Abadan (; ) is a city in the Central District of Abadan County,

Khuzestan Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahvaz. Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's ...

province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. The city is in the southwest of the county. It lies on Abadan Island ( long, 3–19 km or 2–12 miles wide). The island is bounded in the west by the Arvand waterway and to the east by the

Bahmanshir The Bahmanshir channel (, ) is a secondary estuary of the Karun River that parallels the Shatt al-Arab/Arvand Rud waterway on the far side of the Abadan Island, Iran, for 70 miles before emptying into the Persian Gulf. The Bahamanshir served ...

outlet of the

Karun River The Karun (, ) is the Iranian river with the highest water flow, and the country's only navigable river. It is long. The Karun rises in the Zard Kuh mountains of the Bakhtiari district in the Zagros Range, receiving many tributaries, such as ...

(the Arvand Rood), from the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

, near the Iran–Iraq border. Abadan is 140 km from the provincial capital city of

Ahvaz Ahvaz (; ) is a city in the Central District of Ahvaz County, Khuzestan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is home to Persians, Arabs and other groups such as Qashqai and Kurds. Languages spok ...

Etymology

The earliest mention of the island of Abadan, if not the port itself, is found in the works of the Greek geographer

Marcian Marcian (; ; ; 392 – 27 January 457) was Roman emperor of the Byzantine Empire, East from 450 to 457. Very little is known of his life before becoming emperor, other than that he was a (personal assistant) who served under the commanders ...

, who renders the name "Apphadana". Earlier, the classical geographer

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

notes "Apphana" as an island off the mouth of the

Tigris The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...

(which is where the modern Island of Abadan is located). An

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

for this name is presented by B. Farahvashi to be derived from the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

word "ab" (water) and the root "pā" (guard, watch) thus "coastguard station"). In Islamic times, a pseudo-etymology was produced by the historian

Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Baladhuri ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī () was a 9th-century West Asian historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and enjoyed great influence at the court of the caliph al-M ...

(d. 892), quoting a folk story that the town was presumably founded by one "Abbad bin Hosayn" from the Arabian Tribe of

Banu Tamim The Banū Tamīm () are an Arab tribe that originated in Najd and Hejaz in the Arabian Peninsula. It is mainly present in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Jordan and Lebanon, and has a strong presence in Algeria, and Morocco, Palestine, ...

, who established a garrison there during the governorship of ''Hajjaj'' in the

Ummayad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

period. In the subsequent centuries, the Persian version of the name had begun to come into general use before it was adopted by official decree in 1935.

History

Abadan is thought to have been further developed into a major port city under the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

s' rule. The city was then a commercial source of salt and woven

mat A mat is a hard or soft floor covering that generally is placed on a floor or other flat surface. Mats serve a range of purposes including: * serving to clean items passed over it, such as a doormat, which removes dirt from the soles of shoe ...

s. The

siltation Siltation is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary o ...

of the river delta forced the town further away from water; In the 14th century, however,

Ibn Battutah Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, Ibn ...

described Abadan just as a small port in a flat salty plain. Politically, Abadan was often the subject of dispute between the nearby states. In 1847, Persia acquired it from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in which state Abadan has remained since. From the 17th century onward, the island of Abadan was part of the lands of the

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

''Ka'ab'' ( Bani Kaab) tribe. One section of the tribe, ''Mohaysen'', had its headquarters at ''Mohammara'' (now Khorramshahr), until the removal of Shaikh Khaz'al Khan in 1924. It was not until the 20th century that rich oil fields were discovered in the area. On 16 July 1909, after secret negotiation with the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

consul,

Percy Cox Major-general (United Kingdom), Major-General Sir Percy Zachariah Cox, (20 November 1864 – 20 February 1937) was a British Indian Army officer and Colonial Office administrator in the Middle East. He was one of the major figures in the creati ...

, assisted by

Arnold Wilson Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson (18 July 1884 – 31 May 1940) was a British soldier, colonial administrator, Conservative politician, writer and editor. Wilson served under Percy Cox, the colonial administrator of Mesopotamia ( Mandatory Iraq) dur ...

