1.
Iran
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Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
2.
Mazandaran Province
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Mazandaran Province pronunciation, is an Iranian province located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range, in central-northern Iran. Mazandaran Province is one of the most densely populated provinces in Iran and has natural resources, notably large reservoirs of oil. The provinces four largest counties are Sari, Amol, Nur, Mazandaran is a major producer of farmed fish, and aquaculture provides an important economic addition to traditional dominance of agriculture. Another important contributor to the economy is the industry, as people from all of Iran enjoy visiting the area. Mazandaran is also a centre for biotechnology. The province covers an area of 23,842 km², Sari is the capital city of the province. Mazandaran is divided into 15 counties, all the shahrestans are named after their administrative center, except Savadkooh. Human habitation in the dates back at least 75,000 years. Recent excavations in Gohar Tape in Behshahr provide proof that the area has been urbanized for more than 5,000 years, and it has played an important role in cultural and urban development of the region. Mazandaran is one of the oldest areas Sedentism, Mazandaran is a Caspian province in the north of Iran. Located on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, it is bordered clockwise by Russia, Golestan, Semnan, Tehran, Alborz, Qazvin, Sari is the largest city and the capital of Mazandaran province. Mazandaran Province was made part of the First Region upon the division of the provinces into five regions solely for coordination, before the arrival of the Iranian-speakers to Iran, native people of this area were subsistence hunters and cattle herders. Archaeological studies in caves belt and Hutu man in Behshahr in the Mazandaran date to approximately 9500 BC, the Amard were a tribe living along the mountainous region bordering the Caspian Sea, including current day Amol. The territory known as Mazandaran has changed hands among various dynasties from early in its history, there are several fortresses remaining from Parthia and Sassanid times, and many older cemeteries scattered throughout the province. During this era, Mazandaran was part of Hyrcania Province which was one of the important provinces, in 662 CE, ten years after the death of Yazdegerd III the last Sassanian Emperor, a large Muslim army under the command of Hassan ibn Ali invaded Tabarestan. With the advent of the Sassanid dynasty, the King of Mazandaran was Gushnasp, in 529–536, Mazandaran was ruled by the Sassanid prince Kawus, son of Kawadh. Anushirawan, the Sassanid king, defeated Zarmihr, who claimed his ancestry from the legendary blacksmith Kaveh and this dynasty ruled the area till 645 AD, when Gil Gilanshah joined Mazandaran to Gilan. There are several fortresses remaining from Parthian and Sassanid times, during this era, Mazandaran was part of Hyrcania Province which was one of the important provinces
3.
Caspian Sea
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The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed inland body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the worlds largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It is in a basin located between Europe and Asia. It is bounded by Kazakhstan to the northeast, Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the west, Iran to the south, the Caspian Sea lies to the east of the Caucasus Mountains and to the west of the vast steppe of Central Asia. In its northern part, the Caspian Depression lies 28 to 130 m below sea level, the sea bed in the southern part reaches as low as 1023 m below sea level, which is the second lowest natural depression on earth after Lake Baikal. The ancient inhabitants of its coast perceived the Caspian Sea as an ocean, probably because of its saltiness, the sea has a surface area of 371,000 km2 and a volume of 78,200 km3. It has a salinity of approximately 1. 2%, about a third of the salinity of most seawater, the word Caspian is derived from the name of the Caspi, an ancient people who lived to the southwest of the sea in Transcaucasia. Strabo wrote that to the country of the Albanians belongs also the territory called Caspiane, which was named after the Caspian tribe, as was also the sea, but the tribe has now disappeared. Moreover, the Caspian Gates, which is the name of a region in Irans Tehran province, the Iranian city of Qazvin shares the root of its name with that of the sea. In fact, the traditional Arabic name for the sea itself is Bahr al-Qazwin, in classical antiquity among Greeks and Persians it was called the Hyrcanian Ocean. In Persian antiquity, as well as in modern Iran, it is known as the دریای خزر, Daryā-e Khazar, ancient Arabic sources refer to it as Baḥr Gīlān meaning the Gilan Sea. Turkic languages refer to the lake as Khazar Sea, in Turkmen, the name is Hazar deňizi, in Azeri, it is Xəzər dənizi, and in modern Turkish, it is Hazar denizi. An exception is Kazakh, where it is called Каспий теңізі, old Russian sources call it the Khvalyn or Khvalis Sea after the name of Khwarezmia. In modern Russian, it is called Каспи́йское мо́ре, Kaspiyskoye more, the Caspian Sea, like the Black Sea, Namak Lake, and Lake Urmia, is a remnant of the ancient Paratethys Sea. It became landlocked about 5.5 million years ago due to tectonic uplift and a fall in sea level. Due to the current inflow of water, the Caspian Sea is a freshwater lake in its northern portions, and is most saline on the Iranian shore. Currently, the salinity of the Caspian is one third that of Earths oceans. The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water in the world, the coastlines of the Caspian are shared by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. The Caspian is divided into three distinct regions, the Northern, Middle, and Southern Caspian
4.
