thumb|right|250px|[[Anzali Lagoon on the Caspian Sea]]
Bandar-e Anzali (; ) is a city on the Caspian Sea in the Central District of Bandar-e Anzali County in Gilan province, Iran, serving as the capital of both the county and the district.
History
Anzali is an old city in ancient Iran, first settled by the Cadusii. Owing to their pleasant relationship with Cyrus the Great, King of Anshan (Persia), and their military cooperation in Cyrus's founding of the Achaemenian Empire, the Cadusii adopted the name Anshan-e Pars (Ανσνάν in Greek), meaning "the Anshans of Persia".
This word in Middle Persian is Anzalag; a variant Persian form is Anzalazh. Anzali Gulf was a safe harbour for trade ships and fishing boats. It was renamed to Pahlavi in 1935.
In 1919, with the collapse of General Anton Denikin's White Russian army, eighteen of his ships sought refuge in Anzali. On 18 May 1920, a Soviet flotilla of thirteen ships launched a surprise attack on Anzali, capturing the British garrison and the eighteen White Russian ships. This allowed for the establishment of the short-lived Persian Socialist Republic and the Persian Communist Party. Soviet authorities denied responsibility for the attack, blaming the local Russian naval commander for attacking under his own authority.
Demographics
Language
The people of Anzali speak Gilaki and Azerbaijani languages.
The people of Anzali speak Persian as the national language.
Religion
The majority of Anzalis are adherents of Shia Islam, although there is a sizeable Armenian Christian minority.