Hormozgan province

200px|thumb|[[Bandar Abbas International Airport]]

200px|thumb|[[Kish International Airport]]

Hormozgan province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Bandar Abbas.

The province is in the south of the country, in Iran's Region 2 facing Oman, the United Arab Emirates and the Hormuz Straits. Its area is , The province has 14 islands in the Persian Gulf and of coastline.

History

Although Hormozgan is known to have been settled during the Achaemenid era when Nearchus passed through the region, recorded history of the main port of Hormozgan (Bandar‑e Hormoz) begins with Ardashir I of Persia of the Sassanid empire.

The province is said to have been particularly prosperous between 241 BC and 211 BC, but retained a lack of significance with the beginning of the Islamic era.

Marco Polo visited the port of Bandar Abbas in 1272 and 1293. He reported trading in Persian jewelry, ivory and silk of Indochina, and pearls from Bahrain in the bazaar of the port of Hormuz.

In 1497 Europeans landed in the region for the first time, headed by Vasco da Gama. In 1508 the Portuguese, led by Afonso de Albuquerque anchored in the area with seven warships, as part of protecting their interests in Egypt and Venice. The fishing port of Hormuz at the time was considered strategically positioned for commercial interests in the Persian Gulf.

Ismail I who was trying to counter the Ottoman Empire to the west, was unable to save the port from the Portuguese, until Shah Abbas I was finally able to drive them out of the Persian Gulf with the aid of the British. The name of Bandar Abbas comes directly from the name of Shah Abbas I.

The British, meanwhile, were competing for influence in the region with Dutch colonialists, who developed Qeshm Island and dispatched warships to Bandar Abbas to get wet during the final years of Shah Abbas' reign. The British government was unable to defend itself against this attack. With the souring of British and Dutch relations, military tensions grew further in the region. The Dutch finally resorted to moving their base up to Kharg Island.

The Amir of Kharg, Mir Mahna Baloch and Mir Hammal Kalmati with Baloch army expelled the Europeans from Bander Abbas to Karachi, so with the Dutch and other forces at Kharg, the British were firmly in charge of the entire region. Soon Britain took control over the entire Persian Gulf via the British East India Company. The British adopted policy encouraging local autonomy throughout the Persian Gulf to in order to prevent a formidable unified force from threatening their establishments in the gulf. The Omani Emirate of Hormuz later joined a federated Persia.

The strategic importance of the Persian Gulf further increased after World War I with the discovery of oil in the region.

Demographics

Languages

Hormozgan is dominated by a variety of Persian language. Northwest Iranian Balochi is present as well. Arabic, a Semitic language, and Kholosi, an Indic language, are also found among a minority of speakers within the province.

Population

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the province's population was 136,537 people in 30,332 households. There were 157,818 inhabitants in 39,692 households at the following census of 2011. The 2016 census measured the population of the province as 177,641 in 49,366 households.

Administrative divisions

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The population history and structural changes of Hormozgan province's administrative divisions over three consecutive censuses are shown in the following table.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Hormozgan province

! Counties !! 2006|| style="text-align: right;" | — || style="text-align: right;" | 4,000 || style="text-align: right;" | 3,508

| Bastak || style="text-align: right;" | 6,571 || style="text-align: right;" | 8,011 || style="text-align: right;" | 8,049

| Hajjiabad || style="text-align: right;" | 6,244 || style="text-align: right;" | 6,588 || style="text-align: right;" | 6,962

| Jask || style="text-align: right;" | 7,576 || style="text-align: right;" | 5,288 || style="text-align: right;" | 5,888

| Khamir || style="text-align: right;" | 4,754 || style="text-align: right;" | 5,296 || style="text-align: right;" | 5,614

| Minab || style="text-align: right;" | 25,430 || style="text-align: right;" | 23,570 || style="text-align: right;" | 25,922

| Parsian || style="text-align: right;" | 3,736 || style="text-align: right;" | 4,284 || style="text-align: right;" | 5,059

| Qeshm || style="text-align: right;" | 10,388|| style="text-align: right;" | 11,777 || style="text-align: right;" | 14,899

| Rudan || style="text-align: right;" | 10,422 || style="text-align: right;" | 11,854 || style="text-align: right;" | 12,452

| Sirik || style="text-align: right;" | — || style="text-align: right;" | 4,318 || style="text-align: right;" | 4,572

| Total || style="text-align: right;"| 136,537 || style="text-align: right;"| 157,818 || style="text-align: right;"| 177,641

Cities

According to the 2016 census, 97,665 people (nearly 55% of the population of Hormozgan province) live in the following cities: