iran

    Iran is a large country - about 3 times the size of France, one fifth that of the continental US, or two thirds as big as Western Australia.

    Most of the country is a high, very dry plateau with wide flat valleys between two roughly parallel mountain ranges - the higher, southern Zagros and the lower, northern Alborz. Except for settled areas and the land near the Caspian Sea in the north, Iran is largely devoid of trees, as can be seen in the following photographs, which also show the different types of dry and irrigated agriculture.

Click on the links at the bottom of the page  to access topographical maps and satellite images of the approximate locations, (although the Google arrows are often a bit wide of the mark).

Note: The colours are as close to being accurate as digital photography, compression and screen resolutions will allow, so the dusty haze and the reds and yellows you see here are indeed those of the country. Most of these were taken through the window of a moving bus, resulting in occasional blurriness or reflection.