Population:

65,875,223 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 22.3% (male 7,548,116/female 7,164,921)
15-64 years: 72.3% (male 24,090,976/female 23,522,861)
65 years and over: 5.4% (male 1,713,533/female 1,834,816) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 26.4 years
male: 26.2 years
female: 26.7 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.792% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

16.89 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

5.69 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

-3.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 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: 0.93 male(s)/female
total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 36.93 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 37.12 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 36.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 70.86 years
male: 69.39 years
female: 72.4 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.71 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.2% (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

66,000 (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

1,600 (2005 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A
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 (2008)

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% (Shi'a 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.)