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 you must begin by understanding how large it is. Iranis the 17th largest country in world. It measures 1,684,000 squarekilometers. That means that its territory is larger than the combinedterritories of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain andPortugal - Western Europe. Iran is the 16th most populous country inthe world, with about 70 million people. Its population is larger thanthe populations of either France or the United Kingdom.  

More important are its topographical barriers. . If you look carefully at a map of Iran,you can see that the western part of the country - the Zagros Mountains- is actually a land bridge for southern Asia

Iran is defined, above all, by its mountains, which form its frontiers,enfold its cities and describe its historical heartland. To understandIran, you must understand not only how large it is but also howmountainous it is.

To the east is the Iranian province of Khuzestan,populated by ethnic Arabs, not Persians. Given the swampy nature of theground, it can be easily defended and gives Iran a buffer against anyforce from the west seeking to move along the coastal plain of Iran onthe Persian Gulf.

Thecenter of Iran consists of two desert plateaus that are virtuallyuninhabited and uninhabitable

Iran is the route connecting the Indian subcontinent to theMediterranean Sea. But because of its size and geography, Iran is not acountry that can be easily traversed, much less conquered. Thelocation of Iran's oil fields is critical here, since oil remains itsmost important and most strategic export. Oil is to be found in threelocations: The southwest is the major region, with lesser depositsalong the Iraqi border in the north and one near Qom. The southwesternoil fields are an extension of the geological formation that createdthe oil fields in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Hence, theregion east of the Shatt al-Arab is of critical importance to Iran.Iran has the third largest oil reserves in the world and is the...