Disaster Risk Management Profile: Tehran, Iran

Iran, or Persia, as it was known until 1935, is located in South West Asia.
Turkmenistan and the Caspian Sea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Persian Gulf,
the Gulf of Oman, Iraq and Turkey bound the 1,648,000 sq km large country.
Iran is one of the most arid regions of the world, and suffers frequent droughts,
floods and landslides. In addition, due to its position in the Alpine-Himalayan
mountain system, Iran is also subject to numerous and often severe
earthquakes.

The total population of Iran is 68,017,860 (July 2005 est.), making it also, one of
the most populous countries in the region. Persians make up over half of the
population, while the Azerbaijani account for at least 25%. Other ethnic
minorities include Kurds, Lors, Bakhtiaris, Baluchis, Arabs, Armenians,
Assyrians and Jews. In addition to the local population, Iran has over the past two decades, hosted one of the largest refugee populations in the world. The
estimated number of these refugees, mostly from war-torn Afghanistan and
Iraq, has varied between two and four million.