Iran: History, Geography, Economy & Culture

This is the story of Iran, once known as Persia. In this video, I explore the long history of Iran through to the controversial present, the diverse geography of Iran of deserts and mountains, the surprisingly complex Iranian Economy and the remarkably rich Iranian culture that has influenced the world in so many ways. A history as old and rich as any, it has endured the battering of invasions and competing influences over millennia, to survive until the present day. This is the country that spawned the world’s first great empire, the Achaemenid Empire, and despite defeat at the hands of the Macedonian Greeks under Alexander, rose again under the Parthian Empire and Sassanid Empire. It was conquered by Muslim Arabs in the 7th Century AD, and over the next 200 years the original population that practiced the home-grown religion of Zoroastrianism was converted to Islam. During the Golden Age of Islam it became a hotbed of artistic and scientific genius, and the Iranian language, Farsi, was beauti