ТЕНДЕНЦИИ ДЕМОГРАФИЧЕСКОГО РАЗВИТИЯ ИРАНА

Abstract

The relevance of this article is due to the increasing geopolitical role of Iran as a dominant player in the Middle East being under severe pressure from external sanctions. These conditions make Iran a good example for research on the performance of population policies. Taking into account sanctions, decisions of the country's leadership in the demographic sphere are made under a large burden of responsibility and are based on the idea, that population is the main resource for the further development of the state. This article presents an analysis of the trends in the demographic development of Iran after the Islamic Revolution for the period from 1979 to 2019, as well as considers the current demographic policy of the Government of Iran. There are analyzed a structure of the population by gender, age, ethnic, religious affiliation and features of population distribution in Iran. However, birth and death data testify to a natural population growth in the country, they reveal a tendency for irrational population growth, especially in the first decade after the Islamic revolution. The change in the components of natural growth in Iran is caused by the repeated change in the demographic policy from a sharp increase in the birth rate to its reduction and vice versa. Based on the data from the Statistical Center of Iran, we state that Iranian society is be-coming more and more similar in matters of marriage and divorce to the societies of economically devel-oped countries. The total number of divorces is increasing in the country and the average age of marriage is growing as well. Taking into account current plans of the Iranian leadership to increase the population, both with life expectancy, it is obvious that the problem of aging population will increase in the country and will require additional costs from the state in the nearest future.