Chapter 8: After the Elections: New Hopes and New Policies

>> for a general introduction to Iran and its capital city, go to chapter 1 !

 

Hey! We have a new President!

On the 14th of June 2013, presidential elections were held over the whole country. Iran has now a new president: the moderate relgious Hassan Rowhani, who won with 50,7% of the votes. Rowhani views the youth as a great asset for the country’s development. He declared:

Chapter 7: A Difficult Situation

In Chapter 6, we introduced the generation that was born after the 1979 revolution in Iran and which is now aged below 35 years. Being young in Iran is not easy. Generally, feelings of frustration and powerlessness towards the political system, the flourishing corruption and the fast growing inflation rate, have been steadily growing among the youth. The difficult situation that the young generation is currently facing will be the main topic of this chapter.

 

It is hard to find a job

 

There are very low employment prospects for the young generation, both in the capital and in the whole country. Among those aged between 15 and 24 years, about 23 percent is unemployed, which is the 44th highest youth unemployment rate in the world. Having a bachelor or master degree makes it  maybe slighly easier to find a job, but it still remains a difficult task overall. On average, it takes about three years for graduates to find a job.
 

The situation is even more difficult for young women. In 2008, the unemployment rate among young men rose to 23 percent. While for young women, it was nearly 48 percent ! At the moment, the female youth unemployment rate still remains at approximately 50 percent, thus twice as high as men. By their late 20s, usually 80 percent of female job seekers are still unemployed.

Chapter 6: Iran's Young Generation

In the previous chapters, we discussed the general demographic situation of Iran's capital, Tehran (see chapter 1 for an introduction). Here we present a special group: the youngsters! Those born after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 represent the population's largest share in the whole country and its city capital (read chapter 2 on Tehran's population structure), and thus are to attract much attention from politians, the media and the whole Iranian society.
 

Chapter 5: External and Internal Migration

Who migrates to Tehran, and where do migrants move to? After having presented the north-south socio-spatial division of Tehran's population (chapter 4), this post will focus on its external and internal migration patterns, in particular the distribution of migrants in the different parts of the city.

 

Tehran is in fact a migrant city. The largest part of Tehran’s population has migrant origins, both as result of migration from outside Iran and migration from inside the country.

 

Figure 1: Migration to Tehran from neighbouring countries (own illustration)

Chapter 4: Population Density and Polarization in Tehran

After having presented the religious and ethnic distribution in Tehran (Chapter 3), this chapter focuses on the analysis of the city's density and spatial polarization, which could be defined as the tendency that social inequalities are reflected in the spatial distribution of the population over an urban territory.
 

Image 1: Hassan Abad

"Tehran is the 16th most populated city in the world !" (Bertrand, 2003)

Teheran is a capital with a low average density because it contains large areas that have not been built on. According to 1996 statistics, the average population density in Tehran is about 125 persons/hectar and it could be roughly estimated that about 20% is currently living under poverty line, poor being defined as those that have an income lower than 250 USD per month.

Chapter 3: Religion and Ethnicity in Tehran

In the previous post (chapter 2), we presented Tehran's population age and sex structure, and development over time. Chapter 3 will now turn to the subject of the Iranian capital's ethnic and religious composition and the different groups' distribution over the city.


Figure 1: Religious and ethnic composition of Tehran
(own illustr. source: Tehran statistical yearbook  2011-2012)

As the capital of an Islamic country, 99% of Tehran population is composed of Muslims. However, one should take into account that if you have Muslim parents, you born as Muslim andthe Government does not ensure the right of citizens to change or renounce their religious faith. The other 1% of the population consisted of Christians, Jews and zarathustrianism. These religious groups are tend to live in clusters around the churches, fire temples and synagogues. They are mostly well-off parts of the society living in upper-middle class neighbourhoods of the city.

With its cosmopolitan atmosphere, Tehran is home to diverse ethnic and linguistic groups from all over the country. The native language of the city is the Tehrani accent of Persian and the majority of people in Tehran identify themselves as Persian. Minority groups include Azeri, Kurds, Arabs, Baluch, Armenians, Bakhtiari, Assyrians, Talysh, and more.
 




