Iran's natural resources refers to a wide range of natural resources in Iran. Iran is a country that has a high amount of natural resources, the most important of which are oil, natural gas, coal, chrome, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, and sulfur. About 11% of the lands of this country are arable and many edible products are exported from this country. In recent decades, Iran's forests, which are few, were used as a salable natural resource. Agricultural soil and soil from the south of this country are also exported to the countries of the region.
With 68 types of minerals and the identification of nearly 60 billion tons of mineral reserves, Iran ranks tenth among the world's countries in terms of diversity, and about 7% of the world's mineral reserves are located in this country. The most important and well-known non-biological resources of Iran include: coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc and sulfur. Although there are many metal mines in Iran; like gold
Iran is also active in the aquatic sector, and in 2016, the farmed caviar of this country produced nearly five tons and exported nearly 1.2 tons. There is a lot of demand for the aquatic products of this country and Iranian caviar has a very high price outside of this country. In the same year, the deputy head of aquaculture of the Iranian Fisheries Organization announced that this year, nearly five tons of farmed caviar were produced and plans are in place to increase the production to 100 tons.
Iran is one of the first countries where agriculture started. Almost one-third of the lands of this country are capable of agriculture, but only 11% of Iran's land is cultivated due to poor soil and inadequate water distribution in most areas. Many agricultural products are exported from this country.
According to a report in 2020 and based on the latest statistics available this year, the area of Iran's forests has decreased from 3.4 to 1.6 million hectares.
In recent decades, the soil of Iran, especially the soil of southern Iran, like the red soil of Hormoz Island, is exported to other countries. Also, the agricultural soil of this country is also exported, which is sometimes called illegal.
Iran's oil industry alone has provided most of the country's income in Iran's economy, and in fact, it is the country's largest economic arm. Currently, Iran's Ministry of Petroleum is in charge of supervising the production and sale of Iran's hydrocarbon products, which leads this industry through its four subsidiaries. The National Iranian Oil Company, as the largest subsidiary of the Ministry of Petroleum, is in charge of the upstream sector of the country's oil and gas industries. This company is responsible for the production of crude oil, natural gas and gas condensates in all the fields located in Iran. Iran's National Gas Company operates in the field of natural gas distribution and transmission within the internal borders of the country. Iran's National Petrochemical Industries Company is engaged in the production of petrochemical products, and Iran's National Petroleum Products Refining and Distribution Company is also responsible for managing refineries and refining petroleum products, then distributing and selling these products within the country's internal borders through fuel stations.
Iran also has significant coal reserves, and in 2017, the head of the Iran Coal Association announced that due to the discovered coal reserves, the country will have coal for the next 400 years. He also announced that China and India signed long-term contracts with Iran.
The most important and well-known non-biological resources of Iran include: coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc and sulfur. Although there are many metal mines in Iran.
With 68 types of minerals and the identification of nearly 60 billion tons of mineral reserves, Iran is in the tenth place among the world's countries in terms of diversity, and about 7% of the world's mineral reserves are located in this country.
Translator: fatemeh abbaszadeh.