AHVĀZ, a city of southwestern Iran. Located in the province of Ḵūzestān at 31°19′ north latitude and 48°46′ east longitude, elevation 82 feet, Ahvāz lies on the Kārūn (early Islamic Doǰayl) river below its confluence with the Dezfūl river or Āb-e Dez in the Ḵūzestān plain, but at a point where the river breaks through the low ridge of sandstone hills, the Jabal Ḥamrīn, so that gypsum rocks in the river bed cause a series of rapids, enumerated at five by G. N. Curzon, of which only three presented a serious impediment to navigation; the port of Ḵorramšahr on the Persian Gulf lies 113 miles below the modern town of Ahvāz. The Kārūn has long been the only river of any length in Persia which is navigable, but these rapids have necessitated, for the most part, transshipment of goods from Ḵorramšahr at Ahvāz to boats on the higher reaches of the river traveling to Šūštar (see Admiralty Handbook: Persia, London, 1945, pp. 28-29, 84-85, 581-82, and index).
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Originally Published: June 16, 2015
Last Updated: June 16, 2015
Cite this entry:"AHVĀZ," Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2015, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ahvaz-parent (accessed on 16 June 2015).
