Population Density

• Due to the geographic and climatological features of the country, the distribution of the Iranian population has always been very uneven.

• The heaviest concentration is in the western and northern part of the country, where 64% of Iranians live on 27% of the territory (72.4 km2).

Geographical location

• The Iranian Plateau is subject to most types of tectonic activity, including active folding, faulting and volcanic eruptions. It is well known for its long history of disastrous earthquake activity. Not only have these earthquakes killed thousands, but they have also led to waste of valuable natural resources. Since 1900, at least 126,000 fatalities have resulted from earthquakes in Iran. In addition, the Iranian Plate is bordered by the Indian Plate (to the southeast), the Eurasian Plate(to the north), and the Arabian Plate (to the south and west), which is where the Zagros fold and thrust belt (an ancient subduction zone) lies.

Iran in the middle of three plates

Plate boundarys shown in red, Map: Wissensplattform eskp.de, Licence: CC BY 4.0)