Understanding Iran Today (Kid's Guide to the Middle East)

Salaam! [suh-LAHM] This is a word you’ll hear often if you travel in the Middle East. The word means “peace,” and in Iran it also means “Hello!” It’s easy to find Iran on a map. Do you see the country shaped like a cat leaping over the Persian Gulf? That’s Iran! It’s big, about 636,000 square miles (1,648,000 square kilometers), the second-largest nation in the Middle East. Iran is surrounded by 10 nations and large bodies of water.