Bushehr City

Bushehr is located in a vast plain running along the coastal region. The capital city being Bandar-e-Bushehr or the 'Port of Bushehr'. This port is at a distance of 1,218 km. from Tehran, and has a hot, humid climate. Since the past, this port has been one of the important ones in Persian Gulf which has an international airport too. During the 1st and 2nd Millennium BC., 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 Shoosh. These structures of "Rey Shahr' are said to be related to Ardeshir Sassanide 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.

This port city lies near the head of the Persian Gulf at the northern end of a flat and narrow peninsula that is connected with the mainland by tidal marshes. Bandar Bushehr rose to prominence during the reign of Nadir Shah when he established a naval base there in 1734 to control the periphery of the Persian Gulf. In the 1780s the English and Dutch East India companies transferred their trading posts to Bushehr from Bandar-e Abbas. It became the seat of a British political resident in the 19th century and of several European consulates.

Its commercial importance declined with the development by the Iranian government in the 1960s and 70s of Khorramshahr as the principal port for the Persian Gulf. Bandar-e Bushehr continues to serve as a port, though it is eclipsed by Bandar-e Abbas and Bandar-e Imam Khomeyni (formerly Bandar-e Shahpour).

Bandar-e Bushehr has a deep but exposed outer anchorage and an inner one. It is connected by road to Bandar-e Khomeyni, Bandar-e Abbas, and other cities; it is also linked to Tehrān by air and by road via Shiraz and Esfahan (Isfahan). Bandar-e Bushehr is now a regional centre for oil distribution, has a degree-granting college, and is a fisheries centre. The establishment of a thermoelectric power plant there encouraged the growth of food-processing and engineering industries. Dried fruits, gums, rugs, and raw cotton are exported. The city suffered extensive damage in the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s but was largely rebuilt in the 1990s.