Ahvaz

For the administrative subdivision, see Ahwaz County.

Ahwaz اهواز
—  city  —
White bridge and the city White bridge and the city
Ahwaz
Coordinates: 31°19′13″N 48°40′09″E
Country	Iran
Province	Khuzestan
County	Ahwaz
Bakhsh	Central
Government
• Mayor	Saeed Mombeini
Elevation	17 m (52 ft)
Population (2006)
• Total	969,843
Time zone	IRST (UTC+3:30)
• Summer (DST)	IRDT (UTC+4:30)

Ahwaz (Persian: اهواز‎  pronunciation , also Romanized as Ahwāz is a city in and the capital of Khuzestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 969,843, in 212,097 families.

Ahwaz is built on the banks of the Karun River and is situated in the middle of Khūzestān Province. The city has an average elevation of 20 meters above sea level.

Etymology

The word Ahvaz is a Persianized form of the local Ahwaz, which in turn itself is derived from a Persian word. The Dehkhoda Dictionary specifically defines the Market of the Khuzis", where "Suq" is Persian word "chahar-suy/sugh" for market,^{[citation needed]} and "Ahvaz" is a plural (اسم جمع) of the form "af'āl" (افعال) of the word "Huz", or more precisely, the root "ha wa za" ( َحَـوَز ), which itself comes from the Persian Huz, from Achaemenid inscriptions from where the term first appears. Thus, which refers to the non-Arabic original inhabitants of Khūzestān.

The name of the region appears in medieval Syriac sources as ܒܝܬ ܗܘܙܝܐ Beṯ Huzáyé, literally meaning "land of the Huzis".

The term "Huz", meanwhile, is the Old Persian rendition of Suz (Susa-Susiana), the native Elamite name of the region. Old Persian commonly changed the initial "s" in a foreign word into an "h," most famously, in its rendition of the name the river and the people Sindh/Sindhi into Hind/Hindi, which was then Hellenized into Indus, whence India.^{[citation needed]}

Location and roads

Ahvaz located 120 km north-east of Abadan and is accessible via following routes in addition of a single runway airport:

• Tehran-Khorramshahr national railway
• Ahvaz-Abadan expressway (145 km)
• Ahvaz-Andimeshk (152 km) expressway
• Ahvaz-Bandar Imam Khomeini freeway (175 km).

Ahvaz being the largest city in the province consists of two distinctive districts: the newer part of Ahvaz, the administrative and industrial center, has been built on the right bank of the Karun while residential areas are found in the old section of the city, on the left bank.

Climate

Ahvaz has a desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh) with long, extremely hot summers and mild, short winters. Summertime temperatures routinely exceed 50 degrees Celsius with many sandstorms and duststorms common during the summer period while in winters the minimum temperature could fall around -5 degrees Celsius with snow also present. The average annual rainfall is around 230 mm.

Climate data for Ahvaz
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	17.3 (63.1)	20.3 (68.5)	25.3 (77.5)	31.8 (89.2)	39.0 (102.2)	44.3 (111.7)	46.2 (115.2)	45.3 (113.5)	42.5 (108.5)	35.6 (96.1)	26.5 (79.7)	19.4 (66.9)	32.79 (91.03)
Average low °C (°F)	6.5 (43.7)	8.2 (46.8)	11.8 (53.2)	16.7 (62.1)	22.2 (72.0)	25.1 (77.2)	27.3 (81.1)	26.5 (79.7)	22.6 (72.7)	17.9 (64.2)	12.3 (54.1)	7.7 (45.9)	17.07 (62.72)
Precipitation mm (inches)	52.8 (2.079)	32.1 (1.264)	27.3 (1.075)	15.7 (0.618)	6.7 (0.264)	0.6 (0.024)	0.1 (0.004)	0.0 (0)	0.1 (0.004)	8.3 (0.327)	31.9 (1.256)	52.9 (2.083)	228.5 (8.996)
Avg. precipitation days	6.8	5.4	5.4	4.2	1.6	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.0	1.9	4.3	6.0	35.8
Source: World Meteorological Organisation (UN)

In 2011, the World Health Organization ranked Ahvaz as the world's most air-polluted city .

History

For a more comprehensive historical treatment of the area, see the history section of Khūzestān Province.

