Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/1253

 COMMERCE

1131

in 1909-10, 902,767^. in 1910-11, and 977,429? "in 1911-12. The principal centres of the industry are Tabriz, Hamadan, Sultanabad, and Kerman.

The mineral deposits of Persia are considerable, but great distances from shipping ports or markets, want of good roads, and in many parts scarcity of fuel and water, have prevented any development on a large scale. Mines of lead and copper exist in nearly all the provinces, and have been worked from ancient times, but there are many considerable deposits yet untouched. Some of the fead ores are argentiferous, but the precious metal is not extracted. Tin ore has been found in Azerbaijan ; antimony, nickel, cobalt, in the desert region near Yezd, zinc near Tehran, manganese and borax near Kerman, and there are enormous deposits of rich iron ore in several places ; iron ochre is obtained on some islands in the Persian Gulf, principally at Hormuz, and coal of good quality near Tehran ; great seams of the latter in South-Eastern Persia are not worked. Salt pits are abundant. A naphtha- bearing zone extends along the western frontier from Kurdistan to the Persian Gulf, and traces of the oil have also been discovered in Northern Persia near Resht ; a concession for working the former was granted to a British subject in June, 1901, and ])oring operations undertaken in 1902 and 1903 having proved the existence of oil, large works have been elected and pipes are being laid from the wells to Muhamrah, the nearest Persian Gulf port. The turquoise has been mined near Nishapiir from an earlj' age. The total revenues to the Government under the head of royalties and rents from mines are less than 16,000Z. per annum.

Commerce.

The principal centres of commerce are Tabriz, Teheran, Hamadan, and Ispahan ; the principal ports. Bender Abbas, Lingah, and Bushire on the Persian Gulf, and Astara, Enzeli, Meshed-i-Sar, and Bender-i-Gez on the Caspian. On March 21, 1899, the Government abolished the farm system in Azerbaijan and Kermanshah, and one year later in all other provinces, estab- lishing at the same time a uniform duty of 5 per cent, ad valorem on imports and exports. However, the districts of Muhamrah (with imports and exports valued at about 300,000?. per annum), of the Karun River and of Kurdistan on the western frontier, that of Sistan on the eastern frontier, and some of the smaller ports on the Persian Gulf, were then not interfered with, and the greater part of the Persian Gulf pearl trade also escaped the authorities until the following year.

The commercial treaty with Great Britain made in 1857 provided for the ' most favoured nation treatment.' In October, 1901, a treaty between Persia and Russia was concluded, fixing a new tariff, but this treaty expressly reserved ' the most favoured nation ' treatment for the countries already enjoying it. The treaty was ratified in December, 1902, and the new tariff came into force February 14, 1903. A few days before, a new treaty (ratified in May) was made with Great Britain, under which the duties levied on British imports will be the same as on Russian imports.

According to the statistics published by the Minister of Customs the values of the imports and exports for the four years 1908-12 were as follows : —

Years

Imxiorts Exports

1

Years

Imports

Exports

1908-09 1909-10

£ £

7,449,681 6,524,340 8,848,565 7,430,519

1910-11 1911-12

£

9,690,153

11,404,169'

£ 7,508,538 8,415,694