Iran is bounded to the north by Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, and the Caspian Sea, to the east by Pakistan and Afghanistan, to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and to the west by Turkey and Iraq. Iran also controls about a dozen islands in the Persian Gulf. About one-third of its 4,770-mile (7,680-km) boundary is seacoast.

Iran is a culturally diverse society, and interethnic relations are generally amicable. The predominant ethnic and cultural group in the country consists of native speakers of Persian. But the people who are generally known as Persians are of mixed ancestry, and the country has important Turkic and Arab elements in addition to the Kurds, Baloch, Bakhtyārī, Lurs, and other smaller minorities (Armenians, Assyrians, Jews, Brahuis, and others).

Although Persian (Farsi) is the predominant and official language of Iran, a number of languages and dialects from three language families Indo-European, Altaic, and Afro-Asiatic are spoken.

Roughly three-fourths of Iranians speak one of the Indo-European languages. Slightly more than half the population speak a dialect of Persian, an Iranian language of the Indo-Iranian group. Literary Persian, the language’s more refined variant, is understood to some degree by most Iranians. Persian is also the predominant language of literature, journalism, and the sciences.

The vast majority of Iranians are Muslims of the Ithnā ʿAsharī, or Twelver, Shīʿite branch, which is the official state religion. The Kurds and Turkmen are predominantly Sunni Muslims, but Iran’s Arabs are both Sunni and Shīʿite. Small communities of Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians are also found throughout the country.

The most formidable hurdle facing Iran’s economy remains its continuing isolation from the international community. This isolation has hampered the short- and long-term growth of its markets, restricted the country’s access to high technology, and impeded foreign investment.

Iran’s isolation is a product both of the xenophobia of its more
conservative politicians who fear post imperial entanglements and sanctions imposed by the international community, particularly the United States, which accuses Iran of supporting international terrorism.