, and Sheik Khaz'al agreed to a rental agreement for the island, including Abadan. The Sheik continued to administer the island until 1924. The

Anglo-Persian Oil Company The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC; ) was a British company founded in 1909 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Persia (Iran). The British government purchased 51% of the company in 1914, gaining a controlling numbe ...

built their first pipeline terminus

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...

in Abadan, starting in 1909 and completing it in 1912, with oil flowing by August 1912 (see Abadan Refinery). Refinery throughput numbers rose from 33,000 tons in 1912–1913 to 4,338,000 tons in 1931. By 1938, it was the largest in the world. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Abadan was the site of brief combat between Iranian forces and British and Indian troops during the

Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, also known as the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Persia, was the joint invasion of the neutral Imperial State of Iran by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union in August 1941. The two powers announced that they w ...

. Alanbrooke wrote in August 1942 that everything depends on the oil from Abadan, as "if we lost ersian oilit could not be made good from America because of the shortage of tankers ... we inevitably lost Egypt, command of the Indian Ocean, and endangered the whole India Burma situation". Later, Abadan was a major logistics centre for

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft) * 28 naval vessels: ** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign) * ...

aircraft being sent to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1951, Iran nationalised all oil properties and refining ground to a stop on the island. Rioting broke out in Abadan, after the government had decided to nationalise the oil facilities, and three British workers were killed. It was not until 1954, after the British-American led coup they overthrew the democratically elected government, that a settlement was reached, which allowed a consortium of international oil companies to manage the production and refining on the island. That continued until 1973, when the NIOC took over all facilities. After the total nationalisation, Iran focused on supplying oil domestically and built a pipeline from Abadan to

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. Abadan was not a major cultural or religious centre, but it played an important role in the

Islamic Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Im ...

. On 19 August 1978, the anniversary of the US-backed

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

that had overthrown the nationalist and popular Iranian prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh, the Cinema Rex, a movie theatre in Abadan, was set ablaze. The Cinema Rex Fire caused 430 deaths, but more importantly, it was another event that kept the Islamic Revolution moving ahead. At the time, there was much confusion and misinformation about the perpetrators of the incident. The public largely put the blame on the local police chief and also the Shah and SAVAK. The reformist ''Sobh-e Emrooz'' newspaper in one of its editorials revealed that the Cinema Rex was burned down by radical Islamists. The newspaper was shut down immediately afterwards. Over time, the true culprits, radical Islamists, were apprehended, and the logic behind this act was revealed, as they were trying both to foment the general public to distrust the government even more, and perceived cinema as a link to the Americans. The fire was one of four during a short period in August, with other fires in

Mashhad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...

, Rizaiya, and

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

. In September 1980, Abadan was almost overrun during a surprise attack on Khuzestan by Iraq, marking the beginning of the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

. For 11 months, Abadan was besieged and faced Iraqi artillery and aerial bombardments, but was never captured, by Iraqi forces, and in September 1981, the Iranians broke the siege of Abadan. Much of the city, including the oil refinery, which was the world's largest refinery with a capacity of 628,000 barrels per day, was badly damaged or destroyed by the siege and by bombing. Prior to the war, the city's civilian population was about 300,000, but at the war's end nearly the entire populace had sought refuge elsewhere in Iran. After the war, the biggest concern was the rebuilding of Abadan's oil refinery, as it was operating at 10% of capacity due to damage. In 1993, the refinery began limited operation and the port reopened. By 1997, the refinery reached the same rate of production as before the war. Recently, Abadan has been the site of major labour activity as workers at the oil refineries in the city have staged walkouts and strikes to protest non-payment of wages and the political situation in the country. File:Exploded tank, remains in Abadan as symbol of Iran–Iraq War.jpg, The burnt-out shell of an Iraqi

T-54/55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet medium tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2 ...

tank, now a monument to the

., alt= File:Abadan ruin.jpg, Ruins of a building in Abadan, which had suffered serious damages during the Iran–Iraq War (1980–88), including by Saddam's deadly chemical weapons. File:Pictures From Iran E5329.jpg, Pictures From Iran E5329 File:Shah visits AbadanPetrochemical.jpg, Mohammad Reza Shah visits Abadan Petrochemical File:Outdoor cinema in Abadan, Iran, 1960s.jpg, Outdoor cinema in Abadan, 1960s

Recent events

To honor the 100th anniversary of the refining of oil in Abadan, city officials are planning an oil museum. The Abadan oil refinery was featured on the reverse side of Iran's 100-rial banknotes printed in 1965 and from 1971 to 1973. Abadan today has been declared as a free zone city.

Population

The civilian population of the city almost disappeared during the eight years of the

(1980–1988). The 1986 census recorded only 6 people. In 1991, 84,774 people had returned to live in the city. By 2001, the population had jumped to 206,073; the 2006 census put it at 217,988 people in 48,061 households. The following census in 2011 counted 212,744 people in 55,318 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 231,476 people in 66,470 households. Abadan Refinery is one of the largest in the world. Only 9% of managers (of the oil company) were from Khuzestan. The proportion of natives of

, the Caspian,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, and

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

rose from 4% of

blue collar A blue-collar worker is a person who performs manual labor or skilled trades. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involve manufacturing, retail, warehousing, mining, carpentry, electrical work, custodia ...

workers to 22% of white collar workers from Esfhan and shiraz to 45% of managers, thus

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

-speakers were concentrated on the lower rungs 4% of the work force. In general, Abadan is a city with a majority of the Persian population over 60% who have been influenced by Arabic culture, and the rest of the Azeri population is Kurds and... the native Arabic population is 4%-5% managers tended to be brought in from some distance. There is also a single Armenian church in the centre of the city, Saint Garapet church.

Language

The linguistic composition of the city:

Geography

Climate

The climate in Abadan is

arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''BWh'') and similar to

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

's, but slightly hotter due to Abadan's lower latitude. Summers are dry and extremely hot, with temperatures above almost daily and temperatures above can be almost common. Abadan is notably one of the few hottest populated places on earth and experiences a few sand and dust storms per year. Winters are mildly wet and spring-like, though subject to cold spells with night frost. However, winters in Abadan have no snow. Winter temperatures are around . The world's highest unconfirmed temperature was a temperature flare up during a heat burst in June 1967, with a temperature of . The lowest recorded temperature in the city range is . which was recorded on 20 January 1964 and 3 February 1967 while the highest is , recorded on 11 July 1951, 9 August 1981 and 5 August 2022.

Economics and education

The Abadan Institute of Technology was established in Abadan in 1939. The school specialized in engineering and petroleum

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

, and was designed to train staff for the refinery in town. The school's name has since changed several times, but since 1989 has been considered a branch campus of the

Petroleum University of Technology The Petroleum University of Technology () is an Iranian public university funded by the Ministry of Petroleum particularly by its main company, the NIOC. It was founded in 1939 in Abadan in response to the increasing industrialization of Iran ...

, centred in

. Abadan University of Medical Sciences, It was founded by Ministry of Health and Medical Education in September 1941 as a Nursing Faculty and in 2012 it became an independent faculty of medical school. Program study of this school is similar to curriculum that applies most Iranian medical faculties. Abadan was chosen for constructing a refinery because of its strategic position and proximity to other resources. The Abadan Refinery construction project started in 1909 and its operation began in 1962 by a production capacity of 2500 barrels per day. There is an international

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

in Abadan. It is represented by the

IATA airport code An IATA airport code, also known as an IATA location identifier, IATA station code, or simply a location identifier, is a unique three-letter geocode designating many airports, cities (with one or more airports) and metropolitan areas (citie ...

ABD. There is a large amount of external investment from

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

n countries that are building oil refineries and developing a lot of real estate. Today, Abadan is known for its lively fish market where locals buy fresh catch of the day used in the many delicious seafood dishes of the city. Abadan is also part of the Arvand Free Zone, a 155 square kilometer industrial and security zone.Abadan city Book. 187.1.1

Major corporations

* Abadan Oil Refining Co. * Abadan Petrochemical Company * Afra Arvand * Homa Chemistry * Iranol Oil Company * KPC Karun * Pars Opal Co. * Pasargad Oil * Shirin Diar Arvand Co. * Tam Arvand Machine * U-PVC Novin * Vina Naghsh Industrial Group * Yekta Tahviyeh Arvand Co.

Universities

* Abadan University of Medical Sciences * Islamic Azad University of Abadan * MehrArvand University *

* PNU of Abadan

Main sights

Bridges

* Bahmanshir Bridge at Istgah-e Haft * Imam Reza Cable Bridge

Mosques

* Rangooniha Mosque

Museums

* Abadan Museum * Historical and Handwritten Documents Museum * Abadan Gasoline House Museum * Oil Museum of Abadan

Church

* St. Karapet Armenian Church

Cinema

* Cinema Naft * Shirin Movie Theater

Notable people

* Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh – football player * Sussan Babaie – art historian * Patrik Baboumian – strongman * Mohsen Bayatinia – football player *

Najaf Daryabandari Najaf Daryabandari (; 23 August 1929 – 4 May 2020) was an Iranian writer and translator of works from English into Persian. Career Najaf was the son of Captain Khalaf Daryabandari, one of the first marine pilots of Iran. The Iranian Merchant ...

– writer * Parviz Dehdari – football coach * Firoozeh Dumas – writer * Bizhan Emkanian – actor * Hamid Farrokhnezhad – actor *

Bahman Golbarnezhad Bahman Golbarnezhad (, 12 June 1968 – 17 September 2016) was an Iranian Paralympic racing cyclist competing in C4 classification events and an earlier powerlifter. During his powerlifting career, he won twelve gold medals and one silver medal ...

– paralympic racing cyclist * Farhad Hasanzadeh – poet * Mehdi Hasheminasab – football player * Hossein Kanaanizadegan – football player * Abdolhassan Kazemi – retired football player * Mojahed Khaziravi – football player * Martik – singer * Gholam Hossein Mazloumi – football coach * Parviz Mazloumi – football coach * Manouchehr Mohammadi – film producer * Amir Naderi – director * Hossein Nassim – water polo coach * Abie Nathan – peace activist * Zoya Pirzad – writer * Hamid Rashidi – lawyer * Nasser Taghvai – director * Hossein Vafaei – snooker player * Cyma Zarghami – TV producer

Transportation

By plane

The city is served by Abadan-Ayatollah Jami International Airport with flights on various commercial airlines.

By train

The nearest railway station is in Khorramshahr, about 10 km north of Abadan. Daytime trains from

as well as overnight trains from Tehran and Mashhad are available.

Sport

Sanat Naft Abadan F.C., is a football club currently in the Iranian Football Premier League. Takhti Stadium, the main stadium is the city and the team.

Sister cities

Karamay Karamay (also spelled Karamai) is a prefecture-level city in the north of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. It is surrounded on all sides by Tacheng Prefecture. The name of the city comes from the Uyghur langu ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Borujerd Borujerd (; ) is a city in the Central District (Borujerd County), Central District of Borujerd County, Lorestan province, Lorestan province in western Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Borujerd is also known as ( ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Taormina Taormina ( , , also , ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on the Ionian Sea, incl ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

Notes

Explanatory notes

Citations

General and cited references

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Amateur Astronomers Association of Abadan

Abadan Oil Refinery
– Home page (Persian only)

Petroleum University of Technology
(Abadan)
Abadan Social Network

Abadan Network

VISTA Internet Cafe
{{Authority control Arab settlements in Khuzestan province Cities in Khuzestan province Populated places in Abadan County Shatt al-Arab basin