The roots of the name "Bushehr" are uncertain. It is unlikely that it is derived fromAbū Šahr ("father of the city"), a theory which remains popular. It may be an abbreviation ofBokht-Ardashir ("Ardashir has given"), though this is not backed by conclusive evidence.[5][6][1].
A number of alleged premodern references to Bushehr, including the first made by anArab geographer in 1225, have been disputed as perhaps alluding to the modern city ofReishahr, a harbor 10 km to the south, where archaeological evidence points to the presence of a much older settlement.[5] Reishahr is also most likely equivalent to the town of Mesambria, a place theGreeks knew since the campaign ofNearchus (died 300 BC), and which also has been occasionally identified with Bushehr.[6]
In 1734, the Iranian military commanderNader made Bushehr (then still a minor fishing village) the headquarters of the Persian Gulf fleet that he sought to create.[6][5] This marked the start of Bushehr's rising importance. In order to build a massive warship, Nader even brought heavy wood fromMazandaran's forests, which was 1,000 km away from Bushehr. The shell of this ship drew notice from European travelers for the next 50 years. The naval aspirations of Nader ended when he was murdered in 1747, but Bushehr continued to serve as a prominent port for at least the following 150 years. Between 1737–1753, theDutch East India Company ran a trading facility there.[5]
Aside from Bushehr's strategic significance—being situated 300 km fromShiraz and 600 km from that ofOttoman-ruledBasra—the place offered few benefits and numerous drawbacks. The town and its surrounding area were somewhat shielded by the interior's hilly terrain and narrow gorges, but were still vulnerable to pirate intrusion. In the 19th century, European ships had to dock around four kilometers offshore and transfer freight and passengers through small boats due to the shallow path to both the shoreline and the bay. Despite the numerouswindcatchers on top of the houses, the water in the wells was salty, and the summer heat and humidity were unbearable.[5]
Bushehr soon replacedBandar Abbas as the country's most important commercial port. This was because of Iran's political and economic centre being moved to Shiraz under theZand rulerKarim Khan Zand (r. 1751–1779), who had established his authority in western Iran.[5][6]
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 161,674 people in 25,158 households.[8] The census in 2011 counted 195,222 people in 52,204 households.[9] The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 223,504 people in 63,820 households.[2]
Bushehr has ahot semi-arid climate (Köppen:BSh) with a precipitation pattern resembling aMediterranean climate, albeit it is both too hot and dry for too long to qualify as such, by a wide margin, due to the threshold for hot climates being much higher in terms of required rainfall.
Bushehr is twelve kilometres from the site of theBushehr Nuclear Power Plant being built in cooperation withRussia. The work was begun by theBonn firmKraftwerk Union [de] A.G., a unit ofSiemens AG, which contracted to build two nuclear reactors based on a contract worth $4 to $6 billion, signed in 1975.
Work stopped in January 1979, and Kraftwerk Union fully withdrew from the project in July 1979, with one reactor 50% complete, and the other reactor 85% complete. They said they based their action on Iran's non-payment of $450 million in overdue payments. The company had received $2.5 billion of the total contract. Their cancellation came following the 1979Iranian Revolution. Iran subsequently requested that Siemens finish construction, but Siemens declined. Shortly afterwardIraq invaded Iran and the nuclear programme was stopped until the end of the war. The reactors were damaged by multiple Iraqi airstrikes between March 1984 and 1988.[17]
In 1995, Russia signed a contract to supply alight water reactor for the plant (the contract is believed to be valued between $700million and $1.2billion USD). The agreement calls for the spentfuel rods to be sent back to Russia for reprocessing. The plant started adding electricity to the national grid on 3 September 2011,[18] and was officially opened in a ceremony on 12 September 2011.[citation needed]
^Alsoromanized asBūshehr; also known asAbu Shehr,Abuschehr,Bandar Abu Shehr,Bouchehr,Buschir,Busehr, andBushire; alsoBandar Bushehr andBandar-e-Bushehr (بندر بوشهر), also romanized asBandar Būshehr andBandar-e Būshehr[3]
^Bushehr can be found atGEOnet Names Server, atthis link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3057164" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".
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