WATER: A MIRROR INTO IRAN'S GEOGRAPHY AND POPULATION/LIFE

Iran is an amazing country, made of plains and mountains, enclosed with seas but opened to the outside, a country both easily managed and yet constrained. One may think its openness makes it a place easy to dwell, despite its difficult living conditions. Maintaining a sustainable life in Iran requires some art and knowledge- knowledge of its climate and nature, as well as art of the possible and of the impossible. Those who take pride in living in such a country need to possess these precious skills. They are the prerequisite to a fair and balanced behaviour and a comprehensive management that have so far provided Iran with a sustainable development. According to historical sources, honesty, fairness and balance have always been referred to as preliminary conditions to a sustainable and stable development in Iran. One must add that fairness should not be considered only as the rightful exercise of power. Fairness should be understood as a comprehensive concept embracing all kinds of balanced behaviours. In other words, it consists of taking every aspect into consideration in the search for a comprehensive management; the aim is to take into account not only society but also the human factor and the environment. By pursuing such a balanced approach, one becomes aware of what is possible, easily keeping within bounds. The pursuit of such a balance between resources and constraints thus appears as a prerequisite for Iran’s sustainable development. We have learned from history that in the most remote areas of the country, the more aware its inhabitants have grown of the possibilities their land offered, the wiser they became, the easier it was for them to support themselves and the wealthier they grew.