Traveling through Iran you will see a variety of climatic zones and landscapes. Iran is surrounded by mountains with Mount Elbrus stretching in the north, the mountain range Kotur in the west and the Zagros mountain range in the south-west. The central part of the country is deserted with subtropical climate dominating. There are several vast deserts on the territory of Iran, which are unique in their kind. Today we will tell about some of them:

Deserts in Iran: Dasht-e Kevir

Dasht-e Kevir or the Great Salt desert is located in the center of Iran. The desert covers an area of 55,000 km2, the width is about 350 km, the length is 800 km. The desert is located in the province of Yazd, Khorasan, Tehran, Semnan and Isfahan. The dry climate with no more than 3 cm of precipitation a year is dominating in the territory of the desert. In summer the temperature reaches +50, in winter +22.

Desert Dasht-e Kevir is famous for its yardangs. Yardang is an ash formation that has been extensively grooved by wind erosion. Yardangas are formed in deserts with dense clay rock. The territory of the desert is all about the drainless hollows, saline swamps, lakes and solonchaks. In the spring, dry lakes turn into mud and deadly swamps. Natives try to avoid passing through the desert, especially its central part. There is a legend about demons living in the sand dunes of Riga-Jenna.

Deserts in Iran: Dasht-e Lut

Dasht-e Lut is the hottest desert in Iran and many extremals try to conquer the desert. Dasht-e Lut is located in the provinces of Chorastan, Beluchistan, Sistian and Kerman. The desert area is 175,000 km2 (10% of the total territory of Iran), the length is 900 km and the width is 200 km. The temperature can reach up to +71 during summer months (this is the highest temperature recorded on the surface of the earth).

The desert landscape is very diverse; here you can see barkhans, deltas of rivers, yaredangs, salt marshes and hardened sands in interesting forms. The Nemekzar hollow that turns into a lake during the spring rains is located in the south of the desert.

One of the sights of the desert is “the powder plain”, which is distinguished by a light brown shade of rubble and black sand color that looks like a gunpowder.

Deserts in Iran: Maranjab

The Maranjab Desert is located in the province of Isfahan, near the town of Kashan. Maranjab is a sandy valley that is more popular among tourists. The main attraction of the desert is the dunes that are considered the highest dunes in the country. Traveling through the desert, you can stay in a caravanserai of the XVI century and get acquainted with lifestyle and traditions of natives.