Nowshahr

Nowshahr is a city in the Central District of Nowshahr County, Mazandaran province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is a port city on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea.

History
Ruyan is a region in the west of Mazandaran province. This land includes Kojur, Kalārestāq and Tonekabon. The city of Kojur was the center of the land of the Ruyans. Ruyan has always been part of Tabaristan, nowadays called Mazandaran province. Ruyan was also called Rostamdār, Ostandār and Rostamdele.

The city of Chalus and its associated towns and villages were part of the Nowshahr township prior to 1996, after which they formed the new township of by legislation from the national parliament.

Language and ethnicity


The largest ethnic group in Nowshahr is the Mazandarani people and they speak the Kojuri dialect of the language. They are also fluent in Persian, the official language of Iran.

Population
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 40,578 in 11,550 households. The following census in 2011 counted 43,378 people in 12,695 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 49,403 people in 16,287 households.

Climate
Nowshahr has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa, Trewartha: Cf), with warm, humid summers and cool, damp winters.

Industry
The city has been slow to industrialize due to environmental considerations and having an already vibrant economy based on tourism, ship transport and agriculture. Nevertheless there are local food processing, timber treatment and steel industries. Recently, a trailer assembly plant has opened in cooperation with the MAZ of Belarus.

Port facilities
The Dual-use port of Noshahr was built by a Dutch contracting firm in late 1920s and is one of the most active ports of Iran in the Caspian Sea.

Transportation
Noshahr Airport, previously an army airbase and currently a civilian-only airport is located on the western part of the city.

Tourism
With its humid, subtropical climate, sea bathing in the waters of the Caspian, and the natural environment of its mountains, Nowshahr has long been a destination for domestic tourism in Iran. It attracts visitors by the hundreds of thousands every year to its hotels and private villas, by virtue of its transport links with the other cities of Northern Iran. During the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi Nowshahr was known unofficially as the 'second capital' or 'summer capital' of Iran because it was the city in which the Shah and most high-level government officials chose to live and work during the summer months.

Sports and leisure
Noshahr was home the Shamoushak who competed in the Persian Gulf Pro League from 2003 to 2006. Shamoushak folded its football team in 2013.

Universities
The city is home to Imam Khomeini University for Naval Sciences, some branches and campuses of Azad University of Nowshahr and Chalus, and Royan Institute of Higher Education.

Notable people

 * Pooran Farrokhzad (b. 1933) – poet
 * Mohammad Rouyanian (b. 1960) – member of IRGC
 * Mohsen Ashouri (b. 1965) – football player
 * Parviz Shiva (b. 1963) – Businessman
 * Reza Sheykholeslam (b. 1967) – politician
 * Kianoush Rahmati (b. 1978) – football player
 * Rahman Ahmadi (b. 1980) – football player
 * Hassan Rangraz (b. 1980) – wrestler
 * Bahman Tahmasebi (b. 1980) – football player
 * Esmaeil Bale (b. 1985) – football player
 * Meysam Hosseini (b. 1987) – football player