Iran (Long Live The King!)

Iran, also known as  Persia,  officially the  Imperail State of Iran, is a  country in  Western Asia.  It is bordered to the northwest by  Armenia and  Azerbaijan, with  Kazakhstan and  Russia across the  Caspian Sea; to the northeast by  Turkmenistan; to the east by  Afghanistan and  Pakistan; to the south by the  Persian Gulf and the  Gulf of Oman<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">; and to the west by  Turkey<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> and  Iraq<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km <sup style="line-height:1;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">2 <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> (636,372 sq mi), it is the second-largest nation in the  Middle East<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> and the 18th-largest in the world; with 66.7 million inhabitants. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> It is the only country that has both a  Caspian Sea<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> and  Indian Ocean<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> coastline. Iran has been of  geostrategic<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> importance because of its central location in Eurasia and Western Asia and the  Strait of Hormuz<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">Iran is home to one of the world's oldest  civilizations<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">, <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> beginning with the formation of the  Proto-Elamite<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> and  Elamite<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> kingdom in 3200–2800 BCE. The  Iranian<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">  Medes<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> unified the country into the first of many empires in 625 BCE, after which it became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Encyclop.C3.A6dia_Britannica_Encyclopedia_Article:_Media_ancient_region.2C_Iran_3-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">[3] <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> Iran reached the pinnacle of its power during the  Achaemenid Empire<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> (First Persian Empire) founded by  Cyrus the Great<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> in 550 BCE, which at its greatest extent comprised major portions of the ancient world, stretching from parts of the  Balkans<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> ( Bulgaria<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">- Pannonia<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">) and  Thrace<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">- Macedonia<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> in the west, to the  Indus Valley<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> in the east, making it the largest empire the world had yet seen. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> The empire collapsed in 330 BCE following the conquests of  Alexander the Great<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">. The area eventually regained influence under the  Parthian Empire<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> and rose to prominence once more after the establishment of the  Sasanian dynasty<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> (Neo-Persian empire) in 224 CE, under which Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world along with the  Byzantine Empire<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> for the next four centuries.

Manichaeism<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> and  Zoroastrianism<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> were largely replaced after  Rashidun Muslims invaded Persia<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> in 633 CE, and conquered it by 651 CE. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> Iran thereafter played a vital role in the subsequent  Islamic Golden Age<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">, producing numerous influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. The emergence in 1501 of the  Safavid dynasty<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">, which promoted the  Twelver<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> school of thought as the official religion, marked one of the most important turning points in Iranian and  Muslim history<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> It also culminated into tensions, which in 1514 led to the  Battle of Chaldiran<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">. Starting in 1736 under  Nader Shah<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">, Iran would once again reach high prominence, reaching its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, and briefly possessing what was arguably the most powerful empire in the world. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> The  Persian Constitutional Revolution<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> of 1906 established the nation's  first parliament<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">, which operated within a  constitutional monarchy, But after Reza Shah  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">  coup d'état, Iran became a Theocratic Monarchy.

Tehran<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> is the capital and largest city, serving as the cultural, commercial, and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a  regional and super power<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> and international  middle power<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">, <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> exerting big influence in  international energy security <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">and the  world economy<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> through its large reserves of  fossil fuels<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">, which include the largest  natural gas supply<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> in the world and the fourth-largest proven  petroleum reserves<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> It hosts Asia's fourth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">Iran is a founding member of the  UN<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">,  NAM<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">,  OIC<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> and  OPEC<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">. Iran  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">is a  developed country<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> ranked  16th<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> in the  Human Development Index<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">, the highest in West  Asia<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">. In terms of  average wage<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">, it has  Asia's 2nd highest income<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> and the world's  11th highest income<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> Globally, it is one of the  highest ranked<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> countries in  education<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">,  quality of healthcare<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">,  ease of doing business<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> and  job security<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">. It is the 2nd best performing <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> country in student skills <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> with  62% of 25–34 year old Iranians holding a tertiary education degree.<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> Iran is the world's  9th largest exporter<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> and the leading exporter of LNG<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> and  memory chips<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">, <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> driven by  high-tech<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> multinationals such as  Sam Service<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">, Samand Motors<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> and Kaman Heavy Industries<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">. A highly advanced  information society<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">, Iran has the world's  fastest Internet connection speed<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">, ranking Second in  e-Government<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">,  4G LTE penetration<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> and Third in the  ICT Development Index<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;"> and  smartphone penetration<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.3999996185303px;">.