Konarak ( fa, کنارک, also

Romanize Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, an ...

d as Konārak and Kenārak; also known as Kūmārak and Kunārak) is a city in and the capital of

Konarak County Konarak County ( fa, شهرستان کنارک) is in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Ira ...

, Sistan and Baluchestan Province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. At the 2006 census, its population was 28,685, in 6,044 families. It is situated in the western coast of Chabahar Bay, facing

Chabahar Port Chabahar Port ( fa, بندر چابهار) is a seaport in Chabahar located in southeastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman. It serves as Iran's only oceanic port, and consists of two separate ports named ''Shahid Kalantari'' and ''Shahid Beheshti'', ...

to the East, on the Makran coast on the Gulf of Oman, about 50 km West of the Iran-Pakistan coastal border line. Like in nearby

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

province, the overwhelming majority of the city's inhabitants are ethnic Baloch who speak the

Balochi language Balochi or Baluchi () is an Iranian language spoken primarily in the Balochistan region of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. In addition, there are speakers in Oman, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Turkmenistan, East Africa and in diaspor ...

Konarak Airport Chabahar\Konarak International Airport ( fa, فرودگاه بین المللی کنارک/چابهار) is an international airport located in 49 kilometers west of the city of Chabahar, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran, in Konarak. The ...

is a military airbase (see below), which also has civilian flights.

Military Bases

Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed (May, 1941–1964) was an American Thoroughbred gelding race horse who was the American Horse of the Year in 1947 and Champion Older Male Horse in both 1946 and 1947. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in ...

(army, navy, air force) have established bases in Konarak for a long time — the construction of which started in the 1970s — before the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

, with the support of Western engineering, construction and logistics firms such as

Brown & Root KBR, Inc. (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) is a U.S. based company operating in fields of science, technology and engineering. KBR works in various markets including aerospace, defense, industrial and intelligence. After Halliburton acquired Dres ...

. The Iranian Navy also has a related base in Pasabandar, further East and very close to the border with Pakistan. The support vessel ''Konarak'' was named in the city's honour; the ''Konarak'' was destroyed in a 2020 accident.

References

Populated places in Konarak County Cities in Sistan and Baluchestan Province {{Konarak-geo-stub