Iran has transitioned from a population that was over a quarter nomadic tribes in the 1920s to a sharp decline in nomadism today due to forced settlement programs and urbanization. The largest remaining tribal groups are the Kurds in northern Iran, Lurs and Bakhtiari in southern mountains, and Qashqai nomads in southern Fars Province. Iran experiences frequent earthquakes due to its location where the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates are colliding, forming the Zagros and Elburz mountain ranges.

1. Iran Transitioning into modernity

2. nomads By 1920 nomadic pastoral tribes were over a quarter of Iran's population. Their number declined sharply as a result forced settlement in the 1920s and 1930s. Continued pressure as well as the lure of the cities and settled life have resulted in a further sharp decline since the 1960s.

3. Kurds The largest tribal groups are the Kurds, who live in the province of Kurdestan in the northern Zagros region, the Lurs and the Bakhtiari, who live in the southern Zagros region, the Qashqai in Fars, the Turkoman in the northeast, and the Baluch in the southeast.

4. Qashqai The Qashqai are a Turkish-speaking tribe of pastoral nomads in southern Iran. They migrate between winter pastures near the Persian Gulf and summer pastures on the Iranian Plateau. They numbered an estimated 790,000 in 1997.

5. Wall of Bayazid shrine Located in Bastam, khorasan. Bastam is an old historic city founded in 6th century AD, and is mostly famous for its association with the mystic Bayazid Bistami, the Persian sufi.

6. Soccer Iranian national soccer team in action during the Iran and Bahrain Asian World Cup qualifying for the 2006 World Cup in Tehran, Iran Wednesday June 8, 2005

7. Public schools are free to all Iranian families. There are a number different private schools although they charge a tuition

8. Earthquakes Iran sits squarely in a wide zone of tectonic compression where the Arabian plate is moving into the Eurasian plate. The Zagros range on its western edge and the Elburz range along its north are only the largest of many mountain belts being uplifted by this continental collision. As a result, the whole country is at moderate to severe risk of damaging earthquakes.