Superconductivity develops in metals upon the formation of a coherent macroscopic quantum state of electron pairs. Iron pnictides and chalcogenides are materials that have high superconducting transition temperatures. In this Review, we describe the advances in the field that have led to higher superconducting transition temperatures in iron-based superconductors and the wide range of materials that form them. We summarize both the essential aspects of the normal state and the mechanism for superconductivity. We emphasize the degree of electron-electron correlations and their manifestation in properties of the normal state. We examine the nature of magnetism, analyse its role in driving the electronic nematicity, and discuss quantum criticality at the border of magnetism in the phase diagram. Finally, we review the amplitude and structure of the superconducting pairing, and survey the potential settings for optimizing superconductivity.In early 2008, the discovery of superconductivity with a transition temperature (T c ) of 26 K in an iron pnictide compound took the condensed matter and materials physics community by surprise 1 . It raised the prospect for high-temperature superconductivity beyond the copper-based materials, the only materials known up to then having a T c higher than 40