CHAPTER 1 The Land of Iran Iran is a land of snow-capped mountains high pasture and desert plains For thousands of years Iran has been home to one of the oldest civilizations in the world Modern Iranians are proud of their country’s long history and its culture Today Iran is a strong regional power that controls one of the most important locations on the globe Where is Iran Iran lies in the southwestern corner of Asia and is flanked by seven neighbors To the north Iran is bordered by Armenia Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan On its western side Iran shares a frontier with Iraq in the south and with Turkey in the north Iran’s eastern neighbors are Pakistan and Afghanistan COMPARING COUNTRIES HOW BIG IS IRAN Land area Iran 642,796 sq mi 1,648,195 sq km United States 3,832,386 sq mi 9,826,630 sq km France 214,890 sq mi 551,000sq km Germany 139,230 sq mi 357,000 sq km United Kingdom 94,380 sq mi 242,900sq km Source CIA World Factbook 2008 Water forms an important part of Iran’s border Almost 403 mi 650 km of Iran’s northern frontier runs along the shore of the Caspian Sea The unusual hills and dunes along Iran’s southeastern coast have been shaped by the baking sun and the monsoon rains The area here is sparsely populated Most people in this part of Iran live in a few small fishing villages and ports 6
THE LAND OF IRAN while almost all of Iran’s long southern border is made up of the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman Thanks to its size and location Iran is one of the most important countries in the area known as the Middle East Landscape Iran is a very mountainous country The Zagros Mountains cut across western Iran from north to south reaching heights of over 13,120 ft 4,000 m The pyramid peak of Mount Damavand rises in the northern chain of the Alborz Mountains above the Caspian coast At 18,400 ft 5,610 m this sleeping volcano is one of the highest mountains in Asia Broad basins or plateaus lie between the mountain peaks Much of central Iran is covered by a high plateau that sits at over 2,950 ft 900 m above sea level Many of Iran’s towns and Although covered in snow for much of the year the summit of Mount Damavand in northern Iran emits steam and volcanic gases such as sulfur dioxide The ancient Persians believed that a fire-breathing dragon lived within the volcanic peak villages have grown up around the more fertile areas in these basins To the east of the central plateau however lie two vast salt deserts which are largely uninhabited except for a few scattered oases Here the dry stony land is covered with sand and marked with outcrops of salt where the marshes have dried out in the sun There is little low-lying land in Iran However the small but heavily irrigated Khuzestan plain on Iran’s western border with Iraq is one of the most fertile areas in the Middle East There are also smaller plains in the narrow gap between the high Alborz peaks and the waters of the Caspian Sea 7