Tehran
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Tehran is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. It is ranked 29th in the world by the population of its metropolitan area, in the Classical era, part of the present-day city of Tehran was occupied by a Median city that in the Avesta occurs as Rhaga. It was destroyed by the Mongols in the early 13th century, the capital has been moved several times throughout the history, and Tehran is the 32nd national capital of Iran. The city was the seat of the Qajars and Pahlavis, the two last imperial dynasties of Iran. It is home to historical collections, such as the royal complexes of Golestan, Sadabad. Large scale demolition and rebuilding began in the 1920s, and Tehran has been a destination for the migrations from all over Iran since the 20th century. Tabiat Bridge, which was completed in 2014, is considered the third symbol of the city. There have been plans to relocate Irans capital from Tehran to another area, due mainly to air pollution, to date, no definitive plans have been approved. A2016 survey of 230 cities by consultant Mercer ranked Tehran 203rd for quality of living, according to the Global Destinations Cities Index in 2016, Tehran is among the top ten fastest growing destinations. The origin of the name Tehran is uncertain, the settlement of Tehran dates back over 7,000 years. The present-day city of Tehran was a suburb of an important Median city that was known as Rhaga in Old Persian, in the Avestas Videvdat, Rhaga is mentioned as the twelfth sacred place created by the Ohrmazd. In Old Persian inscriptions, Rhaga appears as a province and it was a major area for the Iranian tribes of Medes and Achaemenids. From Rhaga, Darius the Great sent reinforcements to his father Hystaspes, in some Middle Persian texts, Rhaga is given as the birthplace of Zoroaster, although modern historians generally place the birth of Zoroaster in Khorasan. Derived into Modern Persian as Rey, it now as a city located towards the southern end of the modern-day city of Tehran. Mount Damavand, the highest peak of Iran, which is located near Tehran, is an important location in Ferdowsis Shahname, the long Iranian epic poem that is based on the ancient epics of Iran. It appears in the epics as the birthplace of Manuchehr, the residence of Keyumars, the place where Freydun binds the dragon fiend Aži Dahāka, during the Sassanid era, in 641, Yazdgerd III issued his last appeal to the nation from Rey, before fleeing to Khorasan. Rey was dominated by the Parthian Mihran family, and Siyavakhsh—the son of Mihran the son of Bahram Chobin—who resisted the Muslim Invasion, because of this resistance, when the Arabs captured Rey, they ordered the town to be destroyed and ordered Farrukhzad to rebuild the town anew. In the 9th century, Tehran was a well known village, but less known than the city of Rey, the medieval writer Najm od Din Razi declared the population of Rey about 500,000 before the Mongol Invasion
5.
