Islamic Republic of Iran

جمهوری اسلامی ایران
Motto: Independence, Freedom, Islamic Republic
Capital and largest city	Tehran
Official languages	Persian
Religion	Islam
Government	Capitalist presidential republic
• Leader	Great Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei
• President	Dr. Hassan Rohani
• Vice President	Eshaq Jahangiri
• Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly	Mohammad Ghalibaf
History
• Iranian revolution	1979 Feb 12th
Population
• 2017 estimate	79,926,270
Currency	Iranian Rial

The Islamic Republic of Iran, also called Persia and Iran, is a country in Western Asia. It is the second-largest country in the Middle East, and its capital and largest city is Tehran.

Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning with the formation of the Elamite kingdoms in the fourth millennium BC.

The modern Government of Iran is an Islamic republic which includes elements of a presidential democracy, which was installed by a popular revolution against the US-backed Shah.

Iran's geography makes it geostrategically important for the global oil markets, as it is the northern coast of the Straight of Hormuz which is a maritime choke point where a third of the world's liquefied natural gas and a quarter of global oil trade passes through.