Polity · 1924 CE – 1978 CE
Pahlavi Dynasty
کشور شاهنشاهی ایران · دودمان پهلوی
- Peak recorded area
- 1,624,340 km²
- 1924 CE
- Rulers on record
- 2
- from 1925 CE
- Data series
- 268
- 1924 CE–1978 CE
Overview
The Pahlavi dynasty is an Iranian royal dynasty that was the last to rule Iran before the country's monarchy was overthrown by the Iranian Revolution in 1979. It was founded in 1925 by Reza Shah Pahlavi, born Reza Khan, a non-aristocratic Iranian soldier of Mazanderani origin, who took on the name of the Pahlavi scripts of the Middle Persian language from the Sasanian Empire of pre-Islamic Iran.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
8 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before 1978 CE, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 43 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population58 obs · 1950 CE–1978 CE | 37.1Mpersons1978 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Urban Population55 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 11.9Mpersons1978 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Life Expectancy Female48 obs · 1950 CE–1978 CE | 56.97years1978 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Male48 obs · 1950 CE–1978 CE | 55.2years1978 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Net Migration48 obs · 1950 CE–1978 CE | 70.1Kpersons1978 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Infant Mortality Rate29 obs · 1950 CE–1978 CE | 95.91per 1000 live births1978 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
Economy
6 of 125 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP55 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 12.4Kint'l $ (inflation adj.)1978 CE · Gapminder |
| GDP per capita29 obs · 1950 CE–1978 CE | 8,7102011 int'l $1978 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| Gross Capital Formation % GDP19 obs · 1960 CE–1978 CE | 39.13%_gdp1978 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Trade % GDP19 obs · 1960 CE–1978 CE | 45.69%1978 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Cereal Production Tonnes18 obs · 1961 CE–1978 CE | 8.5Mmetric tons1978 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Cereal Yield Kg Per Ha18 obs · 1961 CE–1978 CE | 1,200.6kg per hectare1978 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
Military
6 of 22 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| CINC Score55 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 0.0103CINC (share of world capability)1978 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption55 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 73Mcoal-ton equivalents1978 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production55 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 1Mtons1978 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel55 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 350Kpersons1978 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure52 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 9.1Bcurrent USD1978 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Arms Imports Tiv Million28 obs · 1950 CE–1978 CE | 3,724tiv_million1978 CE · SIPRI Arms Transfers TIV |
Territory & resources
6 of 24 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Coal Production55 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 7.33TWh1978 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Gas Production55 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 88.25TWh1978 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Oil Production55 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 3,079.86TWh1978 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Agricultural Land %18 obs · 1961 CE–1978 CE | 36.14%1978 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Arable Land %18 obs · 1961 CE–1978 CE | 8.71%1978 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators (Climate & Environment) |
| Arable Land per capita Ha18 obs · 1961 CE–1978 CE | 0.3823hectares per person1978 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
Governance
6 of 20 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index55 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 0.111index (0-1)1978 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index55 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 0.083index (0-1)1978 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index55 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 0.045index (0-1)1978 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Regime Type55 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 0RoW index (0-3)1978 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index55 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 0.444index (0-1)1978 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Checks And Balances4 obs · 1975 CE–1978 CE | 1count1978 CE · Database of Political Institutions (DPI) 2023 |
Development
6 of 34 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index55 obs · 1924 CE–1978 CE | 0.106index (0-1)1978 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Tech Railway Line Km51 obs · 1924 CE–1975 CE | 4,525km1975 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Radios35 obs · 1938 CE–1978 CE | 6,500count1978 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Aviation Passenger Km33 obs · 1946 CE–1978 CE | 4,655passenger-km1978 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Newspaper Circulation33 obs · 1946 CE–1978 CE | 746.1Kcirculation1978 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Railway Freight Tkm31 obs · 1948 CE–1978 CE | 4,083tonne-km1978 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
Rulers
2 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Reza Shahshah1925 CE – 1941 CE
- Mohammad Reza I of Iranshah1941 CE – 1979 CE
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- Persian
- Currency
- Iranian rial (IRR)
Memberships
- Iran–Turkey Non-Aggression Pact (1926)Historical alliance · member1926 CE – 1937 CE
- Russia–Iran Non-Aggression Pact (1927)Historical alliance · member1927 CE – 1941 CE
- 4-member Non-Aggression Pact (1937)Historical alliance · member1937 CE – 1955 CE
- United Kingdom–Russia–Iran Defense Pact (1942)Military alliance · member1942 CE – 1946 CE
- 6-member Non-Aggression Pact (1955)Historical alliance · member1955 CE – 1979 CE
- United States of America–Iran Entente (1959)Historical alliance · member1959 CE – 1979 CE
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
CHAT (Comin-Hobijn)2009 (FinalCHAT_72909)
Comin, D. & Hobijn, B. (2009). The CHAT Dataset. NBER Working Paper 15319.
NBER research data, freely downloadable
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
Database of Political Institutions (DPI) 2023DPI 2023
Cruz, C., Keefer, P. & Scartascini, C. (2023). Database of Political Institutions 2023. Inter-American Development Bank.
IDB open data, attribution
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
Our World in Data (2024). Energy dataset. Based on Energy Institute & Ember.
CC BY 4.0
SIPRI (2024). Arms Transfers Database (Trend-Indicator Values).
Free for non-commercial use, attribution
UN World Population Prospects 20242024
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024.
CC BY 3.0 IGO
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators (Climate & Environment)2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators (Climate & Environment series). Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
Pahlavi Dynasty is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.