Front:
COPYRIGHT 1889
ARBUCKLE BROS
N.Y.
NIHAU
PACIFIC
KAUAI
Honolulu
OAHU
LANAI
MOLOKAI
MAUI
HAWAII
SANDWICH ISL
Mauna Loa
(Volc)
ISLANDS
Gov.:
OCEAN
A LIMITED MONARCHY
Total Area of Islands
6,677 Sq.M.
Pop.80,578.
BANANAS.
Volcano of Mauna Loa.
Back:
PERSIA.
ERSIA occupies the western and largest half of the basin-like Iranian
plateau between the valleys of the Indus and and the Tigris. Its average
height above the sea is 4,000 feet, varying from 8,000 in some of the outer
valleys to 500 in the most depressed portions of the centre.
Persia is an absolute monarchy. All the laws are based on the precepts of
the Koran, and though the power of the Shah is absolute, it is only in so far as
it is not opposed to the accepted doctrines of the Mohammedan religion. The
Shah is regarded as vicegerent of the Prophet, and it is as such that he claims
implicit obedience. Under him the executive government is carried on by a
ministry, divided into several departments.
According to the latest estimates the country contains an area of 636,000
square miles, a vast portion of which is an absolute desert. According to esti-
mates made in 1881, the population then numbered 7,650,000.
No country has greater diversity of climate than Persia, and the soil varies
as much as the climate. Almost all the cultivation depends on artificial irriga-
tion, either by canals, or by the system of wells connected with the underground
channels. Agriculture is in a very depressed state, and the rudest implements
are still in use. The exports principally consist of dried fruits, opium, cotton
and wool, silk, carpets, pearls, turquoises and rice.
Teheran is the capital, and contains the great fortified palace of the Shah.
The Persian is one of the most melodious of languages, peculiarly fitted for
poetry.
