Orenburg state university

A long tour around Iran: three deserts and seven amazing cities of the country

Tatyana Gerasimenko, Head of OSU Department of Geography and Regional Studies took part in a study trip to Iran. It was organized by the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences on January 21 — February 5.

Geographers, economists, cult urologists, politologists, historians, and museologists from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Smolensk and Orenburg went to study nature, history and culture of the region. They visited 3 deserts: Dasht-e-Kavir, Malaya and Bolshaya Salina and some other natural and man-made sites like oases, salt lakes, mountains, traditional villages, etc. The route went through some most important Iran cities like Kashan, Qom, Isfahan, Shiraz, Kerman, Yazd, Tehran and historical sites Necropolis and Persepolis, industrial and agrarian companies. The Russian delegation met with local people — students, museum experts, athletes, immigrants.

The scientists from OSU focused her research interests on ethnic and anthropological diversity of the population, its historical, cultural and religious groups.

— Iran is a country of a rich cultural heritage, — Tatyana Gerasimenko shares her impressions. — From amazing mosques to ancient cities, everything in Iran reminds of the past and is of great importance to modern scientists. During this trip, I was able to see not only the ethno cultural, but also the religious diversity of such a closed, at first glance, country. It still has some strict rules. For example, every woman in Iran is required to cover her head, even if she is a foreigner. This definitely brought difficulties to our trip. Iran is an original and historically rich country.

The participants of the tour will present their scientific findings in the Russian Geographical Society, at research conferences and publications.