Iran Today: March 2012

Iran is a modern and thriving country with cultural roots back to the very origin of civilization being the oldest country in the world.
Today in Iran women have become very active, are more educated and have a more visible role in life than in many other Islamic countries . According to UNESCO world survey, at primary level of enrollment Iran has the highest female to male ratio in the world among sovereign nations, with a girl to boy ratio of 1.22 : 1.00 and around 65 percent of University students are women which makes Iran also the highest female to male ratio of university students in the world.

Iranian women are very active in the daily Iranian life . They drive taxis, buses, are shopkeepers,designers and are a bulk of the Iranian industrial and labor force. There is also a professional fire company composed entirely of women, the only company of female firefighters in the Middle East.

Iranian women also play a major role in the Iranian Cinema and TV industry owing to the many female film and TV stars such as Leila Hatami who won the Best Actress for Nader and Simin, a separation, from Berlin Film Festival (with Sareh Bayat and Sarina Farhadi), 2011 , and many others.

Women in Iran are also very much involved in all kinds of sports activities as are the men. They have their own teams and leagues for sports such as football, volleyball, basketball, handball and many others.

Women in Iran also play a major role in politics and social activities , have their share of representatives in the parliament and are integral in many government and non governmental organizations.

Being an Islamic country women are required to cover their hair outside their homes and wear the Manteau ( a kind of a long coat) which has now evolved as the national dress although many of the more conservative women still wear the Iranian Chador.