History
: - The Elamites was the first people on the Iranian plateau ,
who established a City at Shush in the far South-West. Than the Aryans came
to the region in the second millennium BC, bringing with them some
agricultural and domestic skills.
Alexander the Great invaded
Persia after conquering most of Greece, Egypt, Turkey and Iraq in 4th
century BC. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, the empire was divided into
three squabbling dynasties, with Persia controlled by the Macedonian
Seleucids. But the Seleucids had problems controlling the numerous feisty
ethnic minorities, in particular the nomadic Parthians who came to control
most of Persia until the 3rd century AD. The Sassanians came from the
central regions of Persia not under direct control of the Parthians.
The
Arabs ruled until 1050, converting most of the population to Islam and
introducing the new Persian script and Islamic culture. They were brought
down by a Turkish dynasty, which captured Esfahan in 1051. Despite numerous
rebellions, the Turks hung onto power until they were swept clean away by
Genghis Khan's rampaging Mongols in the early 13th century. The ensuing
Safavid Dynasty (1502-1722) was one of the great Persian empires. The
Afghans couldn't hold power and Iran was ruled by Agha Muhammed Khan, united
the Turkish Ghajars in 1779 and went on to establish a capital in Tehran.
The Ghajar kings ruled a relatively peaceful Iran until 1921.
One
of the last Ghajar kings introduced the idea of elections and a legislative
assembly (called the Majlis), but it wasn't until the charismatic Persian
Reza Khan came along in 1923 that the idea stuck. On 4 June 1989, Ayatollah
Khomeini died, leaving an uncertain legacy. Two months later Hojjat-ol-Eslam
Rafsanjani was elected president, a post which had previously been largely
ceremonial, and Khomeini's position as Supreme Leader was taken by the
former president, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Area - 1,648,000 sq km
(642,720 sq mi)
Population - 66 million.
Capital city
- Tehran ( Pop 12 million)
People - Persian (Farsis) (65%),
Azari (25%), Arab (4%), Lors (2%), Turkmen (2%), Kurdish, Armenian, Jewish
Language - Persian.
Religion - Shi'ite Muslim
(89%), Sunni Muslim (10%), Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, Baha'i (1%)
Government
- Islamic Republic.
Language
:- Divehi know as Dhivehi is the main and national language of Maldives
, which is drived from the Sri Lankan language called Sinhala. English is
also spoken by the majority of educated peoples of the country.
Visa
:- Everyone needs a visa to visit Iran. Unless you're from Slovenia,
Macedonia, Turkey or Japan, this is going to be a hassle. The regulations
are baffling, the costs often high. The best advice is to apply for a visa
before you leave home. However, once you're in you're in - getting an
extension inside Iran is often easier than getting any sort of visa outside
the country.
Time
:- GMT/UTC plus 3.5 hours.
Climate
:- The best times to visit Iran are mid-April to early June, and late
September to early November - these times avoid the long, cold northern
winter, the Iranian New Year (late March) and the summer, which can be
unpleasantly hot in much of the country.
Currency
:- Iranian Rial.
Cities
- :-
Tehran The
National Museum of Iran houses a
marvellous collection including ceramics, stone figures and carvings dating
from around the 5th millenium BC. The
Glass & Ceramics Museum is
one of the most impressive in Tehran, not only for its professionally
organised exhibits, but also for the building itself. The
Reza Abbasi
Museum, another stunner, contains examples of Islamic painting, pottery
and jewellery. The
Sa'd Abad Museum Complex includes the last Shah's
White Palace; the grounds are a superb place to have tea. The
Jewels
Museum houses incredible jewellery over which wars were waged. Tehran's
best non-museum sight is the
haphazard bazaar, so big it's
practically a separate city. Also worth a look are the busy
Emam
Khomeini Mosque, the drab Armenian
Sarkis Cathedral, and the
city's parks and gardens.
Persepolis, the Throne of Jamshid,
was a massive and magnificent palace complex built from about 512 BC and
completed over the next 150 years. One of the first things you'll see is
Xerxes' Gateway, covered with inscriptions and carvings in Elamite
and other ancient languages. The gateway leads to the immense
Apadana
Palace complex where the kings received visitors and celebrations were
held. Plenty of gold and silver was discovered in the palace, but it was
predictably looted by Alexander the not-so-Great, and what he left behind is
in the National Museum in Tehran. The largest hall in Persepolis was the
Palace of 100 Columns, probably one of the biggest building.
Esfahan
The cool blue tiles of Esfahan's Islamic buildings, and the city's majestic
bridges, contrast perfectly with the hot, dry Iranian countryside around it.
Emam Khomeini Square, one of the largest town squares in the world;
the
Chehel Sotun Museum & Park, a marvellous 17th century
pavilion and a great place for a picnic; and the
Vank Cathedral, the
historic focal point of the Armenian church in Iran. Taking tea in one of
the teahouses under the bridges is also an essential part of the Esfahan
experience.
Shiraz was one of the most important cities in the
medieval Islamic world and was the Iranian capital during the Zand dynasty
(1747-79), when many of its most beautiful buildings were built or restored.
Highlights include the restful
tomb and garden of Hafez, a
celebrated poet; the
Shah-Cheragh mausoleum, an important Shi'ite
place of pilgrimage which attracts hordes of supplicants; the
Pars
Museum, which contains Zand dynasty relics; and the delightful
Eram
garden, where the 19th century Ghajar palace lies alongside a pretty
pool.
Bam is a pleasant town where the eucalypts are likely to
make any Aussie homesick, and the date palms clearly indicate a desert
oasis. Numerous steep and narrow stairways lead to the pinnacles of the
outer clay wall which almost circles the entire city. From the wall you can
see the curved
ice house, which housed enormous chunks of ice in
winter, melting to become drinking water in summer. The
inner citadel
dominated the town - the extraordinary echo in the
garrison is
thought to be a deliberate, ancient loudspeaker system.
