Compare Iran (2005) - Guinea-Bissau (2005)

Compare Iran (2005) z Guinea-Bissau (2005)

	Iran (2005)	Guinea-Bissau (2005)

Administrative divisions	30 provinces (ostanha, singular - ostan); Ardabil, Azarbayjan-e Gharbi, Azarbayjan-e Sharqi, Bushehr, Chahar Mahall va Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Fars, Gilan, Golestan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Kermanshah, Khorasan-e Janubi, Khorasan-e Razavi, Khorasan-e Shemali, Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh va Buyer Ahmad, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi, Mazandaran, Qazvin, Qom, Semnan, Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan	9 regions (regioes, singular - regiao); Bafata, Biombo, Bissau, Bolama, Cacheu, Gabu, Oio, Quinara, Tombali; note - Bolama may have been renamed Bolama/Bijagos
Age structure	0-14 years: 27.1% (male 9,465,475/female 8,973,828) 15-64 years: 68% (male 23,556,970/female 22,701,065) 65 years and over: 4.9% (male 1,637,512/female 1,683,010) (2005 est.)	0-14 years: 41.5% (male 293,280/female 294,483) 15-64 years: 55.5% (male 376,719/female 409,402) 65 years and over: 3% (male 17,865/female 24,278) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products	wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits, nuts, cotton; dairy products, wool; caviar	rice, corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, cotton; timber; fish
Airports	305 (2004 est.)	28 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 127 over 3,047 m: 39 2,438 to 3,047 m: 25 1,524 to 2,437 m: 26 914 to 1,523 m: 32 under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.)	total: 3 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 178 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 9 914 to 1,523 m: 129 under 914 m: 39 (2004 est.)	total: 25 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 20 (2004 est.)
Area	total: 1.648 million sq km land: 1.636 million sq km water: 12,000 sq km	total: 36,120 sq km land: 28,000 sq km water: 8,120 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly larger than Alaska	slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut
Background	Known as Persia until 1935, Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling monarchy was overthrown and the shah was forced into exile. Conservative clerical forces established a theocratic system of government with ultimate political authority nominally vested in a learned religious scholar. Iranian-US relations have been strained since a group of Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran on 4 November 1979 and held it until 20 January 1981. During 1980-88, Iran fought a bloody, indecisive war with Iraq that eventually expanded into the Persian Gulf and led to clashes between US Navy and Iranian military forces between 1987-1988. Iran has been designated a state sponsor of terrorism for its activities in Lebanon and elsewhere in the world and remains subject to US economic sanctions and export controls because of its continued involvement. Following the elections of a reformist president and Majlis in the late 1990s, attempts to foster political reform in response to popular dissatisfaction have floundered as conservative politicians have prevented reform measures from being enacted, increased repressive measures, and consolidated their control over the government.	Since independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced considerable upheaval. The founding government consisted of a single party system and command economy. In 1980, a military coup established Joao VIEIRA as president and a path to a market economy and multiparty system was implemented. A number of coup attempts through the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him and in 1994 he was elected president in the country's first free elections. A military coup attempt and civil war in 1998 eventually led to VIEIRA's ouster in 1999. In February 2000, an interim government turned over power when opposition leader Kumba YALA took office following two rounds of transparent presidential elections. YALA was ousted in a bloodless coup in September 2003, and Henrique ROSA was sworn in as President. Guinea-Bissau's transition back to democracy will be complicated by its crippled economy, devastated in the civil war.
