Iran also known as Persia, officially theIslamic Republic of Iran since 1980, is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan andTurkmenistan, with Kazakhstan and Russia across the Caspian Sea; on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan; on the south by thePersian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; on the west by Iraq; and on the northwest by Turkey. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2(636,372 sq mi), it is the second-largest nation in the Middle East and the 18th-largest in the world; with over 77 million inhabitants, Iran is the world's 17th most populous nation. It is the only country that has both a Caspian Sea and Indian Ocean coastline.
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