Ancient history

Ahvaz is the anagram of "Avaz" and "Avaja" which appear in Darius's epigraph. This word appears in Naqsh-Rostam inscription as "Khaja" or "Khooja" too.^{[citation needed]}

First named Ōhrmazd-Ardašēr (Persian: هرمزداردشیر) (Roamn Hormizdartazir) it was built near the beginning of the Sassanid dynasty on what historians believe to have been the site of the old city of Taryana, a notable city under the Persian Achaemenid dynasty. It was founded either by Ardashir I in 230 (cf. Encyclopædia Iranica, al-Muqaddasi, et al.) or (according to the Middle Persian Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr) by his grandson Hormizd I; the town's name either combined Ardashir's name with the Zoroastrian name for God, Ōhrmazd or Hormizd's name with that of his grandfather. It became the seat of the province, and was also referred to as Hūmšēr. During the Sassanid era, an irrigation system and several dams were constructed, and the city prospered. Examples of Sassanid-era dams are Band-e Bala-rud, Band-e Mizan, Band-e Borj Ayar and Band-e Khak. The city replaced Susa, the ancient capital of Susiana, as the capital of what was then called Xuzestān.

The city had two sections; the nobles of the city lived in one part while the other was inhabited by merchants. When the Arabs invaded the area in 640, the part of the city home to the nobility was demolished but the Hūj-ī-stānwāčār "Market of Khūz State", the merchant area, remained intact. The city was therefore renamed Sūq al-Ahwāz, "Market of the Khuz", a semi-literal translation of the Persian name of this quarter - Ahwāz being the Arabic broken plural of Hûz, taken from the ancient Persian term for the native Elamite peoples, Hūja (remaining in medieval Xūzīg "of the Khuz" and modern Xuzestān "Khuz State", as noted by Yaqut al-Hamawi (1179–1229) and Abu-Mansoor Javalighi.

Medieval history

During the Umayyad and Abbasid eras, Ahvaz flourished as a center for the cultivation of sugarcane and as the home of many well-known scholars. It is discussed by such respected medieval historians and geographers as ibn Hawqal, Tabari, Istakhri, al-Muqaddasi, Ya'qubi, Masudi, and Mostowfi Qazvini. Nearby stood the Academy of Gundishapur, where the modern-day teaching hospital is said to have been first established.

Ahvaz was devastated in the bloody Mongol invasions of the 13th and 14th centuries. Ahvaz subsequently declined into a mere village. The dam and irrigation channels, no longer maintained, eroded and finally collapsed early in the 19th century. During this time Ahvaz was primarily inhabited by Arabs and a small number of Sabians. Some minor cultivation continued, while all evidence of sugarcane plantations had vanished, although ruins of sugarcane mills from the medieval era remained in existence.

Modern history

Sahel Cinema.

The seat of the province has for the most of its history been in the northern reaches of the land, first at Susa (Shush) and then at Shushtar. During a short spell in the Sasanian era, the capital of the province was moved to its geographical center, where the river town of Hormuz-Ardashir (modern Ahvaz). However, later in the Sasanian time and throughout the Islamic era, the provincial seat returned and stayed at Shushtar, until the late Qajar period. With the increase in the international sea commerce arriving on the shores of Khuzestan, Ahvaz became a more suitable location for the provincial capital. The River Karun is navigable all the way to Ahvaz (above which, the Karun flows through rapids). The town was thus refurbished by the order of the Qajar king, Naser al-Din Shah and renamed after him, Nâseri. Shushtar quickly declined, while Ahvaz/Nâseri prospered to the present day.

In the 19th century, "Ahvaz was no more than a small borough inhabited mainly by Sha'ab Arabs and a few Sabeans (1,500 to 2,000 inhabitants according to Ainsworth in 1835; 700 according to Curzon in 1890)."

In the 1880s, under Qajar rule, the Karun River was dredged and re-opened to commerce. A newly-built railway crossed the Karun at Ahvaz. The city again became a commercial crossroads, linking river and rail traffic. The construction of the Suez Canal further stimulated trade. A port city was built near the old village of Ahvaz, and named Bandar-e-Naseri in honor of Nassereddin Shah Qajar.

Uptown Kianpars, a district of Ahvaz.

Oil was found near Ahvaz in the early 20th century, and the city once again grew and prospered as a result of this newfound wealth. From 1897-1925, Sheikh Khaz'al controlled this area and the name was changed to Nâseri. Afterwards, during the Pahlavi period, it resumed its old name, Ahvaz. The government of the Khūzestān Province was transferred there from Shûshtar in 1926. The trans-Iranian railroad reached Ahvaz in 1929 and by the World War II, Ahvaz had become the principal built-up area of interior of Khūzestān. Professional segregation remained well marked between various groups in that period still feebly integrated: Persians, sub-groupings of Persians and Arabs. Natives of the Isfahan region held an important place in retail trade, owners of cafes and hotels and as craftsmen.

