Do NOT call (most of) these people Arabs.
(intro music)
It's time to learn Geography... NOW!!!
Hey everybody, I'm your host Barby.
OK, Let me break this down so you can quickly get the distinction.
You've heard of Persia, right?
The Persian Empire,
Persian rugs, Persian Cats,
The Prince of Persia,
which, by the way, Disney got incredibly accurate.
Yes, Persia is pretty much synonymous with Iran.
Now, not everyone in Iran is Persian, but it's a huge part of their story.
Which we will be discussing, now.
(Political Geography)
OK, let's be frank, Iran seems to get the fair share of their news quite often in the Western media.
However, conflicts and issues aside,
Iran has a deep history and story in the Middle East that extents millennia
in the past that would probably wise to educate yourself on.
First of all,
Iran is located in Western Asia, bordered by 7 other countries,
as well as the Caspian Sea to the North, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the south,
Divided by the Strait of Hormuz, which is like one of the most important
sea passages in the world.
Hey! It's Arabian Gulf.
Eh, most people have called it Persian Gulf, and it's been that way for centuries.
Plus Arabs have their own sea, just let them have it.
*sigh*
The country is divided into 31 provinces,
with the capital Tehran located in the north central region.
Now keep in mind, before Tehran, Iran actually had 30 previous capitals throughout their history,
more than any other country in the world.
Otherwise, Iran also divides the country into 5 non-constituent unit regions
for administrative purposes.
Each one containing 6 provinces,
except for one region containing 7,
which also includes the capital.
Finally, although they are administrated by Iran,
The country also has a current dispute over the Abu Musa,
and the Greater and Lesser Tunb Islands,
with the United Arab Emirates,
nearby the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.
After Tehran, the largest cities are:
Mashad in the east, and Isfahan in the center,
and the largest airports are of course Tehran's two twins,
Mehrabad and Imam Khomeini International,
Mashad International and Shiraz International.
Iran also takes ownership of about 30 or so islands in the Gulf,
and technically one island in the Caspian Sea,
Ashūradeh Island, which however it's kind of more like a loose peninsula.
One thing that you have to understand is that Iran takes the position and borders very seriously.
As they are kind of like a land bridge located right at the crossroads
between the Middle East, the Caucasus,
as well as the Central and South Asian regions.
The most important and largest seaport would be Bandar Abbas,
which also houses the Iranian navy,
located right at the entrance of Strait of Hormuz.
Otherwise, due to its incredible history,
Iran is overflowing with landmarks and sites,
some of the top notable ones might include places like,
Nashe Jahan Square, Milad Tower, Golestan Palace,
Persian Garden, Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran, Tomb of Hafez,
the Azadi tower freedom monument, the Pigeon Tower, Yazd,
the holiest place for Zoroastrians,
Choga Zanbil Ziggurat, Mayamand Cave Village,
Imam Reza Shrine, the Khaju Bridge,
Arg-e bam, the Shushtar hydraulic system,
the Tomb of Cyrus the Great, Tomb of Daniel,
too many famous mosques and shrines to list, and pretty much everything in Persepolis
Iran was able to build so much of their own personal space,
partially due to the fact that they were easily well-protected by natural boundaries,
or barricaded in, you decide.
Let's explain in:
(Physical Geography)
You know what's funny?
The world's hottest surface temperature ever recorded was 70.7°C in the Lut Desert in Iran,
and yet Iran is also like the best ski resort area in the Middle East.
First of all, Iran's most important topographical barriers
are the Zagros Mountains in the west,
which also contain the largest lake, Urmia,
and the mountains also feed the longest river, the Karun in the south,
which flows into the Gulf.
As well as the Alborz Mountains along the north,
which contain the largest mountain, Mount Damavand,
which is also the tallest volcano in all of Asia, like it's still active.
There's so much mining potential in these mountains as well,
which makes Iran the largest producer of turquoise and zinc.
