Famous landmarks in Iran

Iran is a large country in West Asia, between the Caspian Sea in the north and the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman in the south. Its capital is Tehran. For most of its history it was known to the outside world as Persia, home of one of the oldest civilisations and greatest empires of the ancient world. Iran is famous for its poetry, hand-knotted carpets, beautiful tiled mosques, saffron and pistachios.

On My Earth Toy you can explore the ruins of Persepolis, the ancient ziggurat of Chogha Zanbil, Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan, the colourful Nasir al-Mulk Mosque in Shiraz, and Tehran's Golestan Palace and Azadi Tower. Look for the very rare Asiatic cheetah, and discover the wind-carved Kaluts of the Lut Desert.

Geography and nature

Most of Iran is a high plateau ringed by mountains: the Alborz range in the north and the long Zagros range in the west. Mount Damavand, a 5,625-metre volcano near Tehran, is the country's highest peak. The centre and east hold two great deserts, the Dasht-e Kavir and the Dasht-e Lut, where satellites have measured some of the hottest ground temperatures on Earth. In contrast, the shore of the Caspian Sea is green, rainy and forested. Iran is the last place where Asiatic cheetahs survive in the wild.

People, languages and culture

The official language is Persian, also called Farsi, and many Iranians also speak Azeri, Kurdish, Luri, Baluchi or Arabic. Most people are Shia Muslims. The biggest celebration is Nowruz, the Persian New Year, held on the first day of spring. Poets such as Ferdowsi, Hafez and Saadi are loved and quoted, and Persian carpets, miniature paintings and tilework are admired worldwide. For thousands of years, people have also built qanats, underground channels that carry water from the mountains to farms and towns.

History in a nutshell

The Elamites built cities here more than 4,000 years ago. Around 550 BC, Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid Persian Empire, and later kings built Persepolis. Iran was later ruled by the Parthians and Sasanians, and in the 7th century Arab armies brought Islam. The Safavid dynasty, from 1501, made Isfahan a magnificent capital. In 1935 the government asked other countries to use the name Iran instead of Persia. After the 1979 revolution, the monarchy ended and the country became an Islamic republic.