Birth rate	16.83 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)	37.65 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget	revenues: $43.34 billion expenditures: $47.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $7.6 billion (2004 est.)	revenues: NA expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA
Capital	Tehran	Bissau
Climate	mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast	tropical; generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds
Coastline	2,440 km; note - Iran also borders the Caspian Sea (740 km)	350 km
Constitution	2-3 December 1979; revised 1989 to expand powers of the presidency and eliminate the prime ministership	16 May 1984; amended 4 May 1991, 4 December 1991, 26 February 1993, 9 June 1993, and 1996
Country name	conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Iran conventional short form: Iran local long form: Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran local short form: Iran former: Persia	conventional long form: Republic of Guinea-Bissau conventional short form: Guinea-Bissau local long form: Republica da Guine-Bissau local short form: Guine-Bissau former: Portuguese Guinea
Death rate	5.55 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)	16.53 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external	$13.4 billion (2004 est.)	$941.5 million (2000 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	none; note - protecting power in Iran is Switzerland	the US Embassy suspended operations on 14 June 1998 in the midst of violent conflict between forces loyal to then President VIEIRA and military-led junta; US embassy Dakar is responsible for covering Guinea-Bissau: telephone - [221] 823-4296; FAX - [221] 822-5903
Diplomatic representation in the US	none; note - Iran has an Interests Section in the Pakistani Embassy; address: Iranian Interests Section, Pakistani Embassy, 2209 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007; telephone: [1] (202) 965-4990; FAX [1] (202) 965-1073	chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Henrique Adriano DA SILVA chancery: 1511 K Street NW, Suite 519, Washington, DC 20005 telephone: [1] (202) 347-3950 FAX: [1] (202) 347-3954
Disputes - international	Iran protests Afghanistan's limiting flow of dammed tributaries to the Helmand River in periods of drought; Iraq's lack of a maritime boundary with Iran prompts jurisdiction disputes beyond the mouth of the Shatt al Arab in the Persian Gulf; Iran and UAE engage in direct talks and solicit Arab League support to resolve disputes over Iran's occupation of Tunb Islands and Abu Musa Island; Iran stands alone among littoral states in insisting upon a division of the Caspian Sea into five equal sectors	attempts to stem refugees and cross-border raids, arms smuggling, and political instability from a separatist movement in Senegal's Casamance region
Economic aid - recipient	$408 million (2002 est.)	$115.4 million (1995)
Economy - overview	Iran's economy is marked by a bloated, inefficient state sector, over reliance on the oil sector, and statist policies that create major distortions throughout. Most economic activity is controlled by the state. Private sector activity is typically small-scale - workshops, farming, and services. President KHATAMI has continued to follow the market reform plans of former President RAFSANJANI, with limited progress. Relatively high oil prices in recent years have enabled Iran to amass some $30 billion in foreign exchange reserves, but have not eased economic hardships such as high unemployment and inflation. The proportion of the economy devoted to the development of weapons of mass destruction remains a contentious issue with leading Western nations.	One of the 10 poorest countries in the world, Guinea-Bissau depends mainly on farming and fishing. Cashew crops have increased remarkably in recent years, and the country now ranks sixth in cashew production. Guinea-Bissau exports fish and seafood along with small amounts of peanuts, palm kernels, and timber. Rice is the major crop and staple food. However, intermittent fighting between Senegalese-backed government troops and a military junta destroyed much of the country's infrastructure and caused widespread damage to the economy in 1998; the civil war led to a 28% drop in GDP that year, with partial recovery in 1999-2002. Before the war, trade reform and price liberalization were the most successful part of the country's structural adjustment program under IMF sponsorship. The tightening of monetary policy and the development of the private sector had also begun to reinvigorate the economy. Because of high costs, the development of petroleum, phosphate, and other mineral resources is not a near-term prospect. However, unexploited offshore oil reserves could provide much-needed revenue in the long run. The inequality of income distribution is one of the most extreme in the world. The government and international donors continue to work out plans to forward economic development from a lamentably low base. In December 2003, the World Bank, IMF, and UNDP were forced to step in to provide emergency budgetary support in the amount of $107 million for 2004, representing over 80% of the total national budget. Government drift and indecision, however, have resulted in continued low growth in 2004.
Electricity - consumption	119.9 billion kWh (2002)	51.15 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2002)	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2002)	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - production	129 billion kWh (2002)	55 million kWh (2002)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m highest point: Kuh-e Damavand 5,671 m	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location in the northeast corner of the country 300 m
Environment - current issues	air pollution, especially in urban areas, from vehicle emissions, refinery operations, and industrial effluents; deforestation; overgrazing; desertification; oil pollution in the Persian Gulf; wetland losses from drought; soil degradation (salination); inadequate supplies of potable water; water pollution from raw sewage and industrial waste; urbanization	deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups	Persian 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%	African 99% (Balanta 30%, Fula 20%, Manjaca 14%, Mandinga 13%, Papel 7%), European and mulatto less than 1%
Exchange rates	rials per US dollar - 8,614 (2004), 8,193.9 (2003), 6,907 (2002), 1,753.6 (2001), 1,764.4 (2000) note: Iran has been using a managed floating exchange rate regime since unifying multiple exchange rates in March 2002	Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000) note: since 1 January 1999, the XOF franc is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro
Executive branch	chief of state: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI (since 4 June 1989) head of government: President Mahmud AHMADI-NEJAD (since 3 August 2005) First Vice President Dr. Mohammad Reza AREF-Yazdi (since 26 August 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers selected by the president with legislative approval; the Supreme Leader has some control over appointments to the more sensitive ministries elections: leader of the Islamic Revolution appointed for life by the Assembly of Experts; president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 17 June 2005 with a two-candidate runoff on 24 June 2005 (next to be held NA 2009) election results: Mahmud AHMADI-NEJAD elected president; percent of vote - Mahmud AHMADI-NEJAD 62%, Ali Akbar Hashemi RAFSANJANI 36%; note - 2% of ballots spoiled	chief of state: President Henrique ROSA (interim; since 28 September 2003); note - a September 2003 coup overthrew the elected government of Kumba YALA; General Verissimo Correia SEABRA served as interim president from 14 to 28 September 2003 head of government: Prime Minister Carlos GOMES Junior (since 9 May 2004) cabinet: NA elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 28 November 1999 and 16 January 2000 (next to be held May 2005); prime minister appointed by the president after consultation with party leaders in the legislature election results: Kumba YALA elected president; percent of vote, second ballot - Kumba YALA (PRS) 72%, Malan Bacai SANHA (PAIGC) 28% note: a bloodless coup led to the dissolution of the elected government of Kumba YALA in September 2003; General Verissimo Correia SEABRA served as interim president from 14 September 2003 until stepping aside on 28 September 2003 with the establishment of a caretaker government
Exports	2.5 million bbl/day (2004 est.)	NA
Exports - commodities	petroleum 80%, chemical and petrochemical products, fruits and nuts, carpets	cashew nuts, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber
Exports - partners	Japan 18.4%, China 9.7%, Italy 6%, South Africa 5.8%, South Korea 5.4%, Taiwan 4.6%, Turkey 4.4%, Netherlands 4% (2004)	India 52.1%, US 22.2%, Nigeria 13.2% (2004)
Fiscal year	21 March - 20 March	calendar year
Flag description	three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red; the national emblem (a stylized representation of the word Allah in the shape of a tulip, a symbol of martyrdom) in red is centered in the white band; ALLAH AKBAR (God is Great) in white Arabic script is repeated 11 times along the bottom edge of the green band and 11 times along the top edge of the red band	two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and green with a vertical red band on the hoist side; there is a black five-pointed star centered in the red band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 11.2% industry: 40.9% services: 48.7% (2004 est.)	agriculture: 62% industry: 12% services: 26% (1999 est.)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $7,700 (2004 est.)	purchasing power parity - $700 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	6.3% (2004 est.)	2.6% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates	32 00 N, 53 00 E	12 00 N, 15 00 W
Geography - note	strategic location on the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, which are vital maritime pathways for crude oil transport	this small country is swampy along its western coast and low-lying further inland
Heliports	13 (2004 est.)	-
Highways	total: 167,157 km paved: 94,109 km (including 890 km of expressways) unpaved: 73,048 km (1998)	total: 4,400 km paved: 453 km unpaved: 3,947 km (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA	lowest 10%: 0.5% highest 10%: 42.4% (1991)
Illicit drugs	despite substantial interdiction efforts, Iran remains a key transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin to Europe; domestic narcotics consumption remains a persistent problem and according to official Iranian statistics there are at least two million drug users in the country; lax anti-money-laundering regulations	-
Imports	NA	NA
Imports - commodities	industrial raw materials and intermediate goods, capital goods, foodstuffs and other consumer goods, technical services, military supplies	foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products
Imports - partners	Germany 12.8%, France 8.3%, Italy 7.7%, China 7.2%, UAE 7.2%, South Korea 6.1%, Russia 5.4% (2004)	Senegal 44.6%, Portugal 13.8%, China 4.2% (2004)
Independence	1 April 1979 (Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed)	24 September 1973 (unilaterally declared by Guinea-Bissau); 10 September 1974 (recognized by Portugal)
Industrial production growth rate	3.5% excluding oil (2004 est.)	2.6% (1997 est.)
Industries	petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production), metal fabrication, armaments	agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks
Infant mortality rate	total: 41.58 deaths/1,000 live births male: 41.75 deaths/1,000 live births female: 41.41 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)	total: 107.17 deaths/1,000 live births male: 117.78 deaths/1,000 live births female: 96.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	15.5% (2004 est.)	4% (2002 est.)
International organization participation	CP, ECO, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO	ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Irrigated land	75,620 sq km (1998 est.)	170 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	Supreme Court - above a special clerical court, a revolutionary court, and a special administrative court	Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal da Justica (consists of nine justices appointed by the president and serve at his pleasure; final court of appeals in criminal and civil cases); Regional Courts (one in each of nine regions; first court of appeals for Sectoral Court decisions; hear all felony cases and civil cases valued at over $1,000); 24 Sectoral Courts (judges are not necessarily trained lawyers; they hear civil cases under $1,000 and misdemeanor criminal cases)
Labor force	23 million note: shortage of skilled labor (2004 est.)	480,000 (1999)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture 30%, industry 25%, services 45% (2001 est.)	agriculture 82% (2000 est.)
Land boundaries	total: 5,440 km border countries: Afghanistan 936 km, Armenia 35 km, Azerbaijan-proper 432 km, Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave 179 km, Iraq 1,458 km, Pakistan 909 km, Turkey 499 km, Turkmenistan 992 km	total: 724 km border countries: Guinea 386 km, Senegal 338 km
Land use	arable land: 8.72% permanent crops: 1.39% other: 89.89% (2001)	arable land: 10.67% permanent crops: 8.82% other: 80.51% (2001)
Languages	Persian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%, other 2%	Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages
Legal system	the Constitution codifies Islamic principles of government	NA
Legislative branch	unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly or Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami (290 seats, note - changed from 270 seats with the 18 February 2000 election; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 20 February 2004 with a runoff held 7 May 2004 (next to be held February 2008) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats by party - conservatives/Islamists 190, reformers 50, independents 43, religious minorities 5, and 2 seats unaccounted for	unicameral National People's Assembly or Assembleia Nacional Popular (100 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve a maximum of four years) elections: last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held NA 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - PAIGC 31.5%, PRS 24.8%, PUSD 16.1%, UE 4.1%, APU 1.3%, 13 other parties 22.2%; seats by party - PAIGC 45, PRS 35, PUSD 17, UE 2, APU 1
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 69.96 years male: 68.58 years female: 71.4 years (2005 est.)	total population: 46.61 years male: 44.77 years female: 48.52 years (2005 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 79.4% male: 85.6% female: 73% (2003 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 42.4% male: 58.1% female: 27.4% (2003 est.)
Location	Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Pakistan	Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal
Map references	Middle East	Africa
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: bilateral agreements or median lines in the Persian Gulf continental shelf: natural prolongation	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine	total: 144 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 4,715,242 GRT/8,240,069 DWT by type: bulk carrier 38, cargo 49, chemical tanker 4, container 14, liquefied gas 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 30, roll on/roll off 2 foreign-owned: 1 (UAE 1) registered in other countries: 8 (2005)	-
Military branches	Islamic Republic of Iran Regular Forces (Artesh): Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force (includes Air Defense) Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Sepah-e Pasdaran-e Enqelab-e Eslami, IRGC): Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, Qods Force (special operations), and Basij Force (Popular Mobilization Army) Law Enforcement Forces: (2004)	People's Revolutionary Armed Force (FARP; includes Army, Navy, and Air Force), paramilitary force
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$4.3 billion (2003 est.)	$8.9 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	3.3% (2003 est.)	3.1% (2004)
National holiday	Republic Day, 1 April (1979) note: additional holidays celebrated widely in Iran include Revolution Day, 11 February (1979); Noruz (New Year's Day), 21 March; Constitutional Monarchy Day, 5 August (1925)	Independence Day, 24 September (1973)
Nationality	noun: Iranian(s) adjective: Iranian	noun: Guinean(s) adjective: Guinean
Natural hazards	periodic droughts, floods; dust storms, sandstorms; earthquakes	hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires
Natural resources	petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur	fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, clay, granite, limestone, unexploited deposits of petroleum
Net migration rate	-2.64 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)	-1.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Pipelines	condensate/gas 212 km; gas 16,998 km; liquid petroleum gas 570 km; oil 8,256 km; refined products 7,808 km (2004)	-
