User:Shreyaharish/sandbox

INTRODUCTION− The speakers of Iranian languages may have migrated into that part of Asia as early as 1500 BC Presumably they were originally a nomadic tribe who filtered down through the Caucasus to the Iranian plateau. They apparently subjugated peoples already there and mingled with them, but their dominance of particular areas is recorded in the place names Parsua and Parsumash. The Assyrian rulers were by the 9th cent. BC sending expeditions against them, and the recurrence of those campaigns is evidence of the strength of the early Persians. Location: Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Pakistan Geographic coordinates: 32 00 N, 53 00 E Map references: Middle East Area: total: 1.648 million sq km land: 1.636 million sq km water: 12,000 sq km TABLE OF CONTENT √Phyisical features √Climate √population √MILITARY √HISTORY

⇒phisical feature− Persia, today Iran, is located pretty much in the direct center between Africa, Europe, and Asia. To its north is the Caspian Sea, which is actually below sea level, and to its south is the Persian Gulf, which connects to the Arabian Sea. The western part of Persia connects to the river systems that sustained ancient Mesopotamia, today Iraq, and the center is a high-elevation plateau. For the most part, however, Iran is characterized by rugged and mountainous terrain. In fact, several peaks extend up to roughly 9,000 feet high. So, from the Caspian Sea to these mountains, there's a fair amount of elevation change across Persia.

⇒CLIMATE persia has what is considered a variable climate which ranges from semi-arid to subtropical. In the northwest, winters are cold with heavy snowfall and subfreezing temperatures during December and January. Spring and fall are relatively mild, while summers are dry and hot. In the south, however, winters are mild and the summers are very hot, with average daily temperatures in July exceeding 38°C (or 100°F). On the Khuzestan plain, the extreme summer heat is accompanied by high humidity.

But in general, persia has an arid climate in which most of the relatively scant annual precipitation falls from October through April. In most of the country, yearly precipitation averages only 25 centimeters (9.84 inches) or less. The major exceptions to this semi-arid and arid climate are the higher mountain valleys of the Zagros and the Caspian coastal plain, where precipitation averages at least 50 centimeters (19.68 inches) annually. In the western part of the Caspian, persia sees the greatest rainfall in the country where it exceeds 100 centimeters (39.37 inches) annually and is distributed relatively evenly throughout the year rather than being confined to a rainy season. This climate contrasts greatly with some basins of the Central Plateau that receive ten centimeters (3.93 inches) or less of precipitation annually where it has been said that “water scarcity poses the most severe human security challenge in persia today” (UN Resident Coordinator for Iran, Gary Lewis). ⇒POPULATION the population of persia is 80,957,506

⇒MILITARY The Islamic Republic of persia has two types of armed forces: the regular forces of the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy, and the Revolutionary Guards, totaling about 545,000 active troops. Iran also has around 350,000 Reserve Force, totaling around 900,000 trained troops.[241]

The persian government has a paramilitary, volunteer militia force within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, called the Basij, which includes about 90,000 full-time, active-duty uniformed members. Up to 11 million men and women are members of the Basij who could potentially be called up for service. GlobalSecurity.org estimates Iran could mobilize "up to one million men", which would be among the largest troop mobilizations in the world.[242] In 2007, persia's military spending represented 2.6% of the GDP or $102 per capita, the lowest figure of the Persian Gulf nations.[243] persias's military doctrine is based on deterrence.[244] In 2014, arms spending the country spent $15 billion and were outspent by the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council by a factor of 13.[245]

The persian government supports the military activities of its allies in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon (Hezbollah) with military and financial aid.[246]

Since the 1979 Revolution, to overcome foreign embargoes, the persian government has developed its own military industry, produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles, submarines, military vessels, missile destroyer, radar systems, helicopters, and fighter planes.[247] In recent years, official announcements have highlighted the development of weapons such as the Hoot, Kowsar, Zelzal, Fateh-110, Shahab-3, Sejjil, and a variety of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).[248] Iran has the largest and most diverse ballistic missile arsenal in the Middle East.[249] The Fajr-3, a liquid fuel missile with an undisclosed range which was developed and produced domestically, is currently the most advanced ballistic missile of the country.

⇒HISTORY Prehistory Further information: Prehistory of Iran and Archaeological sites in Iran

A cave painting in Doushe cave, Lorestan, from the 8th millennium BC. The earliest attested archaeological artifacts in Iran, like those excavated at Kashafrud and Ganj Par in northern Iran, confirm a human presence in Iran since the Lower Paleolithic.[53] Iran's Neanderthal artifacts from the Middle Paleolithic have been found mainly in the Zagros region, at sites such as Warwasi and Yafteh.[54][55][page needed] From the 10th to the seventh millennium BC, early agricultural communities began to flourish in and around the Zagros region in western Iran, including Chogha Golan,[56][57] Chogha Bonut,[58][59] and Chogha Mish.[60][61][page needed][62]

The emergence of Susa as a city, as determined by radiocarbon dating, dates back to early 4,395 BC.[63] There are dozens of prehistoric sites across the Iranian Plateau, pointing to the existence of ancient cultures and urban settlements in the fourth millennium BC.[62][64][65] During the Bronze Age, the territory of present-day Iran was home to several civilizations, including Elam, Jiroft, and Zayanderud. Elam, the most prominent of these civilizations, developed in the southwest alongside those in Mesopotamia, and continued its existence until the emergence of the Iranian empires. The advent of writing in Elam was paralleled to Sumer, and the Elamite cuneiform was developed since the third millennium BC.[66]

From the 34th to the 20th century BC, northwestern Iran was part of the Kura-Araxes culture, which stretched into the neighboring Caucasus and Anatolia. Since the earliest second millennium BC, Assyrians settled in swaths of western Iran, and incorporated the region into their territories.