Bushehr
Encyclopedia
Bushehr is a port city and capital of Hormozgān Province on...
and Chabahar
Chabahar
Chah Bahar is a city in and capital of Chah Bahar County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. Chah Bahar is a free port on the coast of the Gulf of Oman. At the 2006 census, its population was 71,070, in 13,837 families...
port complex.
History
To the south of the present city, at Reesheer/Reeshehr, are the remains of an earlier ElamElam
Elam was an ancient civilization located in what is now southwest Iran. Elam was centered in the far west and the southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of Khuzestan and Ilam Province, as well as a small part of southern Iraq...
ite (c 3000 BCE) settlement.
In the 5th century AD, Bushehr was the seat of the Nestorian Christian
Nestorianism
Nestorianism is a Christological doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428–431. The doctrine, which was informed by Nestorius's studies under Theodore of Mopsuestia at the School of Antioch, emphasizes the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus...
expansion into southern Iran.
In 1737 the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
opened a trading post in Bushehr, which lasted until 1753.
In 1763 the Arab ruler of Bushehr Sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
Nasr Al-Madhkur
Nasr Al-Madhkur
Sheikh Nasr Al-Madhkur was the 18th century local governor of what was described by a contemporary account as an "independent state" in Bushire and Bahrain. The account by German geographer Carsten Niebuhr who visited the region at the time describes Sheikh Nasr as "the sole Monarch of the isle of...
granted the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
the right to build a base and trading post there. It was used as a base by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
in the late 18th century. In the 19th century, Bushehr became an important commercial port. It was occupied by British forces in 1856, during the Anglo-Persian War
Anglo-Persian War
The Anglo-Persian War lasted between November 1, 1856 and April 4, 1857, and was fought between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Persia . In the war, the British opposed an attempt by Persia to reacquire the city of Herat...
1856-1857. Bushehr surrendered to the British on December 9, 1856.
It was occupied by the British again in 1915, the second time due to German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
intrigue, most notably by Wilhelm Wassmuss
Wilhelm Wassmuss
Wilhelm Wassmuss was a German diplomat, also known as the "Wassmuss of Persia". He attempted to foment trouble for the British in the Persian Gulf in the First World War.- Birth and schooling :...
.
In previous centuries, many Africans settled in Bushehr. Although there is no discernible linguistic influence from Africa in Bushehr, there are cultural and genetic influences.
Industries include fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
and a thermoelectric
Electric power
Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.-Circuits:Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations...
power plant, while the inland area (also called Bushehr) produces Shiraz wine, metalwork, rugs
Rug making
Rug making is an ancient craft, and covers a variety of techniques.-Braided:Braided rugs are made by using three or more strips of fabric, usually wool, folding the raw edges to the middle and braiding them together. For an oval rug the center braid should be one inch longer than the width-length...
and other textiles, cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
, and fertilizer
Fertilizer
Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
. The Iranian navy
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
maintains a base here.
Situation and significance
The strategic location of city of Bushehr has been the main reason for the establishment of the port of Bushehr. During the 1st and 2nd Millennium BCE, the Peninsula of Bushehr was a thriving and flourishing seat of civilization called "Rey Shahr". Many relics have been found in this regard related to the Elamite era and the civilization of Shoush (Susa). These structures of "Rey Shahr" are said to be related to Ardeshir of Sassanid dynasty and "Rey Shahr" was formerly known by the name of Ram Ardeshir. Thereby through the passage of time came to be called Rey Shahr and thence Bushehr.The Persian Gulf and consequently the province of Bushehr enjoys a remarkable situation with trade in addition to its remarkable situation regarding military affairs. For these reasons the Europeans were interested to take control of the region and the city of Bushehr. The Portuguese, invaded the city of Bushehr in 1506 CE and attempted to take the place of the Egyptian and the Vinecian traders who were dominant in the region.
