This is an analysis of the social realities of the population in Eslam-Shahr, a suburb of Teheran. The people who live there are predominantly working-class and young, and have moved to Eslam-Shahr either from a rural area or from Teheran proper; they belong to several distinct cultures, and about half of them are turcophone. The author describes them as an ¿overflow' population which would rather be living in Teheran itself, and she discusses social, religious, and ideological similarities and differences between the various groups.