IRAN Many peoples Many different peoples live in Iran and many different languages are spoken there About half of the population speak Persian known as Farsi in Iran Farsi is the official language spoken in the capital city of Tehran However in northwestern Iran most people speak a very different language called Azeri which is closer to Turkish than Farsi A number of other languages are also spoken in Iran including ancient tongues such as Gilaki Mazandarani Luri and Balochi as well as modern Arabic and Kurdish A growing population In recent decades Iran has experienced very fast population growth About 81 million people live in Iran today more than double the number of 1978 Owing to a long population boom since 1980 the Iranian population is young by Western standards with almost two-thirds of Iranians age 30 or less Although the rate of growth in Iran’s population is now slowing the population is still expected to rise to between 90 and 100 million by 2050 Employment in Iran Industry 34 Services 49 Agriculture 17 Source CIA World Factbook 2014 10 FOCUS CHANGING WAYS OF WORK Since 1980 increasing numbers of Iranians have moved from the countryside to live in the rapidly growing cities About a third of Iranians still work in agriculture but most now earn their living in the manufacturing and service industries About two-thirds of Iranians now live in urban areas more than 12 million of them in Tehran alone Many faiths Almost all Iranians are Muslim Most belong to the Shia branch of Islam which is the state religion while fewer than 10 percent follow the Sunni Islamic tradition There are also small communities of other believers Christianity Judaism and Zoroastrianism are recognized as official religions and are tolerated to some extent About 25,000 Iranian Jews live in Iran mostly in Tehran where there are 11 synagogues A similar number keep the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism alive There are about 300,000 Christians in Iran mostly belonging to the historic Armenian Church There are also over 150,000 members of the Baha’i faith but although this religion was founded in Persia it is not recognized by the Iranian state Refugees and emigrants In recent decades large numbers of refugees have fled to Iran from troubled neighboring states Because of wars in their own country there are over a million Afghan refugees in Iran mostly living in the poorest neighborhoods in the cities There are smaller groups of refugees from Iraq as well as Tajiks Somalis Bangladeshis and Pakistanis Political and religious changes inside Iran have also encouraged many Iranians to move overseas More than 80 percent of Iranians work in industry or the service sector a statistic that reflects the move by many people from rural to urban areas
The Zoroastrian fire temple of Pir-e Sabz at Chak Chak in central Iran lies within a mountain grotto shrine Believers also visit the ever-dripping spring well inside the mountain Each summer several thousand Parsees or Zoroastrian believers mostly from India make a pilgrimage here 11
CHAPTER 2 History Iran once known as Persia was one of the most important lands in the ancient world and the center of a great civilization The advanced Bronze Age Elam culture developed in western Iran in about 3200 BCE By 1000 BCE nomadic Iranian peoples equipped with iron weapons and tools were settling in central Iran The most powerful of these tribes was the Medes who founded the first Iranian state in about 605 BCE Cyrus the Great Cyrus or Kuros was a great general and lawgiver who united the Medes with the southern Persians in 549 BCE Cyrus created a vast empire that stretched across the Middle East from the Mediterranean Sea to northern India becoming the first shah or king of kings in Persian history For over 200 years Cyrus and his successors ruled an empire that was feared because of its huge army and admired for its wealth and culture Under these Achaemenid kings Zoroastrianism became the official religion of Persia Greeks and Parthians In three brief years this first Persian empire fell to the whirlwind campaigns of Alexander the Great of Macedon a region in northern Greece For the next 100 years a foreign dynasty known as the Seleucids ruled Persia adding Greek ideas to the mix of cultures there Over time the lands 12 KEY DATES 605 BCE The Medes establish the first Iranian empire 559 529 BCE Cyrus establishes the Achaemenid empire 485 BCE The Achaemenid empire reaches its greatest extent under Darius I and Xerxes I 330 BCE Alexander the Great conquers Iran 250 224 CE The Parthian empire flourishes 224 651 CE The Sassanid empire flourishes under Seleucid control shrank By 200 BCE real power in Iran lay with the Parthians a people from the southeastern shores of the Caspian Successful in war the Parthian kings ruled much of southwestern Asia for 470 years Their power only ended after defeat in a series of long and expensive wars against Rome The Sassanids The Sassanids ruled Iran from 226 to 651 CE Early Sassanid rulers such as Ardashir and Shapur I aimed to restore the Persian empire to the power it had enjoyed under Cyrus the Great Like the Parthians they were well-organized warriors who led large armies of heavily armored horsemen Great Sassanid kings such as Shapur II and Khosrau I inflicted humiliating defeats on the Romans By 620 CE Sassanid Persia had extended its rule deep into Central Asia to Egypt and Arabia in the west and to northern India in the east
HISTORY Why was ancient Iran so powerful Iran was the home of several strong empires in ancient times The mountainous regions produced hardy warriors while the southern cities had the wealth and skills to make the weapons and armor needed by Persia’s armies From Cyrus on kings could send and receive messages quickly from all parts of the empire carried by messengers on safe roads The Persian heartland was also a safe distance from its Greek Roman and Indian enemies Persepolis was the ancient ceremonial capital of Persia where the emperor Darius the Great received homage from his subjects in the Apadana Palace 13
