Iran-+James+Green

Iran: James Green _ Iraq lies between latitudes 29°N and 38° N, and longitudes 39° and 49° E. Iran is located in the Middle East. Iran borders the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea. Bordering countires include, Armenia, Afganistan, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. Tehran is the capital of Iran and is the second most populated city in the Middle East after Cairo. Tehran was a city that was founded by refugees from Rey. Rey was a city that was destroyed by Mongols in the 13th century. Iran's other major cities include Esfahan, Tabriz, and Shiraz, all of which had populations of 800,000 or more in 1986. Like Mashhad, these cities have experienced rapid growth since the mid-1950s. All three of these cities are important manufacturing centers, especially Esfahan, where many of Iran's heavy industries are focused at. A few geographical features in Iran include; Zagros mounatins, Alborz mountains, Central Desert, Euphrates River and Tigris River.

The flag of Iran has much deeper meanings to it then what it appears to be. The green on the flag stands for Islam, The white represents peace, and the red stands for courage. The symbol in the center of the flag stands for the five principles of Islam. The white symbols on the green and red on the flag is repeated 22 times and is the Islamic phrase Allahu Akbar, which translated stands for "God is greater than to be described." The sword in the center of the flag represents the contry's strength. [] [] [] _ Physical Geography In Iran, there are a few different physical features: a few of these physical features include: Zagros mountains, Alborz mountains, Central Desert, Euphrates River, and Tigris River. The Zagros Mountains make up 83% of Iran and have an area of 205,989 square miles. Zard Kuh, is the highest peak of the Zagros Mountains, and it reaches and elevation of 14,921 feet. Alborz, also written as Alburz or Elburz, the mountain range in northern Iran stretching from the borders of Armenia in the northwest to the southern end of the Caspian Sea, and ending in the east at the borders of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. The Euphrates River which is 1,700 miles long, begins in Turkey and empties into the Persian Gulf. 94% of the water originates in the Turkish highlands. The Euphrates River runs parallel with the Tigris RIver. In between the Euphrates River and the Tigris river is an area of land called Mesopatamia. This translates to land between rivers in Greek. The Tigris lies east of the Euphrates and flows from a source in the Armenian Mountians to the Persian Gulf. It flows 1,200 miles and was the source of water transportation and defence to Mesopotamia. Spanning 168,754 sq mi, it is the 58th-largest country in the world. It is comparable in size to the US state of California. Iran has a varying climate. In the northwest, winters are cold with heavy snowfall and subfreezing temperatures during December and January. Spring and fall are mild, while summers are dry and hot. Near the Pursian Gulf the climate is slightly more humid but doesn't vary much otherwise. Near the mountain ranges the winters are colder due to the snow that blows down from the mountain tops. [] _ Population explained In 2009 the population in Iran was recorded at 72,903,921. The population density in Iran was recorded at 117 people per square mile. The population growth rate in Iran is a devistating 1.3%. According to Iran's government they say they have found a method to control their population growth rate. They say that HIV/AIDS arent studied very widely throughout the contry and so the citizens should be trained well enough sexually to help the prevention of the virus becoming an epidemic. A factor in the increase in population is because of the oil in Iran. People from other countries come to work in Iran due to the ammount of labor required. There are 17 births to every 6 deaths in Iran. The most populated city in Iran is Tehran which is also the capital. The population in Tehran is 8 million, Tehran isnt only the most populated city in Iran, but it is also one of the most populated cities in the middle east. [] _ Sociology (Group behavior and patterns) In the past they referred to their society as being divided into tiers, or tabagheh, which were identified by numbers. The first tier corresponded to the upper classes, the second, to the middle classes, and the third, to the lower classes. Under the influence of revolutionary ideology, society is now perceived as being divided into the wealthy, the middle classes, and the mostazafin, a term that literally means disinherited. Iranians don't like to trust others, they fear that others will take advantage of their trust, so trust of others isnt the most common outside of their families. The average life expectancy in Iran is 70.06 years of age. Only .2% of people have HIV/AIDS, and 6,400 people died from the disease in 2009. Divorce rate in Iran is considered to be one of if not the highest. The divorce rate is believed to be 90% if not slightly higher. That states that almost all marriges in Iran end in divorce. The custom child rate is to only have 1 or two children.

[] [] _ Customs A custom in Iran is that pretty much everything revolves around family. Not just family but women are very protected in Iran. They are so protected that a man can not ask another man about his wife or even a female relative. Although the custom is to only have 1 or two children, other extended family member are very close, and it is custom to prioritse family over anything else. Iranians are only to greet members of the same sex for a couple different reasons. For dining, it is custom to dress formal. The food is served on the floor unless in a more modern Iranian home. It is a sign of disrespect not to remove your shoes before entering the persons home. When greeting, a man will kiss another man on the cheek and a woman will kiss another woman on the cheek. On the first of April Iranians celibrate their Republic Day. On March second Iranians celibrate the birth of the prophet Muhammad and Imam Jafar. On October fourth Iranians celibrate Martyrdom of Imam Mahdi. On March twenty third they celibrate Nowruz which is the Iranian new years. And on July tenth the Iranians celibrate Mission of Prophet Mohammad.

