Larak Island

Larak Island
Native name:
جزیره لارک
Larak Island is located in Persian Gulf
Larak Island
Larak Island
Larak Island is located in Iran
Larak Island
Larak Island
Geography
LocationStrait of Hormuz
Coordinates26°51′12″N 56°21′20″E / 26.85333°N 56.35556°E / 26.85333; 56.35556[1]
Adjacent toPersian Gulf
Area49 km2 (19 sq mi)
Highest elevation138 m (453 ft)
Administration
ProvinceHormozgan
CountyQeshm County
DistrictCentral
Rural districtLarak Rural District
Largest settlementLarak Shahri (pop. 466)
Jazīreh-ye Lārak North Lighthouse
Constructed2008 Edit this on Wikidata
Constructionconcrete tower
Height18 m (59 ft) Edit this on Wikidata
Shapecylindrical tower with balcony and lantern[2][3]
Markingsunpainted tower
Power sourcesolar power Edit this on Wikidata
Focal height40 m (130 ft) Edit this on Wikidata
Range18 nmi (33 km; 21 mi) Edit this on Wikidata
CharacteristicFl(2) W 10s Edit this on Wikidata

Larak Island (also Lark Island) is a small Iranian island located off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran, east of Qeshm Island and south of Hormuz Island. The narrowest part of the Strait of Hormuz, 24 miles (39 km), lies between this Iranian island and Oman's Great Quoin Island.[4] Larak Island is part of Hormozgan province.

Geography and demographics

Larak Island is a salt plug, with its surface consisting of sandstone, rock salt and iron oxide.[5] It has a number of hills, which rise as high as 138 metres (453 ft).[6]

The island is administered as the Larak Rural District, within the Central District of Qeshm County. The only settlement on the island now is Larak Shahri, on the north-eastern coast. It as a population of 466 people and 98 families. Another settlement, Larak Kuhi, was in the hills in the interior of the island, but was abandoned in the mid-1970s. There have been settlements at Salmi on the west coast and Mowrona on the north-west coast, but they also have been abandoned.[7]

Laraki, a dialect of the Kumzari language, is spoken on Larak Island. Research in 1977 identified that Laraki was the main language in Larak Shahri, while Arabic was spoken in Larak Kuhi.[8]

Laraki-speakers mostly work in fishing, with some goat husbandry, and trade. In the past there was production of dates and barley, and export of salt.[9]

History

During their occupation in the 16th century, the Portuguese built fortresses here, and on the nearby Qeshm and Hormuz Islands.[10]

Modern

After Iraq attacked Iran's main oil export terminal at Kharg Island in 1985 during the Iran–Iraq War, Iran established new export facilities, including a floating terminal that opened at Larak Island in June 1986. Larak island was bombed by Iraq in November 1986.[11]

Larak has an Iranian military base with several Chinese-made Silkworm HY-2 surface-to-surface missiles placed there in 1987.[12]

In April 1988, during Operation Praying Mantis, the Iranian frigate Sahand was sunk by the United States Navy, 200 meters southwest of Larak Island. On 14 May 1988, the largest ship at the time, the Liberian supertanker, Seawise Giant was sunk by Iraqi anti-ship missiles off the coast of Larak Island while carrying crude Iranian oil.[13] The ship was later refloated, repaired and used for another few years.

In late March during the 2026 Iran war, Iran began routing oil tankers north of Larak Island for a fee ("Tehran's Tollbooth");[14][15] distinct from the main channel, this route affords visual inspection of the ships by the IRGC Navy and port authorities.[16] Accordingly Larak Island has been suggested as a military objective.[17]

Flora and fauna

The island has very little vegetation, with just some low acacia trees, palms, bushes and grasses. It once had a population of wild gazelles.[5] The sea around the island is one of the most diverse coral reef areas in the environment of the Persian Gulf, with 37 species of scleractinian corals identified in the waters.[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Larak Island Map, Weather and Photos". GetAMap. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  2. ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Iran". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  3. ^ NGA List of Lights – Pub.112 Retrieved 1 October 2016
  4. ^ Joyner, Christopher C. (1 January 1990). The Persian Gulf War: Lessons for Strategy, Law, and Diplomacy. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-313-26710-9.
  5. ^ a b Anonby & Yousefian 2011, p. 41.
  6. ^ "Explore Larak Island: What You Need to Know for Your Journey". Surfiran. 8 January 2026. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  7. ^ Anonby & Yousefian 2011, pp. 41–43.
  8. ^ Anonby & Yousefian 2011, p. 43.
  9. ^ Anonby & Yousefian 2011, p. 44.
  10. ^ Near East/South Asia Report. Foreign Broadcast Information Service. 1983. p. 58.
  11. ^ Kostiner, Joseph (2009). Conflict and Cooperation in the Gulf Region. Springer. p. 74. ISBN 978-3-531-91337-7.
  12. ^ Metz, Helen Chapin, ed. (1989). Iran: A Country Study. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. p. 257.
  13. ^ Lloyd's Nautical Year Book. Lloyd's. 1988. p. 147. ISBN 9781850441953.
  14. ^ Partridge, Joanna; Ahmedzade, Tural; Wilson, Heidi (26 March 2026). "'Tehran's tollbooth': a visual guide to how a trickle of ships still passes through strait of Hormuz". The Guardian.
  15. ^ "Iran was always going to close the Strait of Hormuz". doi.org. 26 March 2026. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
  16. ^ Shen, Cichen (18 March 2026). "Iran establishes 'safe' shipping corridor for approved and paid for transits". Lloyd's List.
  17. ^ Areddy, James T.; Ruiz, Roque; Rust, Max (2 April 2026). "The Islands That Give Iran a Stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz". The Wall Street Journal.
  18. ^ J. Vajed Samiei; K. Dab; P. Ghezellou; A. Shirvani (3 April 2013). "Some scleractinian corals (Scleractinia: Anthozoa) of Larak Island, Persian Gulf". Zootaxa. 3636 (1): 101–43. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3636.1.5. PMID 26042286.

Sources

  • Anonby, E.; Yousefian, P. (2011). Adaptive Multilinguals: A Survey of Language on Larak Island. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Iranica Upsaliensia 16. Uppsala University. ISBN 978-91-554-8125-4.

26°51′N 56°21′E / 26.850°N 56.350°E / 26.850; 56.350

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.