Iraq attempted to annex Khūzestān and Ahvaz in 1980, resulting in the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988). Ahvaz was close to the front lines and suffered badly during the war.

Iraq had pressed its claims to Khūzestān in part because many of the inhabitants of the area spoke Arabic rather than Persian, the dominant language in Iran. Iraq had hoped to exacerbate ethnic tensions and win over popular support for the invaders. Most accounts say that the Iranian Arab inhabitants resisted the Iraqis rather than welcome them as liberators. However, some Iranian Arabs claim that as a minority they face discrimination from the central government; they agitate for the right to preserve their cultural and linguistic distinction and more provincial autonomy. See Politics of Khūzestān.

During the year 2005 the city witnessed a series of bomb explosions. Many government sources relate these events to developments in Iraq, accusing foreign governments of organising and funding Arab separatist groups.

Contemporary Ahvaz

In 1989, the Foolad Ahvaz steel facility was built close to the town. This company is best known for its company-sponsored football club, Foolad F.C., which was the chart-topper for Iran's Premier Football League in 2005. Ahvaz is also home to another IPL football team, Esteghlal Ahvaz F.C..

Transportation

• Ahvaz is accessible via freeways to Isfahan and Shiraz, and roadways to Tehran.
• A metro urban railway system is being built by the Ahvaz urban railway. It will be a 23 km underground line with 24 stations.
• The airport is served by Iran Asseman Airlines (Dubai, Kuwait, Tehran, flying on Boeing 727-200s or Fokker F100s), Caspian Airlines (Dubai, by MD-80), Iran Air (Isfahan, Kuwait, Tehran, by Boeing 727-200 or Fokker 100), Iran Air Tours (Isfahan, Mashad, Shiraz, Tehran, by MD-80), Kish Air (Tehran, by MD-80), and Saha Air (Tehran, by Boeing 707-300).

Colleges and universities

Ahvaz is also known for its universities as well as its role in commerce and industry. Ahvaz institutes of higher learning include:

• Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences
• Petroleum University of Technology
• Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz
• Islamic Azad University Ahvaz Science and Research center (Persian)

Some famous Ahvazis

Soon after the founding of the modern University of Jondishapur, Dr. Tal'at Basāri was appointed vice chancellor of the university, the first woman to reach such a post in any university in Iran.

Malileh Farshid: One of Iran's first and youngest female architects. She designed the Ahvaz Sports Complex. Her wish was to have it ready for Ahvaz to host the 1984 Summer Olympics.

• Sousan S. Altaie, PHD Scientific Policy Advisor, OIVD CDRH, FDA
• Ezzat Negahban, Patriarch of modern Iranian archaeology.
• Mehrangiz Kar, Human rights activist.
• Ahmad Mahmoud, Novelist.
• Hamid Dabashi, Intellectual historian, cultural and literary critic
• Mehrzad Boroujerdi, PhD International Relations, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Middle Eastern Studies Program at Syracuse University
• Patrick Monahan, British comedian.
• Parviz Abnar, Iranian Sound recordist.
• Mohammad-Reza Eskandari, Iran's former minister of Agriculture
• Abu Nuwas, figure in Arabic poetry.
• Ali Shamkhani, Iranian Minister of Defense (1997–2005)
• Amirreza Amirbakhtiar, Political activist .
• Hossein Kaebi, national football player
• Hamid Zangeneh, economist, author, and activist.
• Jalal Kameli Mofrad, national football player
• Hamed Haddadi, NBA basketball player
• Mohammad Mousavi Ney soloist
• Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi, physician
• Naubakht, astronomer
• Trita Parsi, President and founder of the National Iranian American Council
• mehdi yarrahi, singer

Gallery

• 

  Ahvaz Bridge over Karun River at night.

• 

  Rumi statue located in the front of the faculty of letters and humanities of the Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz.

See also

• Mandaeism, Mandaic language
• Khūzestān Province
• Politics of Khūzestān
• Gundeshapur
• Susa
• Elam
• Choqa Zanbil
• History of Iran
• Takhti Stadium (Ahvaz)

External links

• Ahvaz Municipal Office (Persian)
• Union of Iranian Southern Universities (Persian)
• Foolad Ahvaz Football Club (Persian)
• Ahvaz Bazaar Directory (Persian)