Xavier de Planhol is an Emeritus Professor of Geography at the University of Paris-Sorbonne and a universally acknowledged authority on political geography. From 1958, when he began to publish monographs and articles during his first fieldwork in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan (Iran)

Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan , also Iranian Azerbaijan, Persian Azarbaijan is a region in northwestern Iran. It is also historically known as Atropatene and Aturpatakan....

, and later in the Alborz

Alborz

Alborz , also written as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran stretching from the borders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in the northwest to the southern end of the Caspian Sea, and ending in the east at the borders of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan...

 region of Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

, to his monumental and highly acclaimed, Les Nations du Prophète (1993) and Minorités en Islam (1997), he has maintained his deep interest in Persia and the Iranian civilization. He is also a contributor to Encyclopædia Iranica

Encyclopædia Iranica

Encyclopædia Iranica is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times...

, submitting articles ranging from "Abadan" to "Boundaries", "Cholera", "Darya?", "Earthquakes", "Famines", and a series of forthcoming articles on "Geography". A bibliography of Professor Xavier de Planhol’s wide-ranging publications up to 1995, has been compiled and published by Professor Daniel Balland in Geographie Historique et Culturelle de l’Europe: Hommage au Professor Xavier de Planhol, by Jean-Robert Pitte (1995).