Abbas I of Persia
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Shāh Abbās the Great or Shāh Abbās I of Persia was the 5th Safavid Shah of Iran, and is generally considered the strongest ruler of the Safavid dynasty. He was the son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda. Although Abbas would preside over the apex of Irans military, political and economic power, under his weak-willed father, the country was riven with discord between the different factions of the Qizilbash army, who killed Abbas mother and elder brother. Meanwhile, Irans enemies, the Ottoman Empire and the Uzbeks, in 1588, one of the Qizilbash leaders, Murshid Qoli Khan, overthrew Shah Mohammed in a coup and placed the 16-year-old Abbas on the throne. But Abbas was no puppet and soon seized power for himself, under his leadership, Abbas created numerous opportunities for thousands of Circassians, Georgians, and Armenians to join the civil administration and the military. These actions, as well as his reforms of the Iranian army, enabled him to fight the Ottomans and Uzbeks and he also took back land from the Portuguese and the Mughals and expanded Iranian rule and influence in the North Caucasus, beyond the traditional territories of Dagestan. Abbas was a builder and moved his kingdoms capital from Qazvin to Isfahan. In his later years, following a court intrigue involving several leading Circassians, at the time of his birth, Abbas grandfather Shah Tahmasp I was the Shah of Iran. Abbas parents gave him to be nursed by Khani Khan Khanum, when Abbas was four, Tahmasp sent Abbas father to stay in Shiraz where the climate was better for his fragile health. In 1578, Abbas father became Shah of Iran, Abbas mother soon came to dominate the government, but she had little time for Abbas, preferring to promote the interests of his elder brother Hamza. Mohammad was a sovereign, incapable of preventing Irans main rivals, the Ottoman Empire. The young prince, Hamza, was promising and led a campaign against the Ottomans. At the age of 14, Abbas had come under the guardianship of Murshid Qoli Khan, when a large Uzbek army invaded Khorasan in 1587, Murshid decided the time was right to overthrow Shah Mohammad. He rode to the Safavid capital Qazvin with the young prince, Mohammad made no objection against his deposition and handed the royal insignia over to his son during the following year on 1 October 1588. The kingdom Abbas inherited was in a desperate state, the Ottomans had seized vast territories in the west and the north-west and the Uzbeks had overrun half of Khorasan in the north-east. Iran itself was riven by fighting between the factions of the Qizilbash, who had mocked royal authority by killing the queen in 1579. First, Abbas settled his score with his mothers killers, executing three of the ringleaders of the plot and exiling four others and his next task was to free himself from the power of Murshid Qoli Khan. Murshid made Abbas marry Hamzas widow and a Safavid cousin, and began distributing important government posts among his own friends, meanwhile, the Uzbeks continued their conquest of Khorasan
6.
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar
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Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, ruling from 1789 to 1797 as king. He was originally chieftain of the Qoyunlu branch of the Qajar tribe, in 1789, Agha Mohammad Khan was enthroned as the king of Iran, but was not officially crowned as its king until March 1796. On 17 June 1797 Agha Mohammad Khan was assassinated, and was succeeded by his nephew, Agha Mohammad Khans reign is noted for the reemergence of a centrally led and united Iran. After 48 years, they were all reconquered by Agha Mohammad Khan, Agha Mohammad Khan is also noted for moving the capital to Tehran, where it still stands as of today. Agha Mohammad Khan was born in around 1742 in Astarabad and he belonged to the Qoyunlu branch of the Qajar tribe. The tribe had several branches, one of the most prominent ones being the Develu. Although he failed to catch Hasan, Adil Shah managed to take Agha Mohammad Khan and he later chose to spare Khans life and instead had him castrated and thereafter freed, the origin of his title Agha, a common one among eunuchs who served at the court. During the following 10 years, Afsharid rule in Khorasan suffered heavily from war among rival chieftains and from invasions by the Durrani ruler of Qandahar, Ahmad Shah Durrani. During this period, Mohammad Hasan fought against the Pashtun military leader Azad Khan Afghan and he was, however, defeated in 1759 by a Zand army, and thereafter betrayed by his own followers and killed by his old rival, Mohammad Khan of Savadkuh. Due to Agha Mohammad Khans castration, his brother Hosayn Qoli Khan was appointed as the new chieftain of the Qoyunlu instead, shortly thereafter Astarabad fell under the control of Karim Khan, who appointed a Develu named Husain Khan Develu as its governor. Meanwhile, Agha Mohammad Khan and his brother Hosayn Qoli Khan fled to the steppe, one year later, Agha Mohammad Khan made an incursion against Astarabad, but was forced to flee, chased by the citys governor. Agha Mohammad Khan managed to reach Ashraf, but was at last seized and was sent as a hostage to Tehran, Hosayn Qoli Khan was also soon captured and sent to Karim Khan. During his stay Agha Mohammad Khan was treated kindly and honorably by Karim Khan, who made him convince his kinsmen to lay down their arms, Karim Khan then settled them in Damghan. In 1763, Agha Mohammad Khan and Hosayn Qoli Khan were sent to the Zand capital, Shiraz, where their paternal aunt Khadija Begum, who was part of Karim Khans harem, lived. Agha Mohammad Khans half-brothers Morteza Qoli Khan and Mostafa Qoli Khan were granted permission to live in Astarabad and his remaining brothers were sent to Qazvin, where they were treated honorably. Agha Mohammad was looked upon more as a respected guest in Karim Khans court than a captive, furthermore, Karim Khan also acknowledged Agha Mohammad Khans political knowledge and asked his advice on interests of the state. He called Agha Mohammad Khan his Piran-i Viseh, referring to an intelligent counselor of the legendary Iranian king Afrasiab, two of Agha Mohammad Khans brothers who were at Qazvin were also sent to Shiraz during this period. In February 1769, Karim Khan appointed Hosayn Qoli Khan as the governor of Damghan, when Hosayn Qoli Khan reached Damghan, he immediately began a fierce conflict with the Develu and other tribes to avenge his fathers death
7.
