Kerman is a city in southeastern Iran with 677,650 inhabitants (2006), situated on a sandy plain 1749 meters above sea level. It is the capital of Kerman province with 2,652,413 inhabitants (2006) and an area of 181,714 km². Kerman is the largest carpet producing and exporting center in Iran. Kerman is a large producer of pistachios on the world market. The province is rich in minerals, like copper, coal, chromium, lead, zinc, uranium and aluminum, but mining has remained on a small scale. In recent times, crude oil has been discovered, but not yet exploited.