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Abadan, Iran

geography Maturity 11-13 Next article →

Abadan is a busy city located in the Khuzestan province of Iran. It serves as the capital for both its county and its district. The city sits on Abadan Island, which is quite long. The island is between 3 and 19 kilometers wide. To the west, the Arvand waterway borders the island. On the east side, the Bahmanshir outlet of the Karun River flows by. This area is near the Iran–Iraq border and the Persian Gulf.

Rengoonie's Mosque 1
Rengoonie's Mosque 1

The weather in Abadan is very dry and hot. It is one of the hottest populated places on Earth. During the summer, the heat is extreme and comes almost every day. Sometimes, sand and dust storms blow through the air. The winters are much milder and feel more like spring. It almost never snows here, as the only recorded snow was in the year 1007. In the summer of 1967, a heat burst caused a very high temperature.

سینما نفت
سینما نفت

Abadan has a long and interesting history. Ancient geographers like Ptolemy wrote about an island near the Tigris River. Some believe the name comes from the Persian word "ab," which means water. In the 14th century, the traveler Ibn Battutah described it as a small port. For a long time, the island was part of the lands of the Arab Ka'ab tribe. In 1847, Persia acquired the area from the Ottoman Empire. Later, in the 20th century, people discovered rich oil fields nearby.

Oil is a huge part of life in Abadan. The Anglo-Persian Oil Company began building a refinery here in 1909. By 1938, this refinery was the largest in the whole world. During the Iran–Iraq War, the city and its refinery were badly damaged. The refinery was once able to process 628,000 barrels of oil every day. After the war, workers worked hard to fix the equipment. By 1997, the refinery was producing at the same rate as before the war.

Today, many people live and work in this industrial zone. In 2016, the city had a population of 231,476 people. You can visit a lively fish market to see the fresh catch of the day. There are also many places to see, such as the Rengoonie's Mosque.

Rengoonie's Mosque 1
Rengoonie's Mosque 1

Visitors can also go to the Naft Cinema to watch a film.

سینما نفت
سینما نفت

The city even has an oil museum to celebrate its history. Abadan is also a place for learning, with schools for medicine and technology.

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