Handicraft Iran's Most Precious and Timeless Artistry   The diversity of Iran's handicraft is tremendous. For instance,over 180 different hand made handicraft(s) are produced in Iran which can be classified under the general rubrics, hereunder: 1- Carpet, and rug weavings 2- Traditional textile and fabrics 3- Knittings 4- Needleworks and tapestry 5- Traditional printed materials 6- Felt-makings 7- Wood industries 8- Glass blowings 9- Leather works and hides 10- Metal and alloys 11- Engravings, lattice works and carvings on stones 12- Wood carvings 13- Delicate wooden designings༠14- Embossments and inlaid works 15- Mat- weavings 16- Inlaid artistry and incrustrations 17- Tile makings 18- Relief works 19- Embroidery 20- Enamel works 21- Making infinitely subtle pieces of artifact(s) 22- Jewel-makings 23- Other traditional handicraft(s) Iran is one of the three major poles of the world's handicraft, whose productions in the above mentioned fields rank first in the world quantitatively and variety wise. Second to oil, interestingly enough, the carpets constitute the country's largest export item gaining huge amounts of foreign currency revenue. The worldwide popularity of the Iranian carpet has, indeed, encouraged the adoption of specific non-oil export policies. Today, for instance, close to 6 to 8 million people are either directly or indirectly engaged in the Iranian carpet industry. Moreover, nearly 38 percent of the country's overall non-oil export figures last year indicated the significance of the carpet weaving industry. In 1994 Iran's exported carpets --worth 1.6 billion dollars -- ranked highest among all the other export-goods. Of course, the revenue generated was a major contribution to the country's economic development in so far as the needed purchase of the raw materials were concerned.