Ahvāz

Ahvāz, city in southwestern Iran, the administrative center of Khūzestān (Khuzistan) Province. Ahvāz is one of Iran’s largest cities and the center of the region’s oil industry. It is located at the confluence of the Kārūn and Shatt al Arab rivers on the lowland plain of Khūzestān.

Ahvāz has long served as a shipping hub for river traffic and is also a regional center for air, highway, and rail transportation. Since oil was discovered near Ahvāz in 1980, the oil industry has been central to the city’s economy. Ahvāz is a major supply and distributing center for the oil fields that lie to the north and for several oil pipelines that pass through the city. Manufactures produced in the city include processed foods and textiles. Educational institutions in Ahvāz include Shahid Chamran University and a branch of the private Islamic Free University. Although the city dates from ancient times, virtually no historical monuments have survived due to damage inflicted during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).

A city existed on the site of present-day Ahvāz as early as 400 bc. Under the Sassanid dynasty, which ruled Persia from 224 to 651 ad, Ahvāz flourished as a regional trade center, in part because of irrigated sugarcane plantations located around the city. In 638 an Arab Muslim army conquered the city, which had been known by various names previously, and named it Ahvāz. The city prospered during the early Muslim era (mid-7th century to 12th century), when it became known as a silk manufacturing center. However, in the 13th and 14th centuries, Mongol invaders took control of Iran and caused general disorder in the region, initiating the city’s decline. During this time, Ahvāz’s dam on the Kārūn River, which was essential for irrigation, was destroyed. This had a disastrous effect on agriculture, especially the sugarcane industry. By the mid-19th century the city had deteriorated to little more than a large village.

Ahvāz underwent a major revival beginning in 1888, when three events stimulated redevelopment of the city. First, the Kārūn River was reopened to ship-borne trade after a lapse of centuries, allowing Ahvāz to reassume its former role as a shipping center. Second, oil was discovered in 1908 near Masjed-e Soleymān, about 75 km (about 45 mi) northeast of Ahvāz. This discovery spurred the development of Ahvāz as a supply center for the oil fields and as a pipeline hub for distributing oil to cargo ships in the nearby city of Khorramshahr and the oil refinery in Ābādān. The third event that contributed to the revitalization of Ahvāz was the extension of the Trans-Iranian Railroad from Tehrān to Ahvāz in 1929. The railway helped accelerate Ahvāz’s industrialization, which attracted heavy migration to the city.

Ahvāz was the site of several mass demonstrations against the shah (king) of Iran during the 1978-1979 Islamic Revolution. The revolution culminated in the overthrow of Iran’s monarchy and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. During the Iran-Iraq War, which began in 1980, Ahvāz was close to the war front and was a major staging area for Iranian military forces. The city was subjected regularly to Iraqi aerial bombing, missile attacks, and long-range shelling. Most of the city’s factories, businesses, and public buildings, as well as about half of its residences, sustained damage. After the cease-fire in 1988, Ahvāz’s role as a regional transportation hub enabled it to become the center for the government’s major reconstruction program in Khūzestān, the province most devastated by the war. The reconstruction activities stimulated a new wave of migration to the city. Population (1996 estimate) 804,980.