LOCATION: Middle East
AREA: 1,648,000 sq. km (636,296 sq. miles)
POPULATION: 57,727,000 (1991 estimate)
POPULATION DENSITY 35 per sq. km
CAPITAL: Tehran
Population: 8,042,584(1994)

GEOGRAPHY: Iran is located in the Middle East, bounded to the north by the CIS and the Caspian Sea, the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and the west by Iraq and Turkey. The centre and east of the country is largely barren undulating desert, punctuated by qanats (irrigation canals and tree oases), but there are mountainous (regions in the west along the Turkish and Iraqi borders and in the north where the Elburz Mountains rise steeply from a fertile belt around the Caspian Sea.

IRAN, AT A GLANCE
Considering the geographical expanse of Iran (1,648,000 sq kin), the climate which ranges from subtropical to sub-polar is unparalleled in the world. Iran is the only country in the world with a high interior basin of 1,500 feet above sea level, one-sixth of the country is over 6,500 feet, falling sharply to 70 feet below sea level along the northern coastal region. You can ski on snow in one place and water-ski the same day within a two hour drive in another place. As regards to the number and variety of its historical sites and relics, Iran is considered as one of the ten most important countries in the world. It is hard to find such a variety of historical architecture, covering so many eras in other civilisations. You can see thousand year old relics along with two hundred year old relics in one place, both of which will attract you. We have arranged for you a meeting with history on the Silk Road. A meeting which will change your views on the world.
AlTO will be your companion, whether through the highest peaks to the old capital of the highlands, The fortress of Alamut; or through the depths of the fearful deserts and untouched nomadic tribes; or to the heart of the old civilization of Persepolis and the capital of a thousand and one nights, Esfahan. Iran is the land of multifarious natural history, ancient civilisations, living anthropology and deep culture.


Tourism in IRAN
Iran Carpet Gallery
Iran Homepage by Nedanet
Iranian Culture Information Centre - Travel Page
Iran Touring and Tourism Organisation
Faslnameh Honar
Golestan Gallery - Tehran 
Iran Air The Airline of Islamic Republic of Iran