Geography of Iran
Located between 44° 2′ and 63°20′ East longitude, 25°00′ and 39°47′ North latitude.
From the north it is washed by the Caspian Sea (the length of the coastline is 657 km), from the south by the Persian Gulf, which through the Strait of Hormuz connects with the Gulf of Oman, which is the northwestern part of the Arabian Sea. Their total coastline belonging to Iran is 2043 km. The largest islands in the Persian Gulf are Kharg (the main oil export terminal), Lavan, Siri, Qeshm and Kish (free economic zones), the disputed islands are Abu Musa, Big Tomb and Little Tomb.
The borders of Iran pass by land and water, the total length of land borders is 6031 km, incl. with Afghanistan 945 km, with Armenia 40 km, with Azerbaijan 767 km, incl. with the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic 179 km, with Iraq 1609 km, with Pakistan 978 km, with Turkey 486 km, with Turkmenistan 1206 km.
Through the Caspian Sea, Iran, in addition to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, borders with the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan, through the Persian and Oman Gulfs, in addition to Iraq, with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
The landscape is distinguished by a variety of forms, a sharp difference in altitude: from -28 m to +5671 km. OK. 90% of Iran’s territory is located on the Iranian plateau. Mountains alternate with deserts, semi-deserts and steppes. The area of saline deserts Deshte Kevir and Deshte Lut is more than 360 thousand km2.
Mountain systems surround Iran from three sides. The highest mountain system is Elburz (in the northern part of the country), its length from west to east is 900 km, the latitudinal strike is from 30 to 129 km. The highest point is Damavend (5604 m). In the east, there are the Turkmen-Khorosan Mountains cut by wide valleys (with three mountain ranges: Kopetdag, Aladag and Nishapur Mountains) and low mountain systems Kayen and Pelengan. In the south, the Mehran and Zagros mountains are located, stretching in a latitudinal direction.
The river network is small, the rivers are shallow, the only navigable river is the Karun (890 km). Large rivers: Sefidrud, Karke, Atrek, Araks. Most of the lakes are endorheic, salty, and shallow. The largest lake is Urmiye, with an area of 53 thousand km2, located in Iranian Azerbaijan. Freshwater lakes Namak, Khamun, Baktegan, Khorsultan and Parishan are the centers of fish breeding.
Along the coast of the Caspian Sea, a narrow strip (from 2 to 6 km) stretches the Caspian lowland, which is distinguished by its excellent climate and richness of the flora. The Gorgan lowland with a dry climate is located in the Atrek river basin, and the Mesopotamian lowland is in the southwest.
The soils are varied, generally stony and with high salinity. Serozems and solonchak soils predominate on the interior plains. On the slopes of Elburz there are brown, red and yellow soils. On the coast of the Persian and Oman gulfs, red earth-steppe soils predominate. The most important agricultural fund is the alluvial soils of river valleys and foothills. Total land suitable for agriculture, no more than 14% of the territory.
Desert, semi-desert and dry steppe vegetation prevails, tropical vegetation prevails on the sea coasts. OK. 7% of the territory is occupied by forests, of which more than 13% are pistachio forests. The animal world belongs to the Central Asian and Mediterranean subregions. More than 100 species of mammals (antelopes, gazelles, tigers, leopards, etc.). Fish resources are rich, especially in the rivers of the Caspian basin.
The main type of natural wealth of Iran is oil (8 billion tons) – approx. 10% of world reserves and gas (23 trillion m3) 14% (3rd place in the world). India is rich in ores—iron (northwest), manganese, copper, chromium, lead-zinc, and building materials.
According to bridgat.com, the climate in most of the territory is dry, continental, tropical on the coasts of the Persian and Oman gulfs. The average annual rainfall is up to 500 mm, more than 1/3 of the territory is 240 mm. The Caspian coast is a region of humid subtropics (up to 1500 mm of precipitation). With an average annual air temperature of +18°C, there are significant differences in different regions: in Ardabil, the average annual temperature is +8.7°C, in Bandar Abbas +26.8°C.
