Chābahār (, ; ; formerly Bandar Beheshtī) is the capital city of Chabahar County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. It is a free port (free-trade zone) situated on the coast of the Gulf of Oman, and is Iran's southernmost city. The sister port city of Gwadar in Balochistan, Pakistan, is located about to the east of Chabahar. The city is situated on the Makran Coast of the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, and is officially designated as a "Free Trade and Industrial Zone" by the Iranian government. Due to its free-trade zone status, the city has increased in significance in international trade. The overwhelming majority of the city's inhabitants are ethnic Baloch people, who speak their native Balochi language in addition to Persian. Etymology The name Chabahar is a shortened form of the Balochi phrase chahar bahar (Persian: چهاربهار), where chahar means "four" and bahar means "spring". Hence, Chabahar means a place where all four seasons of the year resemble spring time. History There is a fishing village and former port named Tis in Chabahar's neighborhood, which dates from 2500 BC, known in Alexander the Great's conquests as Tiz, eventually renamed Tis. In addition, in his book Aqd al-Ala lel-Moghefe al Ahla, Afdhal al-Din abu Hamid Kermani wrote in 584 A.H. (1188 C.E.) about the port of Tiz and its commerce and trade. According to the scholar and historian, Alberuni, author of an encyclopedic work on India called "Tarikh Al-Hind", the sea coast of India commences with Tiz or modern Chabahar. Tis was formerly an active commercial port, and was destroyed by the Mongols. There are still some ruins in the village. The Portuguese were the first colonial country to attack the Makran (Oman) Sea. The Portuguese forces under Afonso de Albuquerque gained control of Chabahar and Tis, staying there until 1031 A.H. (1621 C.E.). The British, and later the Portuguese in the 17th century (1616 C.E. or 1026 A.H.), entered this region. Modern Chabahar dates back to around 1970 C.E., when it was declared a municipality and large port projects were started by order of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. A modern naval and air base was established as part of the Shah's policy of making Iran into a dominant power in the Indian Ocean. At that time these and other development projects in and around Chabahar involved the extensive participation of foreign companies, especially from the United States. After