Orange (fruit)
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The orange is the fruit of the citrus species Citrus × sinensis in the family Rutaceae. It is also called orange, to distinguish it from the related Citrus × aurantium. The sweet orange reproduces asexually, varieties of sweet orange arise through mutations, the orange is a hybrid between pomelo and mandarin. It has genes that are ~25% pomelo and ~75% mandarin, however, it is not a simple backcrossed BC1 hybrid, the chloroplast genes, and therefore the maternal line, seem to be pomelo. The sweet orange has had its genome sequenced. Earlier estimates of the percentage of pomelo genes varying from ~50% to 6% have been reported, sweet oranges were mentioned in Chinese literature in 314 BC. As of 1987, orange trees were found to be the most cultivated fruit tree in the world, orange trees are widely grown in tropical and subtropical climates for their sweet fruit. The fruit of the tree can be eaten fresh, or processed for its juice or fragrant peel. As of 2012, sweet oranges accounted for approximately 70% of citrus production, in 2014,70.9 million tonnes of oranges were grown worldwide, with Brazil producing 24% of the world total followed by China and India. All citrus trees belong to the single genus Citrus and remain almost entirely interfertile and this includes grapefruits, lemons, limes, oranges, and various other types and hybrids. The fruit of any citrus tree is considered a hesperidium, a kind of modified berry, different names have been given to the many varieties of the genus. Orange applies primarily to the sweet orange – Citrus sinensis Osbeck, the orange tree is an evergreen, flowering tree, with an average height of 9 to 10 m, although some very old specimens can reach 15 m. Its oval leaves, alternately arranged, are 4 to 10 cm long and have crenulate margins, when unripe, the fruit is green. The grainy irregular rind of the fruit can range from bright orange to yellow-orange. Like all other fruits, the sweet orange is non-climacteric. The Citrus sinensis group is subdivided into four classes with distinct characteristics, common oranges, blood or pigmented oranges, navel oranges, other citrus groups also known as oranges are, Bitter orange, also known as Seville orange, sour orange, bigarade orange and marmalade orange. Like the sweet orange, it is a pomelo x mandarin hybrid, bergamot orange, grown mainly in Italy for its peel, producing a primary essence for perfumes, also used to flavor Earl Grey tea. It is a hybrid, probably bitter orange x limetta, trifoliate orange, sometimes included in the genus
8.
