Bandar Abbas
(2002 pop. 321,000). Located on the Persian side of the Strait of Hormuz, Bandar Abbas is the major port in southeastern Iran. Its population is mainly a mixture of Arabs and Persians. The fortunes of the early town, known as Jarrun, were closely linked with the nearby island of Hormuz. Attracted by its strategic location at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, the Portuguese captured Hormuz and Jarrun in the early sixteenth century.
In 1623, after expelling the Portuguese, the Safavid Shah ʿAbbas I (1571–1629) renamed the port after himself. Determined to make it the preeminent port of his empire, he granted favorable terms to merchants, particularly the English. After a century of unrivaled prosperity Bandar Abbas declined after the Safavid dynasty collapsed in 1722. The establishment of Bushire as Persia's new port further reduced Bandar Abbas's importance, and from 1793 to 1868 it was leased to the ruler of Oman. The modern establishment of road and rail links encouraged some growth, but it was not until the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) that important development took place. Its distance from the battlefields led to major investment in infrastructure development. Recently an oil and gas refinery and a shipbuilding yard were added to its existing cotton mill and fish-canning plant.
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