| |||||||
| Capital | Tehran | ||||||
| Largest city | Baghdad | ||||||
| Other cities | Basra, Bushehr | ||||||
| Language | Persian, Arabic | ||||||
| Demonym | Persian | ||||||
| Government | Authoritarian presidential republic | ||||||
| Legislature | Senate | ||||||
| Supreme Leader | Ali Khamenei | ||||||
| President | Mohammad Khatami | ||||||
| Population | 116,659,000 (11th largest) | ||||||
| Currency | Persian rial | ||||||
| Time Zone | Persia Standard Time (PRST;UTC+2) | ||||||
| Internet TLD | .pr | ||||||
| Organizations | United Nations Arab League | ||||||
Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Persia (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران را/Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Persiā) is a nation in the Middle East region of southwestern Asia, and with a population of 116.6 million, ranks as the 11th-largest nation in the world. Persia shares borders with Balochistan and Afghanistan to the east, Armenia and the Soviet Union to the north, Turkey and Lebanon to the west, and Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to the south.
The nation has been the center of various empires over the past two thousand years, including the Median, Persian, and Islamic Empires. The region came under increasing Western influence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most notably Britain, who controlled much of the nation's vast oil reserves until after World War II. In 1979, the Persian Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was overthrown by Ayatollah Khomeini, who established the nation's current Islamic Republic and held a group of Americans hostage at their Tehran embassy for over a year.
From 1980 to 1986, Persia engaged in war with neighboring Iraq and its dictator, Saddam Hussein, after which it annexed the latter nation. The rampant Persian military was finally brought to a standstill in the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War, in which a UN coalition led by the United States and Britain intervened on behalf of the tiny, oil-rich and occupied nation of Kuwait, dealing the Persians heavy blows and ultimately forcing them from Kuwait. Since then, Persia has focused largely on securing their territory and developing new weapons with which to combat its neighbors, notably Israel and Turkey. These weapons have been confirmed to be mainly chemical in nature, though Persia is widely known to have an active nuclear program.
History[]
Pre-1939[]
Persia in World War II (1939-1943)[]
Main Article: World War II (1938-1945)
Postwar Era (1943-1977)[]
Persian Revolution and Hostage Crisis (1977-1980)[]
Iraq War (1980-1986)[]
Persian Gulf War (1990-1991)[]
Main Article: Persian Gulf War (1990-1991)
Modern Times (1991-Present)[]
Military[]
Chemical weapons[]
Nuclear arsenal[]
Main Article: Nuclear Weapons