Lemon
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The lemon, Citrus limon Osbeck, is a species of small evergreen tree in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia. The trees ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world, primarily for its juice, the pulp and rind are also used in cooking and baking. The juice of the lemon is about 5% to 6% citric acid, the distinctive sour taste of lemon juice makes it a key ingredient in drinks and foods such as lemonade and lemon meringue pie. The origin of the lemon is unknown, though lemons are thought to have first grown in Assam, a study of the genetic origin of the lemon reported it to be hybrid between bitter orange and citron. Lemons entered Europe near southern Italy no later than the second century AD, however, they were not widely cultivated. They were later introduced to Persia and then to Iraq and Egypt around 700 AD, the lemon was first recorded in literature in a 10th-century Arabic treatise on farming, and was also used as an ornamental plant in early Islamic gardens. It was distributed throughout the Arab world and the Mediterranean region between 1000 and 1150. The first substantial cultivation of lemons in Europe began in Genoa in the middle of the 15th century, the lemon was later introduced to the Americas in 1493 when Christopher Columbus brought lemon seeds to Hispaniola on his voyages. Spanish conquest throughout the New World helped spread lemon seeds and it was mainly used as an ornamental plant and for medicine. In the 19th century, lemons were increasingly planted in Florida, in 1747, James Linds experiments on seamen suffering from scurvy involved adding lemon juice to their diets, though vitamin C was not yet known. The origin of the lemon may be Middle Eastern. The word draws from the Old French limon, then Italian limone, from the Arabic laymūn or līmūn, and from the Persian līmūn, a term for citrus fruit. The Bonnie Brae is oblong, smooth, thin-skinned, and seedless, the Eureka grows year-round and abundantly. This is the common supermarket lemon, also known as Four Seasons because of its ability to produce fruit and this variety is also available as a plant to domestic customers. There is also a pink-fleshed Eureka lemon, with a green, the Femminello St. Teresa, or Sorrento is native to Italy. This fruits zest is high in lemon oils and it is the variety traditionally used in the making of limoncello. The Meyer is a cross between a lemon and possibly an orange or a mandarin, and was named after Frank N. Meyer, who first introduced it to the USA in 1908. Thin-skinned and slightly less acidic than the Lisbon and Eureka lemons, Meyer lemons often mature to a yellow-orange color
9.
Tangerine
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The tangerine is an orange-colored citrus fruit that is closely related to, or possibly a type of, mandarin orange. The name was first used for coming from Tangier, Morocco. Under the Tanaka classification system, Citrus tangerina is considered a separate species, under the Swingle system, tangerines are considered to be a group of mandarin varieties. While tangerines genetically resemble mandarins, the genetics are not thoroughly studied. The term is applied to any reddish-orange mandarin, but the term tangerine may yet acquire a definite genetic meaning. Tangerines are smaller and less rounded than common oranges, the taste is considered less sour, as well as sweeter and stronger, than that of an orange. A ripe tangerine is firm to slightly soft, heavy for its size, the peel is very thin, with very little bitter white mesocarp, which makes them usually easier to peel and to split into segments. All of these traits are shared by mandarins generally, peak tangerine season lasts from autumn to spring. Tangerines are most commonly peeled and eaten out of hand, the fresh fruit is also used in salads, desserts and main dishes. The peel is used fresh or dried as a spice or zest for baking and drinks, fresh tangerine juice and frozen juice concentrate are commonly available in the United States. The number of seeds in each segment varies greatly, Moragne tangierines were grown at Palatka by a Major Atway. Major Atway was said to have imported them from Morocco, which was the origin of the name tangerine, Major Atway sold his groves to N. H. Moragne in 1843, giving the Moragne tangerine the other part of its name. The Moragne tangerine produced a seedling which became one of the oldest and most popular American varieties, the Dancy tangerine. The Dancy is no longer commercially grown, it is too delicate to handle and ship well, it is susceptible to Alternaria fungus. Dancys are still grown for consumption, and many hybrids of the Dancy are grown commercially. Both these cultivars may be pure mandarins, unlike many cultivars, until the 1970s, the Dancy was the most widely grown tangerine in the US, the popularity of the fruit led to the term tangerine being broadly applied as a marketing name. Florida classifies tangerine-like hybrid fruits as tangerines for the purposes of sale and regulation, among the most important tangerine hybrids of Florida are murcotts, a late-fruiting type of tangor marketed as honey tangerine and Sunbursts. The fallglo, also a hybrid is also grown
10.
