7 Facts about Iran
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In this brief video you can find seven little known facts about Iran.
More information about the video content bellow:
1. The current Iranian flag was adopted in 1980 and has three equal horizontal bands of green, white, and red. Centered in the middle white band is the stylized representation of the word “Allah” and the phrase La ilaha illa Allah (“None is worthy of worship but Allah”) in the shape of a tulip. Along the inner edges of the green and red bands are 22 copies of the phrase Allahu Akbar (“God is great”). Iran became and Islamic Republic in 1979, when the monarchy was overthrown.
2. In Persian, the word Iran means “Land of the Aryans”. Iran is one of the world’s oldest continuous civilizations, with settlements dating back to 3200 B.C. The names Persia and Iran are interchangeable and the language is not Arabian but Persian (or Farsi). Iran was known as Persia up until 1935.
3. The rights of women in Iran are severely restricted. Iran’s constitution dictates that women are mothers and homemakers. If they want to work outside of the home, they need permission from the male head of the household. The government also segregates schools by gender, and at the university level, there are some subjects women are not allowed to study. On city buses, men and women sit apart, and a woman may not appear in public with a man unless it is her husband or family member. However, unlike women in Saudi Arabia, Iranian women can drive and vote.
4. The Medes were of Aryan origin and the first people to unify Iran by the 6th century B.C. One of the tribes, the Magi, were powerful Zoroastrian priests. The most famous Magi are the Three Wise Men of the Christian Nativity story who brought gifts to the newborn Christ. The 13th century Italian explorer Marco Polo claimed to have visited the graves of the Three Wise Men in what is now Iran’s capital Tehran.
5. Although Islam is the dominant religion in Iran at 98%, other religions can be legally practiced, such as Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Baha’i.
6. The Persian cat comes from, well, Persia. It is one of the world’s oldest breeds. They originated in the high plateaus of Iran where their long silky fur protected them from the cold. Italian traders brought the breed to Europe in the 17th century, where they became an exotic status symbol.
7. Tehran became the capital city of Iran in 1796 and it is the 32 capital city. The city started as a small village and grew to be a modern city of 15 million people. Although a modern city, the old city managed to survive and it is packed with mosques, baths, teahouses, bazaars and palaces.
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