Best Time to Visit Iran

General & Geography

The Islamic Republic of Iran, the former Persia, is one of the 20 most populous countries in the world with around 76 million inhabitants.

The capital and economic centre of the state in the Near East is the metropolis of Tehran in the highlands of Iran. According to the latest statistics, up to 20 million people live in the Tehran metropolitan region.

Iran borders the neighbouring states of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iraq, to which the longest border line of over 990 miles exists.

Nearly 70 percent of Iran’s land area is occupied by the impressive highlands, which are divided into several basins. The folding mountains Kuhrud and Zagros in particular have a large number of peaks above 3500 metres, the highest mountain in Iran is the dormant volcano Damavand at 5670 metres.

The largest cities in the state between the Strait of Hormus (Persian Gulf) and the Caspian Sea are the million cities of Isfahan, Mashhad, Karaj, Shiras, Tabriz, Ghom and Ahvaz alongside Tehran.

Besides the high mountains, Iran has mainly dry, desert-like basin plains. The country’s largest airport is the Tehran International Airport.

Climate in Iran

Iran’s territory is about four times the size of the Federal Republic of Germany. Due to the enormous differences in altitude, climatic differences in the individual regions of the country are also clearly noticeable. The largest part of the Iranian highlands has a very continental climate with little rainfall.

The highlands have dry, hot summer months and cool down enormously in the dry winter. The sky is often uncloudy and sunny, rain showers are rarely too short. The peripheral mountains in the desert and north have an alpine climate with sometimes very heavy precipitation in winter (snow at high altitudes).

The coastal region at the Caspian Sea is protected by the towering Elbur Mountains, on the slopes of which the humid air masses rain down from the ocean all year round. The climate in this coastal lowland can be described as very humid and at the same time pleasantly mild. Ideal conditions for agriculture!

The climate in the lowlands of the Persian Gulf in Iran is different. Here the summers are extremely hot, sometimes very humid and the winter months have a rather mild climate. The driest regions of Iran are the salt lakes inland.