Nowshahr

"Now Shahr" redirects here. For the village in Ardabil Province, see Now Shahr, Ardabil.

For the administrative subdivision, see Nowshahr County.

Nowshahr Persian: نوشهر
—  city  —
Nowshahr at night
Nowshahr
Coordinates: 36°38′56″N 51°29′46″E / 36.64889°N 51.49611°E / 36.64889; 51.49611Coordinates: 36°38′56″N 51°29′46″E / 36.64889°N 51.49611°E / 36.64889; 51.49611
Country	Iran
Province	Mazandaran
County	Nowshahr
Bakhsh	Central
Population (2006)
– Total	40,578
Time zone	IRST (UTC+3:30)
– Summer (DST)	IRDT (UTC+4:30)

Nowshahr (Persian: نوشهر; also Romanized as Now Shahr, Noushahr, Noshahr, and Nau Shahr; also known as Bandar-e Now Shahr)^[1] is a port city in and the capital of Nowshahr County, Mazandaran Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 40,578, in 11,550 families.^[2]

Climate and Tourism

It is known for its humid climate and immense natural beauty, and is therefore an attractive destination for domestic tourism. Nice hotels and private villas accommodate hundreds of thousand tourists every year. Natural parks, green mountains and caspian sea with its great water for swimming all and all located within a few kilometers around Nowshahr and most of the other cities in northern Iran. During the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi Noshahr was unofficially known as the second capital or the summer capital of Iran because it was where Shah and most high-level government officials lived and worked during Summers.

Culture and Industry

Sunset in Nowshahr

Noshahr Airport, previously an army airbase and currently a civilian-only airport is located on the western part of the city. The city is also home to Imam Khomeini University for Naval Sciences, some branches and campuses of Azad University of Noshahr and Chaloos, and Royan Institute of Higher Education. The Dual-use port of Noshahr was built by a Dutch contracting firm in late 1920s and is currently one of the most imporatant ports of Iran in the Caspian Sea. The city of Chaloos and its associated towns and villages were part of the Noshahr township prior to 1996 after which they formed the new township of Chaloos by legislation from the national parliament. 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.

Sports and Leisure

Noshahr is home to privately owned Shamushack Noshahr F.C. who currently play in the Azadegan League.

Renowned Citizens

Mohammad Davoudi: Researcher in literature and languages of northern regions of Iran.

Mir Bahadour Gholi Arianejad: Professor of Industrial Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, (PhD from UCLA, USA).

References

1. ^ Nowshahr can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3077276" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".
2. ^ "Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1385 (2006)" (Excel). Islamic Republic of Iran. http://www.amar.org.ir/DesktopModules/FTPManager/upload/upload2360/newjkh/newjkh/02.xls.