Kharg Island (Persian: جزیره خارگ) is a continental island in the Persian Gulf belonging to Iran. The island is located 25 km (16 mi) off the coast of Iran and 483 km (300 mi) northwest of the Strait of Hormuz. Administered by the adjacent coastal Bushehr Province, Kharg Island provides a sea port for the export of oil and extends Iranian territorial sea claims into the Persian Gulf oil fields. Located on Kharg Island is Kharg, the only city in the Kharg District.
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In 1753 the Dutch Empire established both a trading post and a fort on the island. In 1766 the Dutch fort was captured by Mir Mahanna, the Arab governor of Bandar Riq.[1]
The island was briefly occupied in 1856 by the British during the Anglo-Persian War, but was returned in early 1857.
Once the world's largest offshore crude oil terminal and the principal sea terminal for Iranian oil, the Kharg Island facilities were put out of commission in the fall of 1986. Heavy bombing of the Kharg Island facilities from 1982 through 1986 by the air forces of the government of Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War all but destroyed most of the terminal facilities. Kharg Island was situated in the middle of the Darius Oilfield, also destroyed by the intensive bombing. Repair to all facilities has been very slow, even after the war ended in 1988.
In 2009, Iran exported and swapped 950 million barrels of crude oil via southern Kharg oil terminal.[2]
The island is featured as a playable map in DICE's critically acclaimed Battlefield 3 video game.[3]
On November 14, 2007, a cuneiform inscription dating back to Achaemenid era was discovered in Kharg Island in Old Persian language. The inscription is carved on a coral rock in Old Persian semi-syllabic cuneiform signs. Despite the usually well-ordered regular system of Achaemenid inscriptions, this one is in an unusual order written in five lines.[4]
Translation
The not irrigated land was (became) happy
(with) my bringing out (water) Bahana wells[4]
On May 31, 2008, the inscription was seriously damaged by unknown vandal(s).They destroyed it with a sharp object, such that about 70 percent of the inscription has been seriously damaged. The nature of the damage indicates that it was done deliberately.[5]
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