The United States and Israel have continued to bombard Iran, killing at least 1,045 people since Saturday.
Tehran has responded with drone and missile attacks on Israel and several Gulf countries, causing multiple fatalities.
According to recent polling, only one in four Americans approves of the US strikes on Iran. Approval among supporters of President Donald Trump’s Republican Party is stronger but not resounding with 55 percent saying they approved of the strikes, 13 percent disapproving and 32 percent unsure.
About 74 percent of Democrats disapproved of the strikes with 7 percent approving and 19 percent unsure.
How big is Iran?
Iran is the 17th largest country in the world by area, just behind Sudan and Libya. It covers about 1.65 million square kilometres (636,000sq miles).
To put that into context, Iran is about one-sixth the size of the United States, about one-fifth the size of Australia, roughly half the size of India, about four times larger than Iraq and about 80 times larger than Israel.
Iran is located in Western Asia and shares a land border with seven countries, the longest being with Iraq, followed by Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Turkiye and Armenia.
How big is Iran compared with the 50 US states?
Iran is nearly as large as the largest state in the US, Alaska, and more than twice the size of Texas. To equal the landmass of Iran, you would need to combine the areas of Texas, California, Montana and Illinois.
If you placed Iran over the US East Coast, it would swallow almost everything from Maine down to Florida.
The map below shows how big Iran is compared with each of the 50 US states.
Iran at a glance
With 92 million people, Iran’s population represents about a quarter of the nearly 350 million people of the US. Most of the population live in the western half of Iran, where rugged mountains, fertile valleys and river basins sustain the population.
The country is rich in oil and gas, ranking as the world’s ninth largest oil producer and third largest natural gas producer.
Iran’s gross domestic product (GDP) is $375bn, ranking it 43rd globally, and it has an unemployment rate of about 9.2 percent.
In the north, high-altitude areas endure long, bitterly cold winters. Farther south and east, the climate shifts dramatically. Iran’s central and southern provinces experience intense summer heat. The southwestern city of Ahvaz has recorded temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), among the highest ever measured.
Iran’s vast central plateau is comparable to the arid stretches of Arizona or inland California, sparsely populated and shaped by a harsh desert climate.
Where are Iran’s main population centres?
With 9.6 million inhabitants, Tehran is the most populous city in Iran. Its scale is comparable to New York, the most populous city in the United States, which has 8.5 million residents within its city limits. Both serve as the cultural and economic hearts of their respective nations.
Tehran has been the capital since 1795, but the city’s history dates back more than 6,000 years.
Mashhad in the northeast is Iran’s second largest city with 3.4 million people, putting it in the range of Los Angeles, which has about 3.8 million people.
Mashhad has a history spanning more than 1,200 years and is a major religious and cultural centre. It is home to the Imam Reza Shrine, which attracts millions of pilgrims from around the world every year.
Isfahan, the third largest city, is home to 2.3 million people and is comparable to Houston, which has roughly the same number of people.
More than 2,500 years old, Isfahan was once the capital of the Safavid Empire, which lasted from 1501 to 1722. The city has major educational institutions and is a centre for textiles, steel, manufacturing, and the nuclear and aerospace industries. The wider region of Isfahan is home to one of the nuclear sites bombed by the US towards the end of the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June.
Other populous cities across Iran include: Shiraz (1.7 million), Tabriz (1.7 million), Karaj (1.6 million), Qom (1.4 million) and Ahvaz (1.3 million).