Bushehr province

Not to be confused with Bushehr County.

For the city, see Bushehr.

Bushehr Province (Persian: استان بوشهر) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the south of the country, with a long coastline on the Persian Gulf. Its capital is the city of Bushehr.

Bushehr province استان بوشهر (Persian)
Province
Location of Bushehr Province within Iran
Coordinates: 28°50′N 50°50′E
Country	Iran
Region	Region 2
Capital	Bushehr
Counties	10
Government
• Governor general	Arsalan Zare (Independent)
Area
• Total	22,743 km2 (8,781 sq mi)
Population  (2016)
• Total	1,163,400
• Density	51.154/km2 (132.49/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+03:30 (IRST)
Main language(s)	Persian, Luri, Arabic and Turkic
HDI (2017)	0.812 very high · 9th

The province was made a part of Region 2 upon the division of the provinces into five regions, solely for coordination and development purposes, on 22 June 2014.

History

The Greeks knew of Bushehr by Mezambria during the battles of Nearchus. A French excavating team however in 1913 determined the origin of Bushehr to date back to the Elamite Empire. A city there, known as Lyan, contained a temple that was designed to protect the compound from naval attacks. Its remains can still be seen today 10 kilometers south of the present city of Bushehr.

Marco Polo describes this region as part of the Persian province of Shabankareh. It contains the village of Saba, Iran where are buried (he was told) the three Magi which visited the Christ Child.

A key turning point in the history of Bor event of significance is known to have taken place in this region until the arrival of the European colonialists in the 16th century.

The Portuguese invaded the city of Bushehr in 1506 and remained there until Shah Abbas Safavi defeated and liberated the Persian Gulf region of their presence. By 1734, Bushehr had once again risen to prominence due to Nader Shah of the Afsharid dynasty, and his military policies in the Persian Gulf.

Political map showing different local tribal regions and alliances in the Bushehr area, 1915

Bushehr was selected by Nader to be the central base of Nader's Naval fleet in the Persian Gulf. He thus changed the name of the city to Bandar e Naderiyeh (Nader's Port). He hired an Englishman by the name of John Elton to help build his fleet. Dutch accounts report his naval fleet to have amounted to 8000-10000 personnel as well as several ship construction installations.

After Nader's death, the Dutch continued to have good commercial relations in Bushehr, until the British made their debut in Bushehr in 1763 by a contract they signed with Karim Khan of the Zand dynasty. By then, the city of Bushehr had become Iran's major port city in the Persian Gulf. By the Qajar era, Britain, Norway, Russia, Italy, France, Germany, and the Ottomans had diplomatic and commercial offices there, with Britain steadily gaining a foothold in the area. Close to 100 British ships are reported to have docked at the port city every year during the Qajar era.

2013 Bushehr earthquake

Main article: 2013 Bushehr earthquake

A strong earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter magnitude scale struck the town of Shonbeh and villages of Shonbeh and Tasuj District in Dashti County of Bushehr province on 9 April 2013, killing at least 37 people.

Demographics

Language

A vast majority of the population speak Persian (mostly the Fars dialect) as first language with a minority of Arabic speakers.

During the Safavid period, some people from the Kurdish Zanganeh tribe moved from Kermanshah to the villages between Ahram and Borazjan and formed a local government in this area, and from that time until the beginning of Qajar, this part of Bushehr province was called Zanganeh bloc. The Zangeneh tribe have largely been assimilated and have adopted the local Persian and Turkic languages and are city-dwellers.

Bushehr linguistic composition

language			percent
Dialects of Fars			67.61%
Arabic			9.59%
New Persian			3.70%
Qashqai			0.65%
Other, mixed			18.45%

Religion

The vast majority of Bushehr's population are Shia Muslims, with a minority of Sunnis comprising 8.5% of the province's population.

Population

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the province's population was 886,490 in 188,762 households. The following census in 2011 counted 1,032,949 people in 246,742 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the province as 1,163,400 inhabitants in 321,826 households.

Administrative divisions

The population history and structural changes of Bushehr province's administrative divisions over three consecutive censuses are shown in the following table.

Bushehr province

Counties	2006	2011	2016
Asaluyeh	—	—	73,958
Bushehr	216,087	258,906	298,594
Dashtestan	222,226	229,425	252,047
Dashti	71,285	77,530	92,319
Deylam	29,079	31,570	34,828
Deyr	48,488	52,523	60,612
Ganaveh	82,937	90,493	102,484
Jam	37,999	51,446	70,051
Kangan	95,113	170,774	107,801
Tangestan	63,276	70,282	76,706
Total	866,490	1,032,949	1,163,400

Cities

According to the 2016 census, 835,955 people (over 71% of the population of Bushehr province) live in the following cities:

