Iran

AsiaCapital city: TehranCapital metro: TehranPresident: Masoud PezeshkianSupreme Leader: Mojtaba Khamenei

an editorial flag: atrocities, subversion of the constitutional order, or a criminal conviction.

2026 population
87.1M
Rank #17 globally
Area
1.6M km² (636k sq mi)
Metros tracked
33
47% of population in metros
Composite score
55.8
Rank #45 globally

population: Official estimate (21 Mar 2026) · indicators as of 5 Sep 2026 · 33 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography33 metros

Iran metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
33 polygons

Select a metro for its rank and a link to its page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

🏙️ 33 tracked metros
33 metros
#116Tehran★ Capital▲ Largest
Tehran · Alborz · 16.0M · Major Metro
25.8
#433Esfahan
Isfahan · 3.5M · Established Metro
5.8
#554Shiraz
Fars · 1.9M · Emerging Metro
4.3
#642Mashhad
Khorasan, Razavi · 3.4M · Emerging Metro
3.5
#724Tabriz
Azerbaijan, East · 1.8M · Emerging Metro
2.8
#1009Ahvaz
Khuzestan · 1.3M · Emerging Metro
1.7
#1273Bandar Abbas
Hormozgan · 680K · Emerging Metro
1.1
#1285Qazvin
Qazvin · 597K · Emerging Metro
1.1
#1569Yazd
Yazd · 754K · Local Metro
0.8
#1605Arak
Markazi · 592K · Local Metro
0.7
#1702Kermanshah
Kermanshah · 1.1M · Local Metro
0.6
#1720Abadan
Khuzestan · 298K · Local Metro
0.6
🗂️ Provinces

31 entries listed under Iran. Select any to see its metros and footprint.

31 total
Kerman4Khuzestan3Gilan2Hormozgan2Lorestan2Mazandaran2Alborz1Ardabil1Azerbaijan, East1Bushehr1Fars1Golestan1Hamadan1Ilam1Isfahan1Kermanshah1Khorasan, Razavi1Khorasan, South1Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad1Markazi1Qazvin1Qom1Sistan and Baluchestan1Tehran1Yazd1Azerbaijan, WestChahar Mahaal and BakhtiariKhorasan, NorthKurdistanSemnanZanjan
📋 At a glance
Official language
Persian
Currency
Iranian rial (IRR)
Government
Islamic theocracy
Legislature
Islamic Consultative Assembly
Constitution
1979, 1 amendment event since
Demonym
Iranian
Time zones
Iran Standard Time Zone, UTC+03:30
Driving side
Right
Calling code
+98
Internet TLD
.ir, ایران.
ISO 3166
IR
Established
1979
Highest point
Damavand (5,628 m (18,465 ft))
National anthem
National Anthem of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Facts via Wikidata.

🗣️ Languages of Iran

Western Farsi first; 2 languages share the country; 1 official.

LanguageShareStatus
Western Farsi75%Official
North Azerbaijani24%None
Mazanderani5%None
Gilaki4.6%None
Southern Kurdish4.5%None
Turkmen2.8%None

Shares count first and second language, so they overlap and can add past 100%.

Effective languages
1.6
Official-language gap
25%
Western Farsi is spoken by 75%

Linguistic neighbours

All neighbours

Iran on the languages board · Language power

📰 In the news6 stories
Every story in the latest digest →
💹 Economy and developmentUpper middle income
Human Dev. Index
#74 / 191
0.799
UNDP · 2023
GDP
#43 / 193
$362.7B
World Bank · 2025
GDP per capita
#132 / 193
$3.9k
World Bank · 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#96 / 190
$19.7k
World Bank · 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#121 / 192
$4.7k
World Bank · 2025
Life expectancy
#61 / 194
77.9 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
32.9 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
#53 / 194
77%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
0.9%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
#130 / 193
56/km² (145/mi²)
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
#100 / 193
4.2%
World Bank · 2024
Rule of law
#138 / 175
0.21
V-Dem · 2025
Gini index
#89 / 166
35.9
World Bank · 2023
Internet users
#79 / 193
85%
World Bank · 2024
Inflation
#180 / 185
42.2%
World Bank · 2025
CO₂ per capita
#169 / 192
8.7 t
Global Carbon Budget · 2024
Renewable electricity
#164 / 186
4%
Ember · 2025

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

🔮 What happens next

Our forecasts, frozen before the result and scored after it.