Rice
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Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima. As a cereal grain, it is the most widely consumed staple food for a part of the worlds human population. It is the agricultural commodity with the third-highest worldwide production, after sugarcane and maize, wild rice, from which the crop was developed, may have its native range in Australia. Chinese legends attribute the domestication of rice to Shennong, the emperor of China. Genetic evidence has shown that rice originates from a single domestication 8, previously, archaeological evidence had suggested that rice was domesticated in the Yangtze River valley region in China. From East Asia, rice was spread to Southeast and South Asia, Rice was introduced to Europe through Western Asia, and to the Americas through European colonization. There are many varieties of rice and culinary preferences tend to vary regionally, in some areas such as the Far East or Spain, there is a preference for softer and stickier varieties. Rice, a monocot, is grown as an annual plant, although in tropical areas it can survive as a perennial. The rice plant can grow to 1–1.8 m tall, occasionally more depending on the variety and it has long, slender leaves 50–100 cm long and 2–2.5 cm broad. The small wind-pollinated flowers are produced in a branched arching to pendulous inflorescence 30–50 cm long, the edible seed is a grain 5–12 mm long and 2–3 mm thick. Rice cultivation is well-suited to countries and regions with low costs and high rainfall, as it is labor-intensive to cultivate. However, rice can be grown practically anywhere, even on a hill or mountain area with the use of water-controlling terrace systems. Although its parent species are native to Asia and certain parts of Africa, centuries of trade, the traditional method for cultivating rice is flooding the fields while, or after, setting the young seedlings. The name wild rice is used for species of the genera Zizania and Porteresia. The Greek word is the source of all European words, the origin of the Greek word is unclear. It is sometimes held to be from the Tamil word அரிசி, however, Krishnamurti disagrees with the notion that Old Tamil arici is the source of the Greek term, and proposes that it was borrowed from descendants of Proto-Dravidian *wariñci instead. The varieties of rice are typically classified as long-, medium-, the grains of long-grain rice tend to remain intact after cooking, medium-grain rice becomes more sticky. Medium-grain rice is used for dishes, for risotto in Italy
11.
Tea
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Tea is an aromatic beverage commonly prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to Asia. After water, it is the most widely consumed drink in the world, Tea originated in Southwest China, where it was used as a medicinal drink. It was popularized as a drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty. Portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to Europe during the 16th century, during the 17th century, drinking tea became fashionable among Britons, who started large-scale production and commercialization of the plant in India to bypass the Chinese monopoly. The term herbal tea usually refers to infusions of fruit or herbs made without the tea plant, such as steeps of rosehip, chamomile and these are sometimes called tisanes or herbal infusions to prevent confusion with tea made from the tea plant. The tea industry often uses the term fruit tea to refer to what are in fact fruit-flavored black teas. The Chinese character for tea is 茶, originally written with a stroke as 荼. The word is pronounced differently in the different varieties of Chinese, such as chá in Mandarin, zo and dzo in Wu Chinese, there were other ancient words for tea, though ming is the only other one still in common use. Most Chinese languages, such as Mandarin and Cantonese, pronounce it along the lines of cha and these two pronunciations have made their separate ways into other languages around the world. Starting in the seventeen century, the Dutch played a dominant role in the early European tea trade via the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch borrowed the word for tea from Min Chinese, either through trade directly from Fujian or Formosa where they had established a port, or from Malay traders in Bantam, Java. The Dutch then introduced to other European languages this Min pronunciation for tea, including English tea, French thé, Spanish té and this pronunciation is also the most common form worldwide. The Portuguese adopted the Cantonese pronunciation chá, and spread it to India, the Korean and Japanese pronunciations of cha were borrowed into Korean and Japanese during earlier periods of Chinese history. A third form, the increasingly widespread chai, came from Persian چای chay, both the châ and chây forms are found in Persian dictionaries. English has all three forms, cha or char, attested from the 16th century, tea, from the 17th, however, the form chai refers specifically to a black tea mixed with honey, spices and milk in contemporary English. Tea plants are native to East Asia, and probably originated around the points of the lands of north Burma. Tea drinking may have begun in the Yunnan region during the Shang Dynasty in China, Chinese legends attribute the invention of tea to Shennong in 2737 BC, although evidence suggests that tea drinking may have been introduced from the southwest of China. The earliest written records of tea come from China, in the Chronicles of Huayang, it was recorded that the Ba people in Sichuan presented tu to the Zhou king
Iran
pronunciation (help·info), Known as "Orange Blossom City" , also Romanized as Bābol; formerly known as Barfrouch)[2] is the capital of Babol County, Mazandaran Province, Iran. Babol is divided into two metropolitan area (Under Iranian law). At the 2012 census, its population was 219,467, in 66,944 families.[3]
