Bandar-e Anzali () is a city on the Caspian Sea in the Central District of Bandar-e Anzali County, Gilan province 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 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.[ A Peace to End All Peace, David Fromkin, 1989, pp.458-459.]
Demographics
Language
The people of Anzali speak
Gilaki language and
Azerbaijanis languages.
[ The town had 55,000 inhabitants in 1976 and 110,643 in 2006 (Markaz-e Āmār-e Irān), mainly Gilaks and Turks. The latter are mostly emigrants (mohâjer) from Azerbaijan when it was under Soviet rule, and they are particularly numerous in the fisheries and port activities]
The people of Anzali speak Persian language as the national language.
Linguistic composition of the city.
Religion
The majority of Anzalis are adherents of
Shia Islam, although there is a sizeable
Armenians Christian minority.
Population
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 109,687 in 32,424 households.
The following census in 2011 counted 116,664 people in 38,128 households.
The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 118,564 people in 41,053 households.
Overview
Anzali is one of the most important cities in Iran in terms of tourism, economics, and athletics.
Bandar-e Anzali is the biggest
Gilaki language speaking city in the world after
Rasht, the capital of
Gilan province. The city was home to the first and biggest port on the southern shores of the
Caspian Sea. Bandar-e Anzali consists of an island called
Mianposhteh and the surrounding lands. Tourist attractions include a clock tower called
Manareh, the long harbour promenade, and the water-logged delta and beach along the
Sefid Rud.
Its wonderful lagoon, Customs and City Hall edifice (Shahrdari), Mian Poshte Palace, and Motamedi Edifice are its tourist attractions. Anzali was the site of the Caspian University of Naval Science until 1980, when it was moved to Nowshahr. Naser-al-din Shah's
The Sangi Bath was noted for its marvelous durable system of basins with heated water. Some groups think that Motamedi Edifice had been changed; it is now its police office. This Ghajar Structure built in two floors with the help of Mirza Abd-ol-Vahab.
Geography
The
Anzali Lagoon divides the Anzali Port in two parts. The city is connected by two bridges to the
Beheshti Island. There is a caviar processing factory in Bandar-e Anzali, some old ruins from 19th century and the popular
Shanbeh Bazaar.
Tourbebar is a village about 40 kilometers from Bandar-e Anzali, near the Anzali Lagoon.
Climate
Bandar-e Anzali has a humid subtropical climate, with (
Cfa) designation under the Köppen climate classification and (
Cf) designation under the Trewartha climate classification. The weather is hot and humid in summers and cool, damp and rainy in winters. It has the most humid climate of any city in Iran, similar in its heavy autumn and early winter rainfall, persistent high humidity and low sunshine to the
Hokuriku region of Japan, though it receives much less summer rainfall than that region. The warm and humid weather has allowed this region to grow crops such as
rice and
tea that require very large amounts of moisture, especially with the extra water draining from the Elburz Mountains.
Economy
Historically Anzalis were mostly involved in the fish trade. Rice farming and agriculture are the other traditional jobs in Anzali, and are practiced in the villages surrounding the city.
Caviar
Bandar-e Anzali is a center of
caviar production. The preparation and marketing of which is a state monopoly, handled through the Iranian Fishing Company under the control of the Finance Ministry. The public is not admitted to the immense refrigerated hangars where tons of sturgeons, some as large as 3 meters long and weighing 100 kilograms, are stored after the removal of the caviar, usually equivalent to about one tenth of their weight.
Sports
The most popular sport in Anzali is football, and the city is known as a football hub in Iran.
Malavan, one of the most famous teams in Iran, is the main team of the city, and they currently play in the first division of Iranian Football Persian Gulf League. Current and former national team players such as Sirous Ghayeghran,
Ghafour Jahani,
Pejman Nouri,
Maziar Zare,
Jalal Rafkhaei,
Saeid Ezatolahi, Mohammad Mayeli Kohan,
Jalal Hosseini are from Anzali.
Gallery
File:Bandar-e-Anzali.jpg
File:Bolvare Bandar-e Anzali.jpg|Bandar-e Anzali Blvd.
File:Bandar e Anzali سی متری- بلوار بندر انزلی.jpg|A walkway in Anzali
File:Antoin Sevruguin caspiansea.jpg|Destructed pavilion of Anzali
File:Russian ships in Bandar-e Anzali.jpg|Russian ships docking in Bandar-e Anzali harbour
File:Bandar-Anzali, Iran, taken by Arashk Rajabpour.JPG|The harbour of Bandar-e Anzali
File:Bandar-e Anzali coast.jpg|Coast of Bandar-e Anzali
File:Bandar-e Anzali.jpg
File:خانه های رنگی.jpg|Colorful houses in Anzali
File:اولین نمایندگی روزنامه در انزلی.jpg|The first newspaper agency in Anzali
File:پل قلم گوده انزلی.jpg|GhalamGoodeh Bridge in Anzali
File:باراندازهای بندرانزلی.jpg|Anzali port docks
See also
Notes
External links
