How big is Iran vs. the US in square miles?

[babylonsister]

I've tried to google, but get all kinds of political crap. :D The question has been asked, why didn't we react the way the Iranians are.

The reason why this might be happening in Iran is it's a bit smaller than we were, and in 2000/2004, about half of this messed up country voted for the one who won. We're big, and can be stupid.

But not any more!

[eleny]

1. 636,296.4 sq mi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Iran

Iran is about one-fifth the size of the continental United States, or slightly larger than the combined area of the western United States (Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and Idaho).

[babylonsister]

3. That's pretty big, and thanks. nt

[tekisui]

2. Here:

Iran
Area: total: 1,648,000 km² (636,296.4 sq mi)
99.27% land
0.73 % water


US
Total 3,717,813 sq mi
9,629,091 km²
Land 3,536,294 sq mi
9,158,960 km²
Water 181,519 sq mi
470,131 km²

[babylonsister]

4. Whoa, thanks! nt

[On the Road]

5. For Comparison

Try this site. It's mostly for math and hard science, but has some searchable political content too and can be used for comparisons by inserting "vs." between the terms. The search results page (Iran vs. United States) doesn't seem to link, but here's some plain text output:

| Iran | United States
area | 636 296 mi^2 | 3.719 million mi^2

Iran | United States
population | 71.2 million people (world rank: 18th) | 306 million people (world rank: 3rd)
population density | 113 people/mi^2 (world rank: 162nd) | 86.5 people/mi^2 (world rank: 177th)
population growth | 1.04%per year (world rank: 129th) | 0.949%per year (world rank: 137th)
life expectancy | 71.1 years (world rank: 136th) | 78.1 years (world rank: 50th)
median age | 26.4 years (world rank: 121st) | 36.7 years (world rank: 53rd)

[babylonsister]

6. I was just looking for population and land size.

There's no way I'm capable of crunching numbers, but thanks.

[Statistical]

10. This is a key one

"median age | 26.4 years (world rank: 121st) | 36.7 years (world rank: 53rd)"

Very low median age. Lots of young people. The Iranian "baby boomer" generation was born about 20-25 years ago.

Young people tend to be more progressive.
Many don't relate to the theocracy, they don't want to be isolated from the world, they don't want sanctions & embargos.

This is the best hope for change in Iran.

[Hekate]

7. 4 times bigger than Iraq, & very mountainous. I don't believe it's ever been truly conquered & held

... at least not for long, historically. We would be even stupider to invade Iran than we were to invade Iraq.

I remember trying to get a handle on relative sizes a few years ago, just as you are doing now. Here's some info:

IRAQ
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~mariposa/iraq.htm
Area: 167,400 square miles / 433,400 square kilometers (~size of California)
Arable land: 12%
Topography: Mostly an alluvial plain, including the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, descending from mountains in the north to desert in the southwest. The Persian Gulf region in southern Iraq is marshland.
Population: 23,331,985 (2002)
Population Density: 139/square mile

IRAN
http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2007/02/just-how-big-is-iran/
Iran’s area is 636,374 square miles (1,629,807 square kilometres), making it the world’s seventeenth largest country. Alaska is the largest state in the United States, and Iran is only 4% smaller than Alaska.

The limitations of map-making contribute to too few of us realizing how large Alaska is. Maps of the United States frequently show Alaska as an afterthought, small and off to the side with a different scale from the mainland. However, from the farthest reaches of the Aleutian Islands to Cape Muzon at the foot of the Alexander Archipelago is about as wide as the continental US, and at an area of 663,267 square miles (1,717,854 square kilometres), Alaska comprises about 18% of the US’s total area.

Iran is dry and mountainous, with broad swaths of desert. With nearly 70,000,000 people, its population is more than one hundred times as dense as Alaska’s. Two-thirds of Iranians live in cities, and country’s ethnic diversity includes Kurds and Azerbaijanis in the northwest, Arabs in the southwest, and Afghans in the east, in addition to the dominant—but not majority—Persians.

Neighbouring Iraq, by comparison, is slightly larger than California, or about a quarter of the size of Iran at 167,618 square miles (434,128 square kilometres). Iraq’s landscape is flatter than Iran’s, with mountains largely confined to the north; the rest of the country features desert or the fertile areas fed by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

To the east of Iran is Afghanistan; at 249,347 square miles (645,807 square kilometres), it is slightly smaller than Texas (268,581 square miles <695,261 square kilometres>), but it is far more mountainous.

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[babylonsister]

8. Thanks for those links, and info.

:hi:

[KharmaTrain]

9. Size Is Deceptive...

Iran is not a homogenous country and this plays into their culture and politics. You have Kurds in the Northwest (Shiraz...Mousavi's home base) while there are Turkimen and Pushtan in the west and other minority groups throughout the country.

Remember, Iran's borders were drawn in the war rooms of European capitals (London in specific) nearly a century ago and was based more on their spheres of influence than on natural divisions of tribes or cultures. Thus Iran offers a confusing picture...one that gets even more clouded as our media has taken an antagonistic attitude toward the country for the past 30 years.

Iran's "electoral" system is not the same as ours. The comparison with Florida is an empty ones as their system is far more controlled and the real power isn't at stake in these elections...Prime Ministers have far less influence than a President can.

I could see Ahmadejinehad doing very well in rural areas...just like our red states, but that's red in a universe where other colors are filtered out.

Cheers...

:hi: