Persian Gulf National Day ( fa, روز ملی خلیج فارس) is an official holiday in

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 ...

observed on the 10th day of

Ordibehesht Ordibehesht‌ or Ardibehesht ( fa, اردیبهشت, ) is the second month of the Solar Hijri calendar, which is used officially in Iran and Afghanistan. It has 31 days and spans the months of April and May in the Gregorian calendar. The Afghan ...

, the second month in the

Iranian calendar The Iranian calendars or Iranian chronology ( fa, گاه‌شماری ایرانی, ) are a succession of calendars invented or used for over two millennia in Iran, also known as Persia. One of the longest chronological records in human history, ...

. This usually coincides with 29 or 30 April of the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

. The purpose of this holiday is to celebrate the history, name, and significance of the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

. The holiday commemorates the day that combined forces of the

Safavid Empire Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

and the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

captured Ormuz expelled the Portuguese from the

Strait of Hormuz The Strait of Hormuz ( fa, تنگه هرمز ''Tangeh-ye Hormoz'' ar, مَضيق هُرمُز ''Maḍīq Hurmuz'') is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the ...

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Background

The Persian Gulf, in

Western Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

, is an extension of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

located between

and the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...

.United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Name
Working Paper No. 61
23rd Session, Vienna, 27 March – 4 April 2006. accessed October 9, 2010 The ''

Tehran Times The ''Tehran Times'' is an English-language daily newspaper. Ayatollah Mohammad Hossein Beheshti, second in line in the political hierarchy following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, stated: "''Tehran Times'' is not a state-owned newspaper, rathe ...

'' notes that the term Persian Gulf and its translations have been used since earlier than 400 BC in many languages, and especially in the

Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

. On almost all the maps printed before 1960 and in most modern international treaties, documents and plans, this water basin is known as the "Persian Gulf". The 10th day of

has been designated as the Persian Gulf National Day to commemorate the historic victory and also serves as a reminder of the real name of the Persian Gulf. The establishment of National Persian Gulf Day was a response to the movement among

pan-Arabists Pan-Arabism ( ar, الوحدة العربية or ) is an ideology that espouses the unification of the countries of North Africa and Western Asia from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, which is referred to as the Arab world. It is closely c ...

to rename the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf.

The Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

officially recognized the name Arabian Gulf in 1964, but most international bodies, including the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

and International Hydrographic Organization use the term Persian Gulf.

Arab states of the Persian Gulf The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. ...

largely use the term Arabian Gulf. The United States use the term Persian Gulf, though the practice of the

United States Fifth Fleet The Fifth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It has been responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean since 1995 after a 48-year hiatus. It shares a commander and headq ...

, based in Bahrain, is to use the preferred term of the host nation. Iran established Persian Gulf National Day in 2005. The day is marked with various ceremonies in

, especially in the coastal cities of the

. The date commemorates the Anglo-Persian capture of Ormuz in 1622 which drove

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

colonial forces out of the

. The Postal Service of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has issued a series of stamps commemorating "the national day of Persian Gulf". Periplous of the Erythraean Sea

Anglo-Persian conquest of Hormuz

In the Persian–Portuguese war,

Safavid Iran Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

and the

challenged

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and The Kingdom of Ormus for supremacy in the Persian Gulf. In 1602, the Safavid army under the command of Imam-Quli Khan expelled the Portuguese from

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

. In 1612, the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...

took the city of Gamrūn and transliterated the name to Comorão. Almost two years later (in 1615), Comorão was taken by 'Abbās the Great after a naval battle with the Portuguese and renamed ''Bandar-e' Abbās'', or "Port of 'Abbās". In 1622, with the help of four English ships, Shah Abbas and Persians took Hormuz from the Portuguese in the

Capture of Ormuz (1622) The Capture of Ormuz (Persian: بازپس گیری هرمز) was a combined Anglo-Persian expedition that successfully captured the Portuguese garrison at Hormuz Island after a ten-week siege, thus opening up Persian trade with England in the P ...

Registration as a day of National Heritage

In 2010, traditional naval documentation of the Persian Gulf was registered on Iran's National Heritage List. The decision was made by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft Organization and presided over by former vice President

Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei ( fa, اسفندیار رحیم‌مشایی; born 16 November 1960) is an Iranian conservative politician and former intelligence officer. As a senior Cabinet member in the administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, ...

, to register the day as a day of national heritage. The campaign launched by individual Arab states to rename the Persian Gulf which drove this decision. The Iranian postal authority has issued a series of stamps commemorating the day.Documents on the Persian Gulf's name Dr.Mohammad Ajam
/ref> In October 2018, the

WIPO The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishin ...

, the

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

agency of the UN, certified Persian Gulf Pearl based on the Lisbon Agreement. According to the agreement, based on

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

, no country, government, or organization can use another name to refer to the Persian Gulf Pearl brand.

References

{{Reflist

External links

*
Interview with the proposer of the Persian Gulf National Day
*Documents on the Persian Gulf's nam

*Documents on the Persian Gulf's nam

* more Maps and documents from the book

32 historical map of Persian gulf
from the Documents on the Persian Gulf's name. *france24:Al-Janabi"it has been called the Persian Gulf since Alexander the Great

*DEC. 2, 2004 Los AngelesTIMES: Iran's Anger Over a New Map Magnifies a Perception Gu

Persian culture April observances Spring (season) events in Iran National days in Iran Persian Gulf

Background

Anglo-Persian conquest of Hormuz

Registration as a day of National Heritage

See also

References

External links