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Khorramshahr
Town in southwestern Iran with about 150,000 inhabtants (2005 estimate) on the west bank of the Karun River, where it enters the Shatt El Arab, close to the border to Iraq. Khorramshahr lies in the Khuzestan Province.
The economy of Khorramshahr is still largely affected by the destruction and depopulation of the city in the 1980's during the first years of the . The main activities are however the same as before the war, petroleum production and some exports and imports through the city port.
HISTORY
331 BCE: Reports of a port on the premises of the future Khorramshahr.
Around 750 CE: The town is named Mohammerah.
1837: Attacked and demolished by the Ottomans.
1847: Mohammerah comes under Persian control, even if it had autonomy under a local shaykh.
1908: Oil is discovered in the region of Mohammerah and Abadan, bringing swift growth and prosperity to the two cities.
1924: Reza Shah Pahlavi takes the control of Mohammerah out of the hands of the local shaykh, and puts it under full Persian control, and renames it Khorramshahr.
1940's: Khorramshahr is connected with the Trans-Iranian Railway by a branch line to Ahvaz.
1980: Is captured by Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War. Almost all of the population flees. In 1976 the number of inhabitants had been 140,000.
1982 May: Recaptured by Iran.
1990's: The port, and large parts of the centre is rebuilt. Many of the former inhabitants return.
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By: Tore Kjeilen
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