POPULATION CONTROL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

The Islamic Republic of Iran, with the sixteenth largest population in the world, borders Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan to the North; Afghanistan and Pakistan to the East; and Turkey and Iraq to the West. The country’s coastline includes the Caspian Sea to the North and the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea in the South. The official language and script of the country is Persian. Ninety-nine point six percent (99.6%) of the population are Muslim. Zero point two percent (0.2%) are Christian, 0.07% Zoroastrians, and 0.05% Jews. Iran is divided into 30 provinces, which are further broken down into smaller administrative districts. According to the latest census, conducted in 1996, Iran’s population was 60,055,488 persons. Of these, 61% live in urban areas and 39% in rural communities. Table 1 shows the population of Iran in six different censuses.