Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/1220

 1168

PERSIA

this force for a period of four years. Alter the Persian staffs have been trained the British will be withdrawn. It is further recommended that an air force should be started with British instructors and material. These recommendations had not been carried out by the end of 1920, and await ratification of the Anglo-Persian Agreement by the Persian Mejlis.

The navy is quite unimportant. The two boats of which it consists are normally used for Customs purposes.

Production and Industry.

Besides great quantities of wheat, barley, rice, fruits, gums, drugs, wool, cotton, &c, Persia produces much silk. The opium industry, as well as the production of gums, chiefly tragacanth, are increasing. The wool of Khorassan is the best, and much of it before the War reached Bradford via Batum. Persian carpets, of which there are many kinds, are all made by hand. The principal centres of the industry are Tabriz, Hamadan, Sultanalmd, and Kerinan.

The mineral deposits of Persia are considerable but undeveloped. The zones producing minerals are (1) the Province of Azerbaijan, (2) the slopes of the Elburz range, (3) Khorassan, (4) Kerman, (5) the districts around Ispahan and Nain, and (6) the region of Persian Gulf. In Azerbaijan, iron, lead, and copper ores exist in abundance. Lead is found in Khalkal region. The slopes of the Elburz are rich in deposits of coal and iron. Turquoise mines are found in Khorassan, and also copper, coal and salt. Kerman produces copper, lead, manganese, marble, borax, turquoises, iron, mercury, nickel, and cobalt. In the southern region along the Persian Gulf the chief minerals found are naphtha, rock salt, and iron ochre. A rich oil-bearing district is reported on the S. E. shore of the Caspian.

Commerce.

A new Customs tariff, with a considerably increased scale of Customs duties, came into force on April 1, 1920, as a result of the revision of the Customs tariff hitherto in force. This revision was provided for in Article 6 of the Anglo-Persian Agreement of Aug. 9, 1919.

The principal centres of commerce are Tabriz, Teheran, Hamadan, and Ispahan ; the principal ports, Bender Abbas, Mohammerah, and Bushire on the Persian Gulf, and Astara, Enzeli, Meshedissar, and Bendcrguez on the Caspian. On March 21, 1899, the Government abolished the farm system in Aziibaijan 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 Mohammerah (with imports and exports valued at about 300,000Z. per annum), of the Karun River and of Kurdistan on the western frontier, that of Seistan 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.

According to the statistics published b}' the Minister of Finance the rallies of the imports and exports for the six years were as follows : —

Years

1918-H 1034 15 1915-16

Imports Exports

£ £

8,322,030 6,600,060 7,736,000 6,286,677

Years

1918 L7

1017-18

I '.' I s Lt

Imports Export*

£

16,602,' "(i

17, olo. '•■in

£ 9,581,080