Figue 2: Diversity in Tehran (own illustration)
(source: Tehran statistical yearbook 2011-2012)

 According to a 2010 census conducted by the Sociology Department of Tehran University in many districts of Tehran across various socio-economic classes in proportion to population sizes of each district and socio-economic class, 63% of people in Tehran were born in Tehran, 98% know Persian, 75% identify themselves as ethnic Persian, and 13% have some degree of proficiency in a European language.

 

Figure 3: Religious and ethnic spatial distribution in Tehran
(source: Tehran statistical yearbook 2011-2012)

Source:
- Statistical centre of Iran
- Tehran statistical yearbook 2011-2012

>> Go to Chapter 4 on Population Density and Polarization in Tehran !

Chapter 2: Population development, Age pyramid and Sex Ratios

In the last post, we gave a general introduction to the country and its capital city (Chapter 1). As for the present chapter, it will give you an introudction to Tehran's demographic characteristics: Sex ratio, population structure, age pyramid... After having read this post and the next six chapters, you will know the most important facts about demographic profile of Tehran !

 

A Few Photos of Tehran and its Surroundings

 

(by Foad Forotanfar - Qeytarieh)

Chapter 1: Introduction

A Few Words about Iran...

Iran is the the is the 18th largest country in the world and the second largest -after Saudi Arabia- in the middle east in terms of area at 1,648,195 km². It is also the second largest in terms of population after Egypt with a population of around 77 million. Iran is an Islamic country with a fairly diverse ethnic population. It is bordered by Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Pakistan and Armenia, Hence it hosts many immigrants from this neighbouring countries.



Figure 1: The Middle East (own illustration)

Known as a developing country, Iran is a regional power. It has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves. Iran's climate ranges from arid to subtropical along the Caspian coast and the northern forests.
Iran is home to one the world’s oldest civilization.It was the major part of Achaemenid Empire (c. 550–330 BCE) or the first Persian Empire, one of the biggest empires of the history.


...And Its Capital City

Tehran is the capital city of Iran. It is Iran's largest city and urban area, and one of the largest cities in Western Asia. We will be focusing here on the official city limits, i.e. the 'province of Tehran' which is smaller than the whole of Tehran.



Figure 2: The province of Tehran (own illustration)

The city is home to many historic buildings. Contemporary Tehran is a modern city featuring many structures, of which the Azadi Tower and the Milad Tower have come to be symbols of Tehran itself. Tehran is ranked 29th in the world by the population of its metropolitan area. Throughout Iran's history, the capital has been moved many times, and Tehran is the 32nd national capital of Iran although it has been Iran's capital for about 220 years.




Figure 3: Tehran written in Persian (own illustration)

Tehran features a continental climate. Tehran's climate is largely defined by its geographic location, with the towering Alborz Mountains to its north and the central desert to the south. Because the city is large with significant differences in elevation among various districts, the weather is often cooler in the hilly north than in the flat southern part of Tehran. This difference in climate has contributed to different socio-spatial organization of the city.

Figure 4: City limits of Tehran 1972-2008 (source: Atlas.tehran.ir)

The city of Tehran is divided into 22 municipal districts, each with its own administrative centres. The city has a complex spatial structure and a multitude of factors affect the city’s spatial organization and the dispersal of activities. While it is not known as polycentric city, in comparison to European cities, it is difficult to define a center for the city.

Figure 5: Tehran's municipal districts (2006) (source: Tehran statistical yearbook 2011-2012)

Tehran is the largest and most important educational center of Iran. Today there are a total of nearly 50 major colleges and universities in Greater Tehran.

 

Image 1: Azadi Tower (source: Toptravellists.net)

Image 2: Milad Tower (by Alee Soumi - Navab, 2012)

Sources:
- Lowell Barrington (2012). Comparative Politics: Structures and Choices. (2nd ed.tr: Structures and Choices). Cengage Learning, p. 121
- Statistical Centre of Iran: www.amar.org.ir
- Tehran statistical yearbook, 2011-2012
 

>> To view first some beautiful pictures of Tehran and its surroundings, go to the next post
>> To read about Tehran's population structure and development, go directly to Chapter 2