Bandar Abbas

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Bandar Abbas (Persian بندر عباس, " port of Abbas " ) is the capital of Hormozgan province, southern Iran in the Persian Gulf and one of the headquarters of the Iranian Navy.

Named the city is named after the Shah Abbas I.. It has the largest port of Iran and was long known as the Gamron. 2012, it had about 426,000 inhabitants. Before the town is the island of Hormuz.

From the international airport can be in addition to domestic destinations also the nearby Dubai and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to fly. About the land there are 1331 km from the capital Tehran.

History

Formation

The village, which today bears the name of Bandar Abbas, was already in the time of Darius I. a port city. Throughout its long history, the city changed hands several times her name. After the conquest of Persia by Alexander the city was named Hormirzad.

1612 the Portuguese occupied the city and gave it the name Comorão. 1615 succeeded the Safavid Shah Abbas I, with the support of the British fleet, the island of Hormoz to snatch together with the set up on her port of Portuguese rule. In 1623 he led the port to relocate to the mainland, and gave the city its present name there Bandar Abbas. Sir Thomas Herbert was in his travels in Persia (1627-1629) on the international name of the place with Gamrou, Gomrow or Cummeroon.

Although the city had the main port of the Safavids, they grew slowly. Around 1670 the number of houses was estimated at 1400 to 1500. This fact is mainly due to the poor supply situation with fresh water and food, because of the great heat and drought in the summer in the region no agricultural cultivation was possible.

Nevertheless, the city became the central trading post. The trade with Great Britain, India and the Netherlands was settled over the city's harbor. The spice import from the Netherlands made ​​this with influential trading partners.

Decay

In the course of the survey and the Afghan invasion in 1722 and the end of the Safavid dynasty fell five years later, several thousand Baloch ago via Bandar Abbas and looted large sections of the trading facilities. 1736 established the Afschariden Dynasty, the first Shah Nadir Shah Bandar Abbas was ignored and instead Bushehr built into the most important port city, which was closer to the major cities of Shiraz and Isfahan. Until 1762 even left the city, the British and Dutch factories and offices.

Bandar Abbas now fell into the hands of the Omani sultans, who allowed the British East India Company to enter the city. 1868 took over the Qajar control of Bandar Abbas. The city was devastated during this time of cholera, yet again maritime trade developed over the harbor. Main trading partners were again India and Britain, the British Consulate in 1900 reopened.

Resurgence

In the 20th century, the economy recovered by a slow start. Under Reza Shah Pahlavi, a mill and a fish processing plant in Bandar Abbas were built. The population continued to grow slowly. It is estimated in 1928 of 20,000, 15,000 or 11,000 in 1937 by and 1956 of 17,710 residents. The majority of the inhabitants of the city were Shiites.

1964, the construction of a new port was decided 8 km southwest of the city center, which was opened in 1967. The port was fast becoming a major hub for ore from the region. Already in 1973 were shipped 300,000 gross registered tons. Also in 1973 Bandar Abbas was connected to a headquarters of the Iranian Navy and to the motorway network in the country.

1966, a new television building was built in the style of the local architecture, which later received an architectural award of the Aga Khan Foundation. Planning and coordination had taken over the office of Farah Pahlavi.

With the economic recovery and the new political importance, the population rose rapidly. In 1966 around 34,000 people lived in Bandar Abbas, 10 years later, there were already nearly 90,000, only the region around the capital Tehran had higher growth rates.

In the 1990s, ran 75 % of imports from the Persian Gulf through the port at Bandar Abbas.

Climate

Bandar Abbas is a popular winter destination of Iranians since the winter temperatures at a pleasant 25 ° to 28 ° C. on the day, while they certainly can rise up to 49 ° C in summer. In addition, then comes an unbearable sultriness.