Population:
66,429,284 (July 2009 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 21.7% (male 7,394,841/female 7,022,076)
15-64 years: 72.9% (male 24,501,544/female 23,914,172)
65 years and over: 5.4% (male 1,725,828/female 1,870,823) (2009 est.)

Median age:
total: 27 years
male: 26.8 years
female: 27.2 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate:
0.883% (2009 est.)

Birth rate:
17.17 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Death rate:
5.72 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

Net migration rate:
-2.62 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Urbanization:
urban population: 68% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 2.1% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.92 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 35.78 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 35.98 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 35.56 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.14 years
male: 69.65 years
female: 72.72 years (2009 est.)

Total fertility rate:
1.71 children born/woman (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.2% (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
86,000 (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
4,300 (2007 est.)

Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea
vectorborne diseases: Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever and malaria
note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)

Nationality:
noun: Iranian(s)
adjective: Iranian

Ethnic groups:
Persian 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%

Religions:
Muslim 98% (Shia 89%, Sunni 9%), other (includes Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i) 2%

Languages:
Persian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%, other 2%

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 77%
male: 83.5%
female: 70.4% (2002 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 13 years
male: 13 years
female: 13 years (2005)

Education expenditures:
5.1% of GDP (2006)