Population, GDP, natural resources, leaders and history of Iran: the Magna Factbook country file, with its Magna grade (MCB, ranked #70 of 195).
Iran is a theocratic republic in Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Pakistan. The country's capital is Tehran; it covers 1,648,195 sq km. Independence: 1 April 1979 (Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed); notable earlier dates: ca. 550 B.C. (Achaemenid or Persian Empire established); A.D. 1501 (Iran reunified under the Safavid dynasty); 1794 (beginning of Qajar dynasty); 12 December 1925 (modern Iran established under the PAHLAVI dynasty). Terrain: rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts, mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts. Climate: mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast. P…
| Capital | Tehran |
|---|---|
| Population | 89,177,357 (2025 est.) |
| GDP (PPP) | $1.486 trillion (2024 est.) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | $16,200 (2024 est.) |
| Real GDP growth | 3% (2024 est.) |
| Inflation | 32.5% |
| Unemployment | 9.2% |
| Public debt | 39.5% of GDP (2017 est.) |
| Exports | $100.031 billion (2024 est.) |
| Imports | $117.176 billion (2024 est.) |
| Life expectancy | 75.6 years (2024 est.) |
| Median age | 35.2 |
| Urbanization | 77.3% of total population (2023) |
| Government | theocratic republic |
| Independence | 1 April 1979 (Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed); notable earlier dates: ca. 550 B.C. (Achaemenid or Persian Empire established); A.D. 1501 (Iran reunified under the Safavid dynasty); 1794 (beginning of Qajar dynasty); 12 December 1925 (modern Iran established under the PAHLAVI dynasty) |
| Languages | Persian Farsi (official), Azeri and other Turkic dialects, Kurdish, Gilaki and Mazandarani, Luri, Balochi, Arabic |
MCB · 53/100 — The Magna grade is our 0–100 composite of structural national power — five dimensions, 100+ indicators. It is the Bureau's own assessment, not a mirror of World Bank or CIA figures.
Momentum -2 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).
The aftershocks of the 2026 war kept dragging: oil output down, inflation punishing, the state functioning but strained.
No new escalation, but no recovery either — a quarter of endurance, scored modestly negative.
Oil, Natural gas, Coal, Chromium, Copper, Iron ore, Lead, Manganese, Zinc, Sulfur.
Masoud Pezeshkian — President. Supreme Leader Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI (since 4 June 1989)
Iran maintains 98 embassies and 32 consulates abroad, hosts 92 foreign diplomatic missions, holds permanent missions to UN New York, UN Geneva, UN Vienna. The breadth of a diplomatic network is a direct measure of diplomatic power — it shows how far a country’s influence, alliances and interests reach.
| Embassies abroad | 98 |
|---|---|
| Consulates abroad | 32 |
| Foreign missions hosted | 92 |
| Multilateral missions | UN New York, UN Geneva, UN Vienna |
Source: Outbound: Consular Affairs Center (Yonsei Univ.), diplomatic & consular networks database, March 2026 report (Zenodo). Hosted: Wikipedia 'List of diplomatic missions in Iran' (older snapshot: 92 embassies in Tehran). Multilateral: Wikipedia 'List of diplomatic missions of Iran' (crawled 2026-10-02).
Transport networks are economic power made physical — ports, runways, railways and pipelines decide what a country can move, sell and defend.
| Sea access | Coastal — 2440 km of coastline. |
|---|---|
| Airports (total) | 177 + 90 heliports (registration prefix EP) |
| Major seaports | Abadan, Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, Khorramshahr |
| Railways | 8483.5 km |
Abadan Ayatollah Jami International Airport (ABD) — Abadan; Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani International Airport (KER) — Kerman; Bandar Abbas International Airport (BND) — Bandar Abbas; Birjand International Airport (XBJ) — Birjand; Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) — Tehran; Isfahan Shahid Beheshti International Airport (IFN) — Isfahan; Kish International Airport (KIH) — Kish Island; Mashhad International Airport (MHD) — Mashhad; Mehrabad International Airport (THR) — Tehran; Payam International Airport (PYK) — Karaj.
Showing 10 of 15 major airports.
Sources: OurAirports public-domain extract (2026-10-02); per-entry Wikipedia links included; CIA World Factbook via cia_factbook snapshot (2026-09-28)
| Political system | theocratic republic |
|---|---|
| Next election | No election currently scheduled. |
MCB · 53 Ranked #70 of 195 countries in the Magna Country Rankings. Full ranking breakdown for Iran.