Otherwise, they have 2 main deserts:
the Kavir and Lut,
located in the central plateau,
and the only real flat part of Iran
is in the Khuzestan region, right next to Iraq.
Iran is right on the boundary of the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates,
which in return makes Iran the country with the most number of major earthquakes,
of at least 5.5 on the Ritcher scale annually.
-Chile: Eugh, mine are bigger.
-Indonesia: Yeah, well mine are explodier.
Now Iran is kind of like the strange anomaly that sticks out from the rest of the Middle East,
because it has Alpine Mountains, with flowers and snow and water and green,
especially in the north along the coast of the Caspian.
And sure there are dry arid deserts too, but overall Iran is a lot more lush.
This allows them to harbor river valleys for agriculture,
which makes them the No. 1 producer of pistachio,
saffron, stone fruits.
By the way, Iranians love saffron.
They put it in like half of everything.
Speaking of which, some top foods from Iran might include things like:
Pomegranate Walnut stew, Kuku,
Mirza Qasemi, various rice dishes like jeweled rice,
Baqala, Lubia, Shirin, various kebabs like Juje,
Kubide, Torsh and Bakhtyari.
Desserts like Rose water pudding, Halva, Sarshir, Bamie,
Nokhodch and Falude.
By the way, half those dishes has Saffron in them.
Alcohol is technically banned, however people kind of smuggle it in,
and have their connections, even the cops are kind of getting tired of trying to crack down,
and many just look the other way and deal with other bigger things.
Two other things that Iran cannot live without, tea and caviar.
In fact, Iran is the largest producer of caviar in the world,
mostly from sturgeons, fished off the coast of Caspian.
Speaking of which, Iran surprisingly has quite an array of wild life,
including gazelles, wolves, falcons, storks, buzzards,
and of course the famous Persian cats.
Speaking of cats, Iran is home to some of the last only few remaining surviving Persian lions
which is by the way, the national animal.
Persian leopards, and yes, even Asiatic cheetahs.
Wait, aren't those like African animals?
Actually, a lot of animals we affiliate with Africa had historically roamed
all across the Middle East and Southern Asian regions
which is why today we have elephants in India, rhinos in Indonesia.
Unfortunately, most of them have been killed off or incredibly endangered.
The more you, unfortunately, know!
The biggest natural resource though would have to be.. no surprise, oil.
Iran is the second largest oil producer in the Middle East,
after Saudi Arabia,
and about 60% of their total reserves
are located around the Persian Gulf.
It's estimated that the country should have about 125 billion barrels in reservoirs,
10% of the world's total reserves,
and they pop out about 4 million barrels a day.
That's a lot.
So with all the geographic isolation,
but abundance of resources,
you might wonder, what is life like in Iran?
Well, I'm so glad you asked!
(Demographics)
Now Iran is interesting because it's caught in a strange new transition period,
in which everything in the new generation of millennials
has a tinge of self-defiance.
First of all, Iran has about 80 million people,
and is the second most populated country in the Middle East,
after Egypt, and has the highest number of Shias in the world.
About 62% of the country is ethnically Persians,
whereas the second largest ethnic groups,
are the Azeris, at about 16%,
Kurds at about 10%,
while the remainder is made up of smaller but noticeable groups
like the Lurs, the Balochis, Arabs, Turkic groups, and others.
They also use the Iranian Rial as their currency,
they use the type C, E, F outlets, and they drive on the right side of the road.
Now let's emphasize this one more time:
Persians are NOT Arabs.
That's like the worst thing you can say to them.
First of all, what is it like to be a Persian?
Well, you kinda have to understand that
Iran evolved a lot differently from all the other countries in the Middle East.
