Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, formerly known internationally as Persia until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia.  The 18th largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km², Iran has a population of over seventy million. 

Iran occupies an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. The name Iran is a cognate of Aryan, and means "Land of the Aryans.  "Land of Kindness" is used as an alternative name for Iran in Persian literature and Iranian media