Iran officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: ایران), formerly known internationally as Persia until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf. Iran is dominated by a central plateau, which is about 1,220 meters high and is almost entirely surrounded by mountain chains. The Persia is the 18th largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 kilometers, It has a population of over seventy million and it is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and the Caspian Sea; on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan; on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; and on the west by Turkey and Iraq. In addition, it borders the Persian Gulf, across which lie Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Totally Iran has a border of 8731 kilometers of which 2700 kilometers go for water borders and 6031 kilometers for land borders. Shi’a Islam is the official state religion and Persian (Farsi) is its official language. The capital of Iran is Tehran. It is the largest city and the political, cultural, commercial, and industrial center of it.
The “Empire of Beauties” has a complex climate, ranging from subtropical to sub polar. In winter, a high-pressure belt, centered in Siberia, slashes west and south to the interior of the Iranian Plateau, while low pressure systems develop over the warm waters of the Caspian, the Persian Gulf, and the Mediterranean. In summer, one of the lowest pressure centers in the world prevails in the south. The “Country of Glory“ has four seasons at the same time while it is cold in the north of country like Ardebil and Tabriz, in the south the weather is spring-like in BandarAbbass and Boushehr. We can say that Iran is divided climatically into three main regions: 1. the extremely hot coast along the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; 2. the temperate but arid central highland; and 3. the tableland of the intensely cold Alborz Mountains. The annual average precipitation for the country is about 305 millimeters (12 inches). The desert regions receive only about 125 millimeters (5 inches) per year, however, and the plain along the Caspian Sea gets about 1,270 millimeters (50 inches) then Iran has four Seasons in all-over year. In the summer, temperatures vary from a high of 123 F (50o C) in Khouzestan at the head of the Persian Gulf to a low of 35 F (1o C) in Azerbaijan in the north-west. Precipitation also varies greatly, ranging from less than two inches in the south-east to about 78 in the Caspian region.
Desert: Two great deserts extend over much of central Iran: the Dasht-e Lut is covered largely with sand and rocks, and the Dasht-e Kavir is covered mainly with salt. Both deserts are inhospitable and virtually uninhabited. Mountain: The Zagros range stretches from the border with the Republic of Armenia in the north-west to the Persian Gulf, and then eastward into Baluchistan. Zagros is extremely hard, difficult to access, and populated largely by pastoral nomads. The Alborz mountain range, narrower than the Zagros, runs along the southern shore of the Caspian to meet the border ranges of Khorasan to the east. Forest: Approximately 11 percents of Iran is forested, most extensively in the Caspian region. Here one finds the broad-leafed, vigorous deciduous trees, usually oak, beech, linden, elm, walnut, ash, and hornbeam, as well as a few broad-leafed evergreens. Thorny shrubs and fern also abound.The narrow Caspian coastal plain, in contrast, is covered with rich brown forest soil.
Iran has long been famous for its fruit, and Iran’s old language, Farsi, has provided the European languages with their words for lemon, orange and peach. The Caspian region produces citrus fruit, while dates and bananas grow along the Persian Gulf. On the central plateau, temperate fruit such as apples, pears, peaches, grapes and cherries grow well, and almost every region has it distinctive kind of melon.
The wildlife of Iran includes many wolves, foxes, leopards, and lynx. Seals are found in the Caspian. In addition to wild goats, deer and gazelles abound, as do sheep and boars. Rodents are ubiquitous and 98 varieties of lizard are found. Domestic animals include horse, donkeys, cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, dromedaries, camels, dogs and cats.
– The highest point in Iran is Damavand Mountain that being 5610 meters high.
– The longest river is the Karoun river that being 890 kilometers long.
– The largest lake is the Orumiyeh Lake with an area of 4868 square kilometers.
– The largest island is Qeshm with an area of 1491 square kilometers.