Political parties and leaders	formal political parties are a relatively new phenomenon in Iran and most conservatives still prefer to work through political pressure groups rather than parties; a loose pro-reform coalition called the 2nd Khordad front, which includes political parties as well as less formal pressure groups and organizations, achieved considerable success at elections to the sixth Majles in early 2000; groups in the coalition include: Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF); Executives of Construction Party (Kargozaran); Solidarity Party; Islamic Labor Party; Mardom Salari; Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization (MIRO); and Militant Clerics Society (Ruhaniyun); the coalition participated in the seventh Majles elections in early 2004; a new apparently conservative group, the Builders of Islamic Iran, took a leading position in the new Majles after winning a majority of the seats in February 2004	African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde or PAIGC [Carlos GOMES Junior]; Front for the Liberation and Independence of Guinea or FLING [Francois MENDY]; Guinea-Bissau Resistance-Ba Fata Movement or RGB-MB [Helder Vaz LOPES]; Guinean Civic Forum or FCG [Antonieta Rosa GOMES]; International League for Ecological Protection or LIPE [Alhaje Bubacar DJALO, president]; National Union for Democracy and Progress or UNDP [Abubacer BALDE, secretary general]; Party for Democratic Convergence or PCD [Victor MANDINGA]; Social Renovation Party or PRS [Kumba YALA]; Union for Change or UM [Jorge MANDINGA, president, Dr. Anne SAAD, secretary general]; United Platform or UP [coalition formed by PCD, FDS, FLING, and RGB-MB]; United Social Democratic Party or PUSD [Francisco Jose FADUL]
Political pressure groups and leaders	political pressure groups conduct most of Iran's political activities; groups that generally support the Islamic Republic include Ansar-e Hizballah, Muslim Students Following the Line of the Imam, Tehran Militant Clergy Association (Ruhaniyat), Islamic Coalition Party (Motalefeh), and Islamic Engineers Society; active pro-reform student groups include the Organization for Strengthening Unity; opposition groups include Freedom Movement of Iran, the National Front, Marz-e Por Gohar, and various ethnic and Monarchist organizations; armed political groups that have been almost completely repressed by the government include Mujahidin-e Khalq Organization (MEK), People's Fedayeen, Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, and Komala	NA
Population	68,017,860 (July 2005 est.)	1,416,027 (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line	40% (2002 est.)	NA
Population growth rate	0.86% (2005 est.)	1.96% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors	Assaluyeh, Bushehr	Bissau, Buba, Cacheu, Farim
Radio broadcast stations	AM 72, FM 5, shortwave 5 (1998)	AM 1 (transmitter out of service), FM 4, shortwave 0 (2002)
Railways	total: 7,203 km broad gauge: 94 km 1.676-m gauge standard gauge: 7,109 km 1.435-m gauge (189 km electrified) (2004)	-
Religions	Shi'a Muslim 89%, Sunni Muslim 9%, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i 2%	indigenous beliefs 50%, Muslim 45%, Christian 5%
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.97 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2005 est.)	at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Suffrage	15 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: inadequate but currently being modernized and expanded with the goal of not only improving the efficiency and increasing the volume of the urban service but also bringing telephone service to several thousand villages, not presently connected domestic: as a result of heavy investing in the telephone system since 1994, the number of long-distance channels in the microwave radio relay trunk has grown substantially; many villages have been brought into the net; the number of main lines in the urban systems has approximately doubled; and thousands of mobile cellular subscribers are being served; moreover, the technical level of the system has been raised by the installation of thousands of digital switches international: country code - 98; HF radio and microwave radio relay to Turkey, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Syria, Kuwait, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; submarine fiber-optic cable to UAE with access to Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG); Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line runs from Azerbaijan through the northern portion of Iran to Turkmenistan with expansion to Georgia and Azerbaijan; satellite earth stations - 9 Intelsat and 4 Inmarsat	general assessment: small system domestic: combination of microwave radio relay, open-wire lines, radiotelephone, and cellular communications international: country code - 245
Telephones - main lines in use	14,571,100 (2003)	10,600 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular	3,376,500 (2003)	1,300 (2003)
Television broadcast stations	28 (plus 450 low-power repeaters) (1997)	NA (1997)
Terrain	rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts, mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts	mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east
Total fertility rate	1.82 children born/woman (2005 est.)	4.93 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	11.2% (2004 est.)	NA (1998)
Waterways	850 km (on Karun River and Lake Urmia) (2004)	4 largest rivers are navigable for some distance; many inlets and creeks give shallow-water access to much of interior (2004)

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