in the NW., is the largest, a very salt
and shallow sheet of water. The eastern half of the country is largely
desert, where the sand is swept about in clouds by the winds. With little
rain, the climate is intensely hot in summer and cold in winter. Forests
clothe the outer slopes of the mountains, and scanty brushwood the inner
plains. Wheat and barley are grown on higher levels, and cotton, sugar,
and fruits on the lower, all with the help of Irrigation. Agriculture is
the chief industry; there are manufactures of carpets, shawls, and
porcelain. The internal trade is carried on by caravans; foreign trade is
not extensive, and is chiefly in Russian hands; the exports include
opium, carpets, pearls, and turquoises. The capital is Teheran (210), a
narrow, crooked, filthy town, at the southern foot of the Elburz. Tabriz
(180), in the NW., is the emporium of trade. Ispahan (60), Meshed (60),
Barfurush (60), and Shiraz (30) are the other important towns. The
Government is despotic; the emperor is called the Shah. The people are
courteous and refined in manner, witty, and fluent in speech; they are of
Aryan stock and Mohammedan faith. The original empire of Persia was
established by Cyrus 537 B.C. A century later decay set in. Revival
under Parthian and Sassanian dynasties lasted from 138 B.C. till A.D.
639. Persia became then a province of the Arabs. From the 14th century it
fell under Mongol sway, and again in the 16th century under Turkish. The
present dynasty was founded in 1795. The future of the country is in
Russian and British hands.

PERSIAN GULF, a great inland sea lying between Arabia and Persia,
and entered from the Indian Ocean through the Gulf of Oman; is 650 m.
long and from 50 to 250 m. broad. The Arabian coast is low and sandy, the
Persian high. The chief islands are in the W., where also is the Great
Pearl Bank. The only river of importance received is the Shat-el-Arab,
which brings down the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris.

PERSIAN WARS, wars conducted by Persia in the three expeditions
against Greece, first in 490 B.C. under Darius, and defeated by the
Athenians under Miltiades at Marathon; the second, 480 B.C., under
Xerxes, opposed by Leonidas and his 300 Spartans at Thermopylae and
defeated by the Athenians under Themistocles at Salamis by sea; and the
third, in 479 B.C., under Xerxes, by the Greeks under the Spartan
Pausanius at Plataea.

PERSIANS, a name given to sculptured draped mal