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The Iran Plateau
The plateau of Iran is fully encircled
by a series of mountain ranges. The eastern rampart,
almost athwart the boundary of Iran, is made up of parallel
but broken ranges. The high point of the range, Kuh-e-Taftan
(4,042m), lies south of the Iran-Afghan-Pakistan tri-junction.
The scanty population is composed of semi-nomadic tribespeople
who graze animals on the higher slopes above 1,500m.
Some areas support agriculture based on irrigation
by means of underground channels known as qanat.
The plateau is bounded on the north by a range system
with three sections. The eastern section includes the
parallel ranges of Aladagh and Kapet Dag which define
the Iran-Turkmenistan boundary. In the central section
lies the Elburz Range, rising sharply from the southern
shore of the Caspian Sea. Its main peak, Damavend (5,604m),
is the highest summit in West Asia. It is a volcanic
cone that towers just north-east of Teheran. Large areas
of these highlands are used for grazing sheep and goats.
The lower slopes below 1,200m with sufficient rain produce
a large variety of crops. The western section, the Tavalish
Range, turns north-west towards Azerbaijan and its highest
peak is the Sabalan (4,814m). A series of fault-block
ranges enclose valleys that grow wheat as the major
crop.
The south-western part of Iran is dominated
by the Zagros Mountains that diverge south-east from
Kurdistan as far as the Strait of Hormuz. The mountains
consist of parallel ranges that are high and rugged.
This highland complex has an average width of 300 km.
The northern part, which receives over 400mm mean annual
precipitation is better developed agriculturally. The
highest peak, Zard Kuh (4,547m), is in the central part
of the range, west of Esfahan. In northern Zagros, pastoral
and semi-nomadic Kurd tribes are found. Central
and Southern Zagros have numerous tribes who practise
transhumance. Their migration with sheep and goats is
basically vertical from permanent winter bases (800m)
to summer pastures higher up (1,800 to 2,200m). East
of Esfahan, the Jebal Barez Range trends south-east,
parallel to the Zagros alignment.
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