PERSIA, called by the natives InAN (see ARYAN RACE), the most extensive and pow erful native kingdom of western Asia, is bounded on the n. by the great plain of Khiva, the Caspian sea, and the trans-Caucasian provinces of Russia: on the c. by Bokhara, Afghanistan, and Beloochistan; on the s. by the strait of Ormuz and the Persian gulf. and on the w. by Asiatic Turkey. It extends 900 m, from e. to w., and 700 m. from n. to s., and has an area of about 648,000 miles. It consists for the most part of a great table-land or elevated plateau, which in the center and on the east side is almost a level; on the n., w., and s. is covered with mountain-chains. The province of Azerbijan, in the n.w., is almost:wholly mountainous. From its southern boundary, the majestic range of the Elburz runs eastward, following the Hue of time Caspian coast at a distance varying from 12 to 60 miles. On reaching the mountains sink into ridges of lower elevation, one of which joins the Paropamisus in Afghanistan. A hill country lies n. of this line; it terminates in the Daman-i-koh chain, which sinks abruptly to the low plain of Turkistan. South and e. of Azerbijan, a broad mountain-belt trav erses Persia from n.w. to s.e., the chains and valleys of which it consists lying in the same direction. To this region belong the mountains running from Hamadan to' Shiraz, many of the peaks of which are clad with perpetual snow; and the Zagros mountains and Pushti Koh on the western frontier.' The Persian mountains are mostly primit;ve: granite, porphyry. feldspar, and mountain-limestone enter largely into their composition. They also exhibit indications of volcanic action—Taftan, south off' lake Zirreb, or Zamoon, being an active, and Demavend an extinct volcano; and the destructive earthquakes which are still of frequent occurrence in the n. and n.w. of Persia, indicate the presence of subterranean fires. The Persian plateau, which lies in an angle formed between these mountains, and spreads eastward to the plateau of Afghanistan, range:, from 2,000 to 5.000 ft.. above sea level, the lowest portion being the great salt desert in the•s.w. of Khorassan, which has 2.000 ft, of elevation above the sea: while the aterage elevation of the whole plateau above the sea is about 3,700 feet.
Almost the whole of Khorassan (q.v.). the u. half of Kerman (q.v,), the e. of Irak Ajemi (q.v.), which form the great central plain, and detached portions of all the other provinces, with the exception of those on the Caspian sea, forming more than three fourths of the surface of Persia. are desert. In some parts of this waste the surface is dry, and produces a scanty herhage of saline plants; in other parts. it is covered with salt marshes, or with a dry. hard. salt crust, sometimes of considerable thickness, which glitters and flashes in the sunlight, forcing the traveler on these inhospitable wastes to wear a shade to protect his eyes; but by far the greau,• •,xittion of this region consists of sand, sometimes so light and impalpable as to be shifted hither and thither by the slight est breeze. This great central desert contains a few oases, but none of great extent. A narrow strip of low and level country extends along the shores of the Persian gulf and the strait of Ormuz. It consists of a succession of sandy plains, occasionally interrupted by a plautation of palms near the scanty rivulets which traverse it. It is called Dush tistan, or Gurmsir—that is, the warm region, in opposition to the mountainous districts, called Sirhud, or the cold country.
t Although so much of Persia is desert, some parts of the country arc of exceeding for 1 tility and beauty; the immense valleys, some of them 100 in. in length, between the various ranges of the Kerman mountains, abound with the rarest and most valuable veg etable productions. Great portions of the provinces of Fars, Khuzistan, Ardelan, and Azerbijan have been lavishly endowed by nature with the most luxuriant vegetation; while the provinces of Milan and Mazanderan, which lie between the Elburz and the Caspian sea, and the southern slopes of the Elburz, are as beautiful as wood, water, and a hot climate can make them—the mountain-sides being clothed with trees and shrubs, and the plain, 300 m. long by from 5 to 30 in. wide, studded with mulberry plantations, rice fields, vineyards, orchards, orange grounds, and sugar and cotton plantations.