Hormozgān

Hormozgān, ostān (province), southern Iran, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman on the south and bounded by the ostāns of Būshehr and Fārs on the west and northwest, Kermān on the east and northeast, and Sīstān-e Balūchestān on the southeast. The province was named after Hormuz, an 8th-century principality on the Rūdkhāneh-ye (stream) Mīnāb, later abandoned for a new site, subsequently named Hormuz, on the island of Jarun. Bandar ʿAbbās, the capital of the ostān, was founded by ʿAbbās I the Great in 1622 and was conceded with the adjoining territory to the Sulṭān 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. Hormozgān was part of former Banāder va Jazāyer-e Khalīj-e Fārs va Daryā-ye ʾOmān ostān until the mid-1970s.

Forming part of the wider physiographic region of Tangistān, the Zagros highlands in Hormozgān 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 ʿAbbās, are numerous salt domes; some reach altitudes of 4,000 feet (1,200 metres). The main streams are the Mīnāb 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 ʿAbbās 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 ʿAbbās 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 Kermān. Area 25,819 square miles (66,870 square km). Pop. (2006) 1,403,674.