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Iran, [a] [b] officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) [c] and also known as Persia, [d] is a country in West Asia.It borders Turkey to the northwest and Iraq to the west, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Caspian Sea, and Turkmenistan to the north, Afghanistan to the east, Pakistan to the southeast, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south.
The Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman littorals form the entire 1,770-kilometre (1,100 mi) southern border. To the east lie Afghanistan on the north and Pakistan on the far south. Iran's diagonal distance from Azerbaijan in the northwest to Sistan and Baluchestan province in the southeast is approximately 2,333 kilometres (1,450 mi).
Educated Ottoman Turks spoke Arabic and Persian, as these were the main foreign languages in the pre-Tanzimat era, with the former being used for science and the latter for literary affairs. [25] The spread of the Persian language through Rumi shrines made it the dialect of the Sufism. The Ottomans promoted and supported the Persian language.
The term Persian, meaning "from Persia", derives from Latin Persia, itself deriving from Greek Persís (Περσ委ς), [24] a Hellenized form of Old Persian P膩rsa (饜幈饜帬饜幖饜幙), which evolves into F膩rs in modern Persian. [25] In the Bible, particularly in the books of Daniel, Esther, Ezra, and Nehemya, it is given as P膩r膩s (驻指旨专指住).
Media (Old Persian: 饜幎饜帬饜幁, romanized: M膩da, Middle Persian: M膩d) is a region of north-western Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Medes. [N 1] During the Achaemenid period, it comprised present-day Iranian Azerbaijan, Iranian Kurdistan and western Tabaristan.
Iran is bound by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south and the Caspian Sea to its north. Shi'a Islam is the official religion, and Persian is the official language. [ 2 ] Iran's population is about 83,500,000; [ 3 ] and is the 18th largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 square kilometres (636,372 sq mi).
Map of West Asia in 1872, with Iran/Persia (ruled by the Qajar dynasty) shaded in pink. Historically, Iran was commonly referred to as "Persia" in the Western world. [1] Likewise, the modern-day ethnonym "Persian" was typically used as a demonym for all Iranian nationals, regardless of whether or not they were ethnic Persians.
The Persian Empire, about 500 BC; Persis is the central southern province with the red outline. Its main cities are Persepolis and Pasargadae . Persis ( Ancient Greek : Περσ委ς , romanized: Persís; Old Persian : 饜幈饜帬饜幖饜幙 , romanized: Parsa ), [ 1 ] also called Persia proper , is a historic region in southwestern Iran , roughly ...