Kish ( , historically known as Qeys) is a resort island in Bandar Lengeh County, Hormozgan Province, off the southern coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf. Owing to its free trade zone status, the island is touted as a consumer's paradise, with numerous malls, shopping centers, tourist attractions, and resort hotels. It has an estimated population of almost 40,000 residents and about 1 million visitors annually. Kish Island is one of the most-visited vacation destinations in the Middle East, after Dubai and Sharm el-Sheikh. Tourists from many countries for which Iran typically requires a visa, who wish to enter Kish Free Zone, are exempt from having to obtain a