BANDAR-E BUSHEHR

also called Bushehr, Bushir, Bushire, or Bushahr, port city, southwestern Iran. It 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-e Bushehr rose to prominence during the reign of Nader 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 Khomeyni (formerly Bandar-e Shahpur). 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 Tehran by air and by road via Shiraz and Esfahan. 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. Pop. (1986) 120,787; (1991) 132,824.