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April 2013

Iran country profile

Iran country profile

There was a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Bushehr, Iran. The province of Bushehr is located in southwestern Iran along the Persian Gulf. Bushehr contains natural-gas and oil fields in the North. Its inland landscape is dominated by the Zagros mountains. Agriculture production includes: dates, cotton, and cereal crops. Bushehr and Borazjan are the major cities.

Iran was known as Persia until 1935, it became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling monarchy was overthrown. Conservative clerical forces led by the Ayatollah Khomeini established a theocratic system of government, with ultimate political authority vested in the Supreme Leader. During the period 1980-88, Iran fought a bloody, indecisive war with Iraq.

Iran is strategically located along the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz; both are vital maritime pathways for crude oil. The climate of Iran is mostly arid or semiarid and subtropical along Caspian coast. Its terrain is rugged along a mountainous rim, has a high, central basin with deserts, mountains and small, discontinuous plains along both coasts. The natural resources of Iran include: petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, and sulfur. Natural hazards facing the country are periodic droughts, floods, dust storms, sandstorms and earthquakes.

CIA World Factbook; The Columbia Gazetteer, 3/2013; 4/2013

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