In 1734 Nader Shah of Afsharid dynasty chose it as the site for an Iranian naval base. During the Zand era, the region was a place for political challenges between different political groups. When the Qajar dynasty replaced the Zand dynasty, they gain less control on the region of the Persian Gulf, so the British influence in the region increased gradually.
At the end of the 18th century, the British and Dutch transferred their regional commercial offices to Bushehr, and during the 19th century the town was prominent as the home of the British political agent for the Persian Gulf. The Consulate General of British governed Bushehr for 20 years. This situation had lasted till 1913, and during the long battle between the Iranian and the British troops, the Iranians lost in 1857 and the British influence expanded to include all the Persian Gulf cost. But in 1913 the Iranians won the long battle. Consecuently Britain moved its diplomatic and commercial center across the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Peninsula at the beginning of the 20th century.
The city was economically depressed until the 1960s when the government initiated a major development program. In 1975 the government began building a nuclear power plant at Bushehr. This facility was only partially completed when it was bombed by Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988). When Germany, the initial backer of the plant, declined to complete it after the war, Iran tried to secure aid from other countries. In 1995, however, Russia signed an agreement to finish the plant.
Bushehr is one of the important ports in Persian Gulf which has an international airport
Bushehr Airport
Bushehr Airport is a joint civil and military international airport in Bushehr, Iran.-Airlines and destinations:...
, and highways connect the city to Ahvaz to the northwest and Shiraz to the northeast. A secondary coastal road links Bushehr to Bandar-e Abbas to the southeast. The old section of central Bushehr has many examples of traditional Persian Gulf architecture from the period 1870 to 1920.
Bushehr is an export market for the farm produce of the neighboring and fertile Fars Province. Bushehr's industries include seafood canneries, food-processing plants, and engineering firms. It has a population of 205,320 (2001 estimate).
Nuclear development
Bushehr is twelve kilometres from the site of the Bushehr Nuclear Power PlantBushehr Nuclear Power Plant
The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Iran southeast of the city of Bushehr, between the fishing villages of Halileh and Bandargeh along the Persian Gulf. The plant is located at the junction of three tectonic plates....
being built in cooperation with Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. The work was begun by the Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
firm Kraftwerk-Union A.G., a unit of Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
, which contracted to build two nuclear reactors based on a contract worth $4 to $6 billion, signed in 1975.
Work stopped in January 1979, and Kraftwerk-Union fully withdrew from the project in July 1979, with one reactor 50% complete, and the other reactor 85% complete. They said they based their action on Iran's non-payment of $450 million in overdue payments. The company had received $2.5 billion of the total contract. Their cancellation came following the 1979 Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
. Iran subsequently requested that Siemens finish construction, but Siemens declined. Shortly afterwards Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
invaded Iran and the nuclear programme was stopped until the end of the war. The reactors were damaged by multiple Iraqi air strikes between February 1985 and 1988.
In 1995, Russia signed a contract to supply a light water reactor
Light water reactor
The light water reactor is a type of thermal reactor that uses normal water as its coolant and neutron moderator. Thermal reactors are the most common type of nuclear reactor, and light water reactors are the most common type of thermal reactor...
for the plant (the contract is believed to be valued between $700 million
Million
One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106...
and $1.2 billion USD). The agreement calls for the spent fuel rods to be sent back to Russia for reprocessing.
It has been reported that Russia has ordered Iran's first nuclear power station to be started up in March 2010 to coincide with the Iranian New Year. One of the unidentified sources said that testing at the plant was going well.
Colleges and universities
- Persian Gulf UniversityPersian Gulf UniversityPersian Gulf University is a university in Bushehr Province of Iran.Established in 1991 as Bushehr University, the university has 7 schools, offering 24 bachelor degrees, and 33 masters degrees and 3 Ph.D degrees.-History:...
- Bushehr University of Medical SciencesBushehr University of Medical SciencesBushehr University of Medical Sciences , is a medical school in Bushehr Province of Iran.Located in the city of Bushehr, the university administers all public hospitals in and around the city of Bushehr.-External links:*...
- Islamic Azad University of Bushehr
- Iran Nuclear Energy College