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The Iranian plateau The Iranian Plateau from Paleolithic Times to the Rise of the Achaemenid Empire or Persian plateau is a geology spanning parts of the Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. It makes up part of the Eurasian plate, and is wedged between the Arabian plate and the Indian plate. The plateau is situated between the Zagros Mountains to the west, the Caspian Sea and the Kopet Dag to the north, the Armenian Highlands and the Caucasus Mountains to the northwest, the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf to the south, and the Indian subcontinent to the southeast.
As a historical region, it includes Parthia, Media, Persis, and some of the previous territories of Greater Iran. "Old Iranian Online" , University of Texas College of Liberal Arts (retrieved 10 February 2007) The Zagros form the plateau's western boundary, and its eastern slopes may also be included in the term. The Encyclopædia Britannica excludes "lowland Khuzestan" explicitly and characterizes Elam as spanning "the region from the Mesopotamia to the Iranian Plateau".
Stretching from the Caspian Sea in the northwest to the Sulaiman Mountains in the southeast, the Iranian Plateau extends nearly . It encompasses the majority of Iran, all of Afghanistan, and the parts of Pakistan that are situated to the west of the Indus River, covering an area of some In spite of being called a plateau, it is far from flat, and contains several mountain ranges; its highest point is Noshaq in the Hindu Kush at , and its lowest point is the Dasht-e Lut to the east of Kerman, Iran, at below .
The plateau extends from East Azerbaijan province in northwestern Iran all the way to Afghanistan and Pakistan west of the Indus River. It also includes smaller parts of the Azerbaijan, Iraqi Kurdistan, and Turkmenistan.
The northwestern Iranian plateau, where the Pontic Mountains and Taurus Mountains converge, is rugged country with higher elevations, a more severe climate, and greater precipitation than are found on the Anatolian plateau. The region is known as the Anti-Taurus, and the average elevation of its peaks exceeds . Mount Ararat, at 5,137 meters (16,854 ft) the highest point in Turkey, is located in the Anti-Taurus. Lake Van is situated in the mountains at an elevation of 1,546 meters (5,072 ft).
The headwaters of major rivers arise in the Anti-Taurus: the east-flowing Aras River flows into the Caspian Sea, and the south-flowing Euphrates and Tigris join in Iraq before flowing into the Persian Gulf. Several small streams that flow into the Black Sea or landlocked Lake Van also originate in these mountains. The Indus River begins in the highlands of Tibet and flows the length of Pakistan almost tracing the eastern edge of the Iranian plateau.
Southeast Anatolia lies south of the Anti-Taurus Mountains. It is a region of rolling hills and a broad plateau surface that extends into Syria. Elevations decrease gradually, from about 800 meters (2,600 ft) in the north to about 500 meters (1,600 ft) in the south. Traditionally, wheat and barley are the main crops of the region.
In the Bronze Age, Elam stretched across the Zagros mountains, connecting Mesopotamia and the Iranian plateau. The kingdoms of Aratta, known from cuneiform sources, may have been located in the central Iranian plateau. In classical antiquity the region was known as Persia, due to the Persian Achaemenid dynasty originating in Fars province. The Middle Persian Erān (whence Modern Persian Iran) began to be used in reference to the state (rather than as an ethnic designator) from the Sasanian Empire (see Etymology of Iran).
Wide variety of amphibians and reptiles such as toads, frogs, tortoises, lizards, salamanders, racers, rat snakes ( Ptyas), cat snakes ( Tarbophis fallax), and vipers live the Baluchistan region and along the slopes of the Elburz and Zagros mountains. 200 varieties of fish live in the Persian Gulf. Thirty species of the most important commercial fish Sturgeon is found in the Caspian Sea.Zarubezhnaia Aziia: Fizicheskaia geografiia. Moscow, 1956.Petrov, M. P. Iran: Fiziko-geograficheskii ocherk. Moscow, 1955.
The plateau also produces wheat, barley, millet, , opium, cotton, alfalfa, and tobacco. The barley is fed mainly to . Sesame is grown and made into sesame oil. Mushrooms and Alhagi maurorum were also seen in the plateau area as of 1920. Caraway is grown in the Kerman province.
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