HORMOZGAN

ostan (province), southern Iran, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman on the south and bounded by the ostans of Bushehr and Fars on the west and northwest, Kerman on the east and northeast, and Sistan-e Baluchestan on the southeast. It covers an area of 25,819 sq mi (66,870 sq km). The province was named after Hormuz, an 8th-century principality on the Rudkhaneh-ye (stream) Minab, later abandoned for a new site, subsequently named Hormuz, on the island of Jarun. Bandar 'Abbas, the capital of the ostan, was founded by 'Abbas I the Great in 1622 and was conceded with the adjoining territory to the Sultan of Muscat (Oman) in 1793; it remained part of this sultanate until 1868. The region was controlled by the South Persia Rifles, organized by Major Percy Sykes as a counter to the Russians, during World War I. Hormozgan was part of former Banader va Jazayer-e Khalij-e Fars va Darya-ye 'Oman ostan until the mid-1970s. Forming part of the wider physiographic region of Tangistan, the Zagros highlands in Hormozgan rise from the Persian Gulf with no intervening coastal plain. Ridges front much of the coast and have produced a coastline with few indentations. Farther east, near Bandar 'Abbas, are numerous salt domes; some reach altitudes of 4,000 ft (1,200 m). The main streams are the Minab and the Kui, whose small size and deeply indented valleys have reduced the possibility of irrigated agriculture and the occurrence of natural pastures. There is cultivation of barley, wheat, rice, tobacco, indigo plants, dates, mangoes, and vegetables. Goats, sheep, and camels are raised. Development of Bandar 'Abbas as a major port in the 1970s led to the establishment of many industries, including a cement unit, electricity-generation plant, a steel mill and desalination plant, food-processing units, and fisheries. Salt, iron ore, copper, and sulfur are mined. Roads emanate from Bandar 'Abbas and connect it with ports on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; a railway route links it with the Trans-Iranian Railway at Kerman. Pop. (1983 est.) 568,000.