History would take way too long to explain, but in the quickest way I can put it:
Proto-Elamites, Elam, Median Empire, Persian/Achaemenid Empire,
Alexander the Great, Selucid, Parthian and Sassanid Empires,
Islam enters to the Umayyad Caliphate, Abassid Caliphate,
Saffarids and Samanids coming from the east,
then some weird splitting up,
Ghaznavid, Seljuk, and Khwarezmian Empires,
MONGOLS!!!
The Ilhanate, Timurid, Safavid and Afsharid Empires,
the Zand and Qajar dynasties,
quick Pahlavi dynasty, Islamic Republic,
a little drama here and there, and here we are today.
Now the biggest distinction of Iran would probably be the language.
The official language of Iran is Persian, or Farsi,
an Indo-European language also spoken in Afghanistan and Tajikistan,
although they have their own dialects,
which is completely unintelligible to Arabic.
The second largest distinction would be that they are the largest Shia Muslim country in the world.
with doctrines that run their ideologies and legislation.
If you don't know the difference between the Sunnis and Shias, basically,
Shias believe that Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law Ali was supposed to be rightful successor,
rather than Abu Bakr who become the first Caliph.
If you don't know any of that means, let me make it even easier.
Shias, this guy.
Sunnis, no, this guy. Done.
The interesting thing though,
is that Persians still hold onto a lot of ancient Persian customs and traditions that predate even Islam.
For example, for over 3000 years, Persians and other Persian related people groups
across the world still celebrate Nowruz, or Persian New Year,
usually on March 21st, or the Vernal Equinox,
mostly the secular holiday, however it actually has roots and it's considered holy to Zoroastrians,
Zoroastrianism actually started in Iran,
and at one point was actually the state religion.
Persians also have their own distinct art,
which usually depicts human figures more often than other Sunni cultures.
They have their own traditions, clothing, music, opera, poetry, sports.
I mean Polo was invented here,
and they had the ancient warrior training thing,
they have handicrafts, I mean everybody knows that Persian rugs,
are like some of the most sought after in the world.
Remember! NOT all Iranians are Persians!
And some of these groups have expressed separatist movement desires in the past,
but with pretty much no actual success.
The second largest group, the Turkic Azeris or Azerbaijanis,
mostly living in northwest along the borders of Turkey and the Caucasus regions,
where there cousins, the actual Azerbaijanis in Azerbaijan live.
They are basically the same people except one group speaks Farsi.
Although the exact numbers are kinda hard to estimate,
today there are about twice as many to three times more Azeris living in Iran,
than there are in Azerbaijan.
Then you have the Kurds that live along the west as well,
then you have the Arabs that mostly inhabit the flat Khuzestan areas by Iraq,
you have the Balochi people in the southwest along the border with Pakistan,
each of these people groups has their own languages, culture and history.
Oh, keep in mind, Persia is mentioned numerous times in the Bible,
Iranian Jews believed that they are descended from Queen Esther,
and they as well as Christians believed that King Cyrus was prophesied in the Book of Isaiah.
Speaking of which, although the vast majority of the population is Shia Muslim,
there are communities of non-Muslims, mostly Christians and Jews.
However, outside religions are strictly monitored and confined
to only a few places of worship,
as it is illegal to build churches or synagogues.
Selling of literature is illegal, and apostasy from Muslim is punishable,
which is funny, because just like in China,
Iran has one of the fastest growing underground Christian communities in the world,
and disputably the most in the Middle East.
So how does Iran hold all these people together?
Well, in order to speed up the Persian assimilation process,
other languages are banned from schools,
and they have a system in which cooperation is rewarded,
and resistance is punished by the IRGC.
So it's kind of like:
Iran: "Join us! And the rewards shall be bountiful."
"Em, I had my own thing going on. But thanks!"
[grabs his collar]
"Join us! And the rewards shall be bountiful."
Speaking of which, the government is a little confusing.
You have both the regular legislators,
and then you have the theocratic leaders.
Essentially, the Ayatollah has the most power.
He is not only the leader of the country,
but also the entire Shia community inside and outside of Iran.