LA28 Olympics · resolves 30 Jul 2028

How many gold medals does Iran win at LA28?

3 gold medals80% range 1 gold medals to 7 gold medals

How the model worksTrack record

Alliances & Organisations5 full memberships

Security

SCO

Political & Economic

UNBRICS+

Subregional

EAEUObserver

Energy

OPECOPEC+

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

🏛️ Leadership History42 leaders · click to expand

is an editorial flag: associated with atrocities against civilians, systemic subversion of the constitutional order, or a criminal conviction (political persecutions and annulled convictions excluded). It is a curated list, not a measurement, so a name without one has not been cleared of anything. Hover a badge for the reason on file. marks a monarch.

Other

Mojtaba Khamenei✦ Current
Supreme Leader · Succeeded his father Ali Khamenei, 2026
2026–Present
Masoud Pezeshkian✦ Current
President · Reformists · 1y 11m 9d
2024–Present
Ebrahim Raisi
President · Principalists · 2y 9m
2021–2024
Hassan Rouhani
President · Moderation/Development · 8y 12d
2013–2021
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President · Alliance of Builders · 8y 12d
2005–2013
Mohammad Khatami
President · Reformists · 8y 12d
1997–2005
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
President · Pragmatists · 7y 11m 28d
1989–1997
Ali Khamenei
Supreme Leader · IRP · 37y 1m 7d
1989–2026
Ali Khamenei
President · IRP · 7y 9m 1d
1981–1989
Mohammad-Ali Rajai
President · IRP · 28d
1981–1981
Abolhassan Banisadr
President · Bani-Sadr Movement · 1y 4m 22d
1980–1981
Ruhollah Khomeini
Supreme Leader · IRP · 10y 3m 15d
1979–1989

Pahlavi dynasty

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Shah · Pahlavi · 37y 4m 26d
1941–1979
Reza Shah Pahlavi
Shah · Pahlavi · 15y 9m 1d
1925–1941

Qajar dynasty

Ahmad Shah Qajar
Shah · Qajar · 16y 3m 15d
1909–1925
Mohammad Ali Shah
Shah · 2y 6m 8d
1907–1909
Mozaffar ad-Din Shah
Shah · 10y 8m 7d
1896–1907
Naser al-Din Shah
Shah · 47y 7m 26d
1848–1896
Mohammad Shah
Shah · 13y 10m 13d
1834–1848
Fath-Ali Shah
Shah · 37y 4m 6d
1797–1834
Agha Mohammad Khan
Shah · 8y 2m 27d
1789–1797

Zand dynasty

Lotf Ali Khan Zand
Shah · year-level backbone · 0y 2m 20d
1789–1789
Jafar Khan Zand
Shah · year-level backbone · 4y 0d
1785–1789
Ali Morad Khan Zand
Shah · year-level backbone · 4y 0d
1781–1785
Sadeq Khan Zand
Shah · year-level backbone · 2y 0d
1779–1781
Abol-Fath Khan Zand
Shah · year-level backbone · 0y 0d
1779–1779
Mohammad Ali Khan Zand
Shah · year-level backbone · 0y 0d
1779–1779
Karim Khan Zand
Shah · year-level backbone · 28y 0d
1751–1779

Afsharid dynasty

Shahrokh Shah
Shah · year-level backbone · 41y 0d
1748–1789
Adel Shah
Shah · year-level backbone · 1y 0d
1747–1748
Nader Shah
Shah · year-level backbone · 11y 0d
1736–1747

Safavid dynasty

Abbas III
Shah · year-level backbone · 4y 0d
1732–1736
Tahmasp II
Shah · year-level backbone · 10y 0d
1722–1732
Sultan Husayn
Shah · year-level backbone · 28y 0d
1694–1722
Suleiman I
Shah · year-level backbone · 28y 0d
1666–1694
Abbas II
Shah · year-level backbone · 24y 0d
1642–1666
Safi I
Shah · year-level backbone · 13y 0d
1629–1642
Abbas I the Great
Shah · year-level backbone · 42y 0d
1587–1629
Mohammad Khodabanda
Shah · year-level backbone · 9y 0d
1578–1587
Ismail II
Shah · year-level backbone · 2y 0d
1576–1578
Tahmasp I
Shah · year-level backbone · 52y 0d
1524–1576
Ismail I
Shah · year-level backbone · 23y 0d
1501–1524

Constitution

Written 1979 →

1 amendment event since, the last in 1989. Compare it with every other country.

📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#42 · 0.5%
Latent vs recognised
Under-recognised: more mass than standing
3%5%8%10%160017001800190019502000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)

The power line is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.

⚔️ Wars and conflicts30 interstate wars · click to expand
Iran War2026–present
Israel,United States
Combat deaths: 3,411–9,114
Twelve-Day War2025
Israel,United States
Combat deaths: 1,091–1,226
War in Iraq (2013–2017)●2013–2017
Islamic State
Combat deaths: —
Syrian civil war●2011–2024
Iraq (2017–19)
Combat deaths: —
Iraqi Kurdish Civil War1994–1997
Yemen,Islamic Jihad in Yemen
Combat deaths: 2,500+
Iran–Iraq War●1980–1988
Iraq,United States
Combat deaths: 405,000–1,200,000
1974–75 Shatt al-Arab conflict1974–1975
Iraq
Combat deaths: 1,000+
Iran crisis of 19461945–1946
Azerbaijan People's Government,Republic of Mahabad
Combat deaths: 2,000+
Ottoman invasion of Persia (1906)1906
Ottoman Empire
Combat deaths: —
Anglo-Persian War1856–1857
United Kingdom British Empire,East India Company,Afghanistan
Combat deaths: 2,000+
Russo-Persian War (1826–28)1826–1828
Russian Empire
Combat deaths: 7,000+
Ottoman–Persian War (1821–23)1821–1823
Ottoman Empire
Combat deaths: 1,000+

Bold = principal belligerent. Source: Wikipedia, “List of interstate wars since 1945.” Figures marked “COW battle deaths” are Correlates of War battle-death counts, which run lower than total deaths.

👥 Population over time
Population 2023
90.6m
#17 in the world
Since 1800
15×
from 6.0m
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
1.1%
0.61% in 1800
23.3m46.6m69.9m93.2m18001850190019502000

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.

👥 To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for Iran: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak on the median
2053
102m on the UN median
2050
102m
95% band 87.8m to 117m
2100
80.0m
95% band 44.3m to 128m
2100 against 2025
0.87×
median falling from 2054
Deaths outnumber births
from 2054
on the UN medium path; migration decides the rest
33.6m67.3m101m135m1950197520002025205020752100
estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
838k born · 472k died · +39k net migration
TFR 6.97 · life expectancy 38.2 · median age 20.6
1960
1.1m born · 511k died · +54k net migration
TFR 7.52 · life expectancy 43.3 · median age 18.0
1970
1.3m born · 476k died · +90k net migration
TFR 6.80 · life expectancy 50.2 · median age 16.5
1980
1.8m born · 437k died · +104k net migration
TFR 6.63 · life expectancy 58.4 · median age 17.2
1990
2.0m born · 423k died · +201k net migration
TFR 4.93 · life expectancy 64.1 · median age 17.1
2000
1.1m born · 329k died · +300k net migration
TFR 2.00 · life expectancy 70.2 · median age 20.2
2010
1.3m born · 357k died · -13k net migration
TFR 1.75 · life expectancy 74.4 · median age 26.1
2020
1.2m born · 565k died · -181k net migration
TFR 1.70 · life expectancy 74.1 · median age 31.3

Every country to 2100 →

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

🏆 National Teams

Iran on the international stage. Select a card for the full record.

Olympics
Iran
Games 18
Medals 88
All-time #37
Best #12
27 golds
Men's FootballAFC
Iran
FIFA #23
Elo #24
WC apps 7
Major trophies 3
No World Cups
Basketball
Iran
Elo rank #35
Oly medals 0
WC apps 4
No Olympic golds
Rugby Union
Iran
Elo rank #60
No World Cups
Elo-ranked; no team page yet
CricketAssociate
Iran
Matches 1

National Teams Champions

Every major championship won by Iran's national teams, newest first. 3 in total.

Iran
1976· 1976-06-13
AFC Asian Cup
Iran
1972· 1972-05-19
AFC Asian Cup
Iran
1968· 1968-05-19
AFC Asian Cup