Iran is an arid country. It is characterized by shortage of water, higher evaporation than precipitation, low relative humidity, intense solar radiation during hot summer days, high daily and seasonal temperature ranges, torrential (but sporadic) spurts of precipitation, and damaging sand and dust storms. Through centuries of coping with these climatic conditions, Iranians learned to build their settlements in a way to minimize the impact of solar radiation and harmful and unpleasant winds, and to optimize shade, breeze, and water.

Traditional cities adopted a compact urban form that included narrow winding streets, buildings set close together, houses with courtyard ponds, covered bazaars, and wind capturing towers. The compact city form minimizes the empty space that can become a source of heat during the day and cold at night. The narrow winding streets provide shade for the passersby and protect them from sand and dust-laden storms. The courtyard ponds provide the surrounding rooms with cool air through evaporation. Wind towers harness cool air to cool off the rooms below. The covered bazaar protects shoppers from rain and cold and allows cool air to circulate.
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Iran is located between two major depressions, the Caspian Sea to the north and the Persian Gulf to the south. A series of mountains rising steeply from these depressions, along with other isolated mountain chains, form a high outer rim that encloses the interior basin.

This configuration provides Iran with an overall bowl-shaped topography that characterizes the country’s general physical appearance. The interior basin is known as the Iranian Plateau. According to geologists, the plateau is an ancient former seabed that took its present shape during the Quaternary period about 200,000 years ago. It was formed and shaped by the uplifting and folding effects of three giant plates pressing against each other.

The interacting plates are the Arabian Plate, the Eurasian Plate, and the Indian Plate. The continuous process of squeezing and pressing resulted in a considerable folding at the edges, and some folding in the interior, which eventually formed Iran’s present mountain ranges.
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