Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/729

 AREA, POPULATION, AND TRADE. 693

The remainder of the 105,500 troops enumerated in the govern- ment returns form the reserve. The soldiers composing it are allowed to reside in their own villages and districts, where they may- engage in agricultural and other pursuits, subject to no drill or military discipline, the infantry and artillery being usually disarmed when placed on this footing. They, as well as the irregular cavalry, are liable, however, to be called out at any moment, on the requi- sition of the Minister for War.

The organisation of the army is by provinces, tribes, and districts. A province furnishes several regiments; a tribe gives one, and sometimes two, and a district contributes one battalion to the army. The commanding officers are almost invariably selected from the chiefs of the tribe or district from which the regiment is raised. The Christians, Jews, and Guebres in Persia are exempt from all military service.

Area, Population, and Trade.

The area and population of Persia are known only by estimates. According to the latest and most trustworthy of these, the country — extending for about 700 miles from north to south, and for 900 miles from east to west — contains an area of 648,000 square miles. A vast portion of this area is, however, an absolute desert, and the population is everywhere so scanty as not to exceed, on the average, seven inhabitants to the square mile. According to a carefully made estimate, furnished by the British secretary of legation, in May 1868, the population of Persia at that period numbered : —

Inhabitants of cities 1,000,000

Population belonging to wandering tribes. . 1,700,000

Inhabitants of villages and country districts. . 1,700,000

Total population. . . 4,400,000

The largest cities of Persia are — Tauris, or Tabreez, with 210,000 ; Tehran, with 85,000 ; Ispahan, with 60,000 ; and Yezd, with 40,000 inhabitants. The one million of inhabitants of towns constitute the pure Persian race, and more than half of the remaining population belongs to the Turkish, Eek, Koordish, and Arab tribes, which are spread over the whole of the Shah's territory. In some provinces, such as Khorassan, and in the districts contiguous to the Turkish and Russian frontiers, nearly the entire population belongs to one or other of these tribes.

The population of Persia is believed to be steadily declining in numbers, owing to the ravages of the plague, the general absence of sanitary laws, the results of polygamy, and various other not well ascertained causes.