AP 6 Blog Post #1: Iran

AP Comparative Government, period 1

Karl, Gianna, Johnny

2 October 2015

Iran’s Land Resources:

Iran is a country with numerously abundant natural resources. Despite common misconceptions, Iran’s wide range of temperature fluctuations and multiplicity of climate zones make it very possible to cultivate a diverse variety of crops so that the economy is not solely dependent on the petroleum industry. Nonetheless, Iran is the second largest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia. The country’s extensive oil deposits are located primarily in the southwestern provinces and the Persian Gulf. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as of 2014 statistics, Iran exports approximately 3,375,000 barrels of refined oil per day. However, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, this accounts for only 3.39 percent of exports from Iran. Crude, or unrefined, oil (a natural resource) remains the largest Iranian export, at 72.1 percent of the total exports of Iran. Because the Iranian economy relies so heavily on this single resource for a large percentage of its income, there are more incentives to develop an increasingly diversified and globally integrated economy.

Iran also has significant natural deposits of coal, copper, iron ore, zinc, and lead. Water is scarce as a result of minimal rainfall, and because of this, less than 12% of the land is arable. However, a large amount of irrigation water does come from the Caspian sea and Lake Urmia. Iran produces an assortment of grain crops, such as wheat, barley, rice, and corn. Farmers for these crops receive subsidized access to input costs such as fertilizer and pesticides, as well as a guaranteed support price for their products. Additionally, Iran’s natural agricultural commodities include fruits such as dates, figs, pomegranates, melons, and grapes. In the more arid part of the country, pistachio and other drought-tolerant trees grow without the help of human activity. As traditional, small-scale farming was the main structure for agricultural communities for many generations, natural farming continues to be a widespread practice despite modern agricultural techniques. Livestock products include lamb, beef, and goat meat. Taking into account the growing demands of its citizens, Iran aims to increase the volume of meat production by approximately 200,000 tons in the next few years in the hope that it will potentially become an active meat exporter in the future. As one of the largest countries in the Middle East, Iran has considerable natural land resources which assist the power, agriculture, and livestock industries of the country.

For more information, visit the following sites:

Observatory of Economic Complexity

Index Mundi (Original source is the CIA factbook, with a link on this website)