Analyzing the Role of Tehran Population in National Power

National power as a geopolitical concept, reflects the collective characteristics and traits of a nation, and at the same time shows the personal trait in relation to state and government. In other words, people forming a nation, create a political organization and by and through combination their potentials, a power which can be considered as the national power of a state or nation, exists. opulation is the most important element among other elements forming a state. In other words, a state must have population, otherwise it would not be considered as a state. Population as a matter is studied in sociology and human geography, but its political effect is studied in the political geography. Population and its characteristics are considered as effective factors in the development of a state and its national power. Some factors and inoneone a state and negative effects in other state, but according to the changes occurred in Tehran’s population throughout its history, there has been no research that shows certain qualitative and quantitative effects. The population in Tehran has grown without any planning as a spot on the geographical region, which has faced the country with big challenges.MethodologyThis research is a descriptive- analytical and the data collection done by using statistical resources (descriptive statistics) the results of population and housing census books, articles and research reports and statistical analysis used, where appropriate.Discussion and Results The population of Tehran in 1806 was only 0.4 percent of the population of Iran, whilst 200 years Later, in 2006, it constituted 11.3 percent of whole population of the country. Reviewing different historical periods by considering Tehran population with regard to those historical turning points, shows that from 1843 to 1931, the population of Tehran became 7 times larger, 75 years later i.e. from 1931 to 2006 its population became 37.9 times bigger. Therefore, the first thingwe should take into consideration that Tehran is a big population huband will remain so in the future. The rapid growth of population is largely due to immigration from all over Iran to Tehran that may cause different challenges in the city. Therefore, the main question of this study is how the population and its characteristics in Tehran affect the national power? In other words will the current population of Tehran face the country with big challenges at the national level? Does it have negative effects on various aspects of national power? Thus, the study evaluates the role of Tehran’s population on the national power according to some indicators, including quantitative and qualitative aspects of the population, such as geographic distribution of the population, migration, composition or structure of the population, homogeneity, or heterogeneity of the population and cultural- social values of the people.ConclusionCity is a social-spatial entity in which power and policy, as pivotal ingredients of the Politics, are interlinked. Cities, especially big cities, are considered geographical focal points for power and wealth. Due to continuous increase of population, Tehran has become one of the biggest metropolises in the world which according to its historical changes in population, there has been no recognized qualitative and quantitative characteristics. The population in Tehran has grown without any plan as a spot on the geographical region, which has faced the country with serious challenges. This metropolis due to its high political, cultural, social, economical and administrational importance plays such a role that influences every aspects of development in the national level. We have reviewed and analyzed different aspects of the population, after focusing on quantitative issues such as number of the population, and qualitative issues like social and cultural values, homogeneity or heterogeneity of the population, composition or structure of the population and geographic distribution of the population, concluded that Tehran, according to its current status of population plays a negative role in the national level. In other words, population of this metropolis reduces the national power instead of increasing it.