Iran: An Old Civilization and a New Nation State

Abstract

Iran has functioned for at least 5000 years as a civilization and as fertile ground for the emergence of the world's first state in the modern sense of the word. The administration of Iran has historically been plagued with difficulties of exerting authority outside the main areas of population and, therefore, in fixing its national frontiers. The word Iran means “the land of the Aryans.” Politically, Iran is a country situated in southwest Asia in the part of the globe generally known as the Middle East. With a land area of 1,648,195 square kilometers, Iran is bounded by no less than 15 countries and autonomous regions, making it the country with the largest number of neighbors. Most of them at one time or another in history have been part of the famous Persian Empire (a term used by many Western historians), which disintegrated during and as a result of the Anglo-Russian “Great Game” of th geopolitics that started in late 18 century and ended in World Wars I and