[] _ Government The government type in Iran is theocratic republic. They are a republic because they faught and won their freedom on December 12th 1925 and had a government established under Pahlavis, but didnt want to have that kind of government so they became independent and became a theocratic republic. The head of the government in Iran is Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad since August 3rd of 2009. The branches of government are pretty similar to that of the United States. The have legislative and judicial branches of government, however they do not have an executive branch of government in Iran.. The legislative branch of government has 290 seats that are filled by people taht have the popular vote and serve four year terms. The supreme court has four members have equal authority and supervise the enforcement of laws and make legal policies. And then they have similar lower courts. Irans economic freedom score is 42.1 which puts them as the 171st freeset country in the world. Iran is rated 16th out of 17 countries in the MIddle East, which make them a lot lower then the average country in the world. There are actually quite a few freedoms that are taken away by the government in Iran, many protestors have been killed and Iran has tried to block off all internet connection throughout the country so that the world can't see the freedoms that they are violating and the bad things that happen in the country.

[] _ Economy The GDP in Iran is 863.5 billion U.S. dollars as recorded in 2010. But the GDP exchange rate is 337.9 billion U.S. dollars. The GDP per capita in Iran is 4,540 U.S. dollars. Iran's income is considered descent because in comparison to many other middle eastern countries, it remains close to the top. Iran’s economy, once one of the most advanced in the Middle East, has been destroyed by the 1979 Islamic revolution, the Iran–Iraq war, economic mismanagement, and corruption. 25% of the labor in Iran is agriculture. 31% industry and 45% services as recorded in 2007. Main products produced agriculturally in Iran that are produced are: wheat, rice, grains, sugar beats, sugar cane, fruit, nuts, cotton dairy products and wool. Industrial items produced would be petroleum, petrochemiclals, fertilizers, textiles, cement and other construction related materials, food processing, and others. I would have to say that Iran is considered developing due to the 14.6% unemployment rate that they have. and the overall GDP could be better. [] _ Culture The two most popular sports in Iran are football and wrestling. Football is the most popular sport in Iran. Iran is ranked the 26th greatest football team ever prepared by Association of Football Statisticians. The next most popular sport in Iran is wrestling. Wrestling is locally called koshti in Iran. It's existed in Iran since ancient times, and the most popular style of this sport is pahlavani. The common type of clothing for traditional Iranian's is to wear robe like clothing. One reason being the hot weather and the bright sun, the clothing is meant to keep the sun off their skin as much. Women are to hide their faces when in public. They wear cloth over entire body except for their eyes. When you visit a Mosque, men and women can't show skin ankles or above. Otherwise if they are more modern and not as strong in beliefs, they will wear button up shirts and cackies mainly. The official and pretty much only language spoken in Iran is Persian, more commonly reffered to as Farsi. Other smaller languages include Indo-Iranian, Semitic, Armenian and Turkic languages. Iran doesnt produce many movies that would be known world wide, but an example of an upcoming film would be, Nema-ye Nazdik aka Close-Up. It is filmed in Tehran and the filmmaker is Mohsen Makhmalbaf. An example of a few song artists in Iran would be Sussan Deyhim and Kayhan Kalhor. Famous artists in Iran that have produced songs that have became quite popular in Iran. Iran has literature similar to the U.S. as far as having many genres of books and or stories. A few authors are Bozorg Alavi, Jalal Aleahmad, abd Reza Baraheni. They also have a lot of poetry that many like to take part in rather than stories or books. Iranian women like to do hobbies such as singing in choir and shopping at state promoted activity of prayer. Some common hobbies for men are woodworking and pottery and a few others similar to the U.S. [] _ Ethnic/Religious makeup The religions in Iran consists of Sunni Muslims, Baha'is, Christans, and Jews. The main religion in Iran is Sunni Muslim though. The main ethnic groups in Iran consists of; Azeris, Kurds, Arabs and Baluchis. The largest ethnic group would be the Azeris, with 18 million in the country, Kurds are 4 million, Arabs is about 3 million, and Baluchis is 1.4 million. Issues with religion within the country is not that great of a deal, but the only issue that is created is weather your religion should have a clergy or not. But many choose not to care, because it is each individuals individual opinion.

[] _ Problems 1. The government wont let the Sunni Muslims have public display of their religion or culture. 2. There is not a single Mosque for the Sunni Muslims. 3. religions fight over weather your religion should have a clergy or not. 4. A number of writers are reporting that the government is taking away religous rights in the country. 5. Iran has tried cutting off internet accesibility to Iranians to avoid others knowing about countries issues. _ Solutions 1. The government should allow individuals to express their religion publically. 2. The government should allow the Sunni Muslims to build a mosque so that they may practice their religion. 3. Someone's religion is a personal choice, so if a religion wants to have one they can have one, but let those who believe otherwise think what they want. 4. Writers should keep writing to make issues in country more publically knowm, so that the government will change their ways. 5. There are hackers who got around the security to post pictures about what Iran's issues and what is happening in the country. _ Questions 1. What are the flag colors? a.red white and blue b. blue black and red c. green white and red

2. National sport? a. Football b. hockey c. baseball

3. Date of Iranian republic day? a. Aug 23rd b. Sep 18th c. April 1st

4. Most important thing to Iranians? a. money b. family c. success

5. GDP exchange rate in Iran? a. 337.9 billion U.S. dollars. b. 678.3 billion U.S. dollars. c. 547.6 billion U.S. dollars. _ Answers 1. C 2. A 3. C 4. B 5. A

__**Bibliography**__ US Census Data - This website has the updated US Census Data from 2010 []