He's selected by a community of clerks, called the Assembly of experts,
who also has the authority to approve all the presidential candidates during election time.
From there, the president appoints people to various ministry and offices,
whereas the Ayatollah appoints the military leader
and handles all other various duties.
I don't want to say the Ayatollah is like the Pope of the Shia faith,
but in someways he kind of is.
This is kind of where the Islamic Revolution comes into play
and where all the modern drama with Iran kinda starts.
Long story short, they took down the Shah,
which they believe there was the Western puppet figure,
and they instituted a more conservative Islamic Republic.
This changed everything.
The thing is, this was all nearly half a century ago,
today, an entire new generation of modernized digital tech-savvy Iranians has entered the stage,
and the country has seen a completely new culture shift that they can't stop.
About 70% of the country is under 30 years old,
many of whom don't really even like the rules,
which means you have a lot of intrepid youths running the show now.
Even the police are getting way more lenient because the police are getting younger too.
Everyone in Iran is now kinda trying to find like loopholes and subtle cheats
to avoid the religiously imposed laws.
Although the hijab is required for all women in public,
most women just loosely wear it, exposing their necks and front hair.
Almost as if its like a fashion accessory rather than a religious article.
Skateboarding, punk rock and metal culture has already penetrated the youth, even women.
Although its interesting, because it's like Persian punk rocking metal.
People meet at underground clubs and parties all the time,
wearing whatever they want, with open bars and music.
If you catch them in their element,
Persians are actually seriously like some of the most fun people you'll ever meet.
And the crazy thing is, everyone knows about this.
It's nothing shockingly new to the police or government.
It gives them a little bit of headache, but after half a century,
it's kind of like, eh, dude, whatever.
Yeah, you didn't really expect that, did you?
Persian punk rock rebels with hijab and skateboards, right?
And that's what goes on in the inside,
now let's see how they reach out.
(Friend Zone)
Now here's where things get a little tricky because,
in order to understand Iran's outside relations,
again, you kinda have to look at Iran through the lens of both pre- and post-1979 Revolution.
First of all, Iraq is sometimes called "Arab Iran",
although don't say that to them,
as they have the second highest population of Shias,
and hold two incredibly important holy Shia sites,
they've mostly moved on from the war in the 80's,
and the two have good ties, mostly.
Afghanistan and Tajikistan are like their cousins that have different political views,
and it's awkward when they have dinner together,
but nonetheless, they still mostly get along.
Russia and Venezuela are probably the best friends outside of the Middle East,
as Hugo Chávez frequently visited Ahmadinejad and made numerous trade deals,
the Iranian car company Khodro is imported and partially manufactured in Venezuela,
and Russia was like a key ally in many of the war conflicts post-revolution.
Surprisingly, they are also one of the few countries that have kind of decent ties to North Korea,
They've pledged cooperation and education and cultural spheres in the past.
The Azerbaijanis of the north of course love Azerbaijan, no surprise.
Bahrain is like Saudi Arabia's girlfriend that they keep trying to flirt with and steal.
When it comes to their best friends though,
most Iranians I talked to have said probably Syria and Turkey?
Although it's a little bit complicated, especially with all the current drama going on.
Turkey and Iran have more or less always been a good term especially in business,
they are working on a plan to enter the European petroleum industry to rival Russia,
each country makes up a large population of tourists that visit each other every year.
Syria, or more specifically the Syrian government,
has more or less worked alongside with Iran numerous times in the past,
and has been a key ally not only in diplomacy, but also strategically,
as they kind of give them access to the Mediterranean.
In conclusion, Iran is kind of like a land that is constantly trying to figure out a way
to reconcile the revolutionary ideals upon a fast pace social media
induced generation of quiet cultural rebels.
While simultaneously dealing with outside stigma.
What will Iran look like in 20 years?
I don't know, but one thing we do know is that the young people will be ruling it.
Stay tuned, Iraq is coming up next.
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