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Iran
Index
Figure 4. Physical Features
Iran consists of rugged, mountainous rims surrounding high
interior basins. The main mountain chain is the Zagros Mountains,
a series of parallel ridges interspersed with plains that bisect
the country from northwest to southeast. Many peaks in the Zagros
exceed 3,000 meters above sea level, and in the south-central
region of the country there are at least five peaks that are over
4,000 meters. As the Zagros continue into southeastern Iran, the
average elevation of the peaks declines dramatically to under 1,500
meters. Rimming the Caspian Sea littoral is another chain of
mountains, the narrow but high Alborz Mountains. Volcanic Mount
Damavand (5,600 meters), located in the center of the Alborz, is
not only the country's highest peak but also the highest mountain
on the Eurasian landmass west of the Hindu Kush
(see
fig. 4).
The center of Iran consists of several closed basins that
collectively are referred to as the Central Plateau. The average
elevation of this plateau is about 900 meters, but several of the
mountains that tower over the plateau exceed 3,000 meters. The
eastern part of the plateau is covered by two salt deserts, the
Dasht-e Kavir and the Dasht-e Lut. Except for some scattered oases,
these deserts are uninhabited.
Iran has only two expanses of lowlands: the Khuzestan plain in
the southwest and the Caspian Sea coastal plain in the north. The
former is a roughly triangular-shaped extension of the Mesopotamia
plain and averages about 160 kilometers in width. It extends for
about 120 kilometers inland, barely rising a few meters above sea
level, then meets abruptly with the first foothills of the Zagros.
Much of the Khuzestan plain is covered with marshes. The Caspian
plain is both longer and narrower. It extends for some 640
kilometers along the Caspian shore, but its widest point is less
than 50 kilometers, while at some places less than 2 kilometers
separate the shore from the Alborz foothills. The Persian Gulf
coast south of Khuzestan and the Gulf of Oman coast have no real
plains because the Zagros in these areas come right down to the
shore.
There are no major rivers in the country. Of the small rivers
and streams, the only one that is navigable is the Karun, which
shallow- draft boats can negotiate from Khorramshahr to Ahvaz, a
distance of about 180 kilometers. Several other permanent rivers
and streams also drain into the Persian Gulf, while a number of
small rivers that originate in the northwestern Zagros or Alborz
drain into the Caspian Sea. On the Central Plateau, numerous
rivers, most of which have dry beds for the greater part of the
year, form from snow melting in the mountains during the spring and
flow through permanent channels, draining eventually into salt
lakes that also tend to dry up during the summer months. There is
a permanent salt lake, Lake Urmia (the traditional name, also cited
as Lake Urmiyeh, to which it has reverted after being called Lake
Rezaiyeh under Mohammad Reza Shah), in the northwest, whose brine
content is too high to support fish or most other forms of aquatic
life. There are also several connected salt lakes along the
Iran-Afghanistan border in the province of Baluchestan va Sistan.
Data as of December 1987
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