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The Kura River valley is the region's chief agricultural zone. Wheat, barley, corn, fruits, wine grapes, and potatoes are the leading food crops, and cotton, silk, and tobacco the foremost industrial crops. The subtropical LAnkArAn Lowland produces tea and rice. The Apsheron peninsula is one of the richest oil regions of the world. Although production of Caspian Sea oil and gas had declined for several years, it began growing again in the 1990s under production-sharing agreements with multinational corporations, which by the end of the decade had committed some $30 billion to oil-field development and pipelines. The republic's other mineral resources include natural gas, iron, copper, lead, zinc, limestone, pyrites, cobalt, and alunite. Widespread salt springs have enabled health resorts to flourish. Among the chief manufactures are petroleum products, machinery, electrical and oil-drilling equipment, chemicals, building materials (especially cement), steel, aluminum, and textiles. The old craft of carpet weaving is still practiced.
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