City	Population
Ab Pakhsh	18,913
Abdan	6,827
Ahram	15,198
Ali Shahr	23,178
Anarestan	3,400
Asaluyeh	13,557
Baduleh	4,028
Bandar Deylam	25,730
Bandar Ganaveh	73,472
Bandar Kangan	60,187
Bandar Rig	6,252
Bandar Siraf	6,992
Bandar-e Deyr	24,083
Bank	14,126
Bardestan	7,112
Borazjan	110,567
Bord Khun	5,333
Bushehr	223,504
Bushkan	2,135
Choghadak	18,702
Dalaki	6,436
Delvar	4,442
Dowrahak	4,852
Emam Hasan	2,731
Jam	31,436
Kaki	12,119
Kalameh	2,463
Kharg	8,193
Khvormuj	60,942
Nakhl Taqi	18,837
Riz	3,282
Sadabad	8,248
Shabankareh	7,900
Shahrabad	3,787
Shonbeh	2,747
Tang-e Eram	3,242
Vahdatiyeh	11,222

Bushehr today

The coast in Bushehr by the Persian Gulf.

Topological and bathmetery map of Bushehr province

Aside from the revived port city of Bushehr, which is the second main naval port of Iran after Bandar Abbas, Bushehr also has come back recently in the spotlight for three main reasons:

Kharg Island (Khark Island)

Main article: Kharg Island

During the Iran-Iraq war, Iran's major petroleum exporting ports in Khuzestan sustained damages so severe that a second port in Kharg Island was selected to carry on the major responsibility of Iran's petroleum exports, though even Kharg was not immune from Iraqi air raids. As of March 2026, during the 2026 Iran War, Kharg Island continues to be of great strategic significance, carrying up to 90 per cent of Iran's oil exports through its terminal.

Bushehr Nuclear Reactor

Main article: Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant

See also: The Bushehr project of Iran's nuclear program

The Bushehr Light water PWR Nuclear Reactor, designed by Siemens, built by the Russians, is Iran's first Nuclear Power Plant reactor.

The industrial corridor of Asaluyeh

As many as 70,000 foreign engineers and technicians are currently working in this industrial zone 270 kilometers south of the provincial capital. This zone is where the nearby famous South Pars Gas field is located, where Iran has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure. The South Pars Gas field is the world's largest natural gas field.

The Asaluyeh industrial zone is deemed so lucrative that even American companies such as American Allied International Corp and Halliburton have bypassed American sanctions to become somehow involved in the zone.American Allied International Corporation – Assalouyeh

Sports

Football is the most popular sports in Bushehr. Bushehr is home to both famous football teams: Shahin-e Bushehr and Pars Jonoubi jam.

Shahin is one of the oldest soccer team in Iran which has found in 1942. Shahin is one of the most popular teams in current Iranian football league just like Tractor-Sazi from Tabriz.

Sajjad Gharibi (born 19 December 1991) is an Iranian bodybuilder. He was born on Khozestan, Ahwaz, and has lived in Bushehr. He has become famous in world because of his special physique. His musculus volume is extraordinary for his height, 186 cm (6'2" tall), and weight, 180 kg (390 lb). He has looked like The Incredible Hulk character, because of his size, his Iranian fans have called him Iranian Hulk.

Literature

Bushehr has been home to some famous poets. Among them are Faiez Dashti (Dashtestani) (1830–1919) and Manouchehr Atashi. Faiez poems, and Dashti(or Dashtestani) literature in general, resemble Baba Taher's works. Sadeq Chubak, Najaf Daryabandari, and Moniro Ravanipour are among the most prominent writers in the literature of Bushehr.

Attractions

Bandar Gonaveh

The city of Bushehr has 3-star hotels, an airport, and modern amenities. The Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran lists up to 45 sites of historical and cultural significance in the province. Some are listed below:

• Persian Gulf Beach(Bushehr)
• Deje Borazjan
• Kakhe tauke (borazjan)
• Shahzade Ebrahim (Shazabreim)
• Qal'eh Holandiha (The Dutch Castle)
• Mabad Poseidon, (Poseidon's temple)
• Gurestan Bastani (the ancient cemetery)
• Imamzadeh Mir Mohammed Hanifeh
• Aramgah (tomb of) Haj Mohammed Ibrahim Esfahani
• The Old Church of Kharg Island
• Qavam water reservoir
• Qazi House
• Maqbareh (tomb of) the English General
• Shaykh Sadoon Mosque
• The Holy Christ Church
• House of Raies Ali Delvari
• House of Malik
• The ancient site of Ray-Shahr which is located 8 km south of Bushehr.
• Tomb of Abdul mohaymrn
• House Darya Baygui
• House of Dehdashti
• Castle of Khormuj

Colleges and universities

• Persian Gulf University
• Bushehr University of Medical Sciences
• Islamic Azad University of Bushehr
• Islamic Azad University of Borazjan
• Islamic Azad University of Shabankare
• Islamic Azad University of Khormuj
• Islamic Azad University of Khark
• Iran Nuclear Energy College
• Payame Noor University of Bushehr

See also

Media related to Bushehr Province at Wikimedia Commons

External links

• National Petrochemical Company of Iran (archived April 2017)