was US$1.3 billion, raised from state oil revenue and donations. In the late 1990s, the extension of pensions to farming household heads over 60 effectively doubled the number of Iranians eligible for government pensions to more than 60 percent of the workforce. Self-employed persons in urban areas are the major group not covered. Civil servants, the regular military, law enforcement agencies, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s second major military organization, have their own pension systems. In 2003 the minimum standard pension was 50 percent of the worker’s earnings but not less than the amount of the minimum wage. Iran spent 22.5 percent of its 2003 national budget on social welfare programs. More than 50 percent of that amount covered pensions. Considering all social welfare programs available, urban residents benefit more than the rural population. Government workers are eligible for sickness, maternity, and work injury benefits, but few private employers provide these benefits. The Imam Khomeini Social Assistance Committee and other semi-public foundations supply such benefits to some workers.

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This series of profiles of foreign nations is part of the Country Studies Program, formerly the Army Area Handbook Program. The profiles offer brief, summarized information on a country’s historical background, geography, society, economy, transportation and telecommunications, government and politics, and national security. In addition to being featured in the front matter of published Country Studies, they are now being prepared as stand-alone reference aides for all countries in the series, as well as for a number of additional countries of interest. The profiles offer reasonably current country information independent of the existence of a recently published Country Study and will be updated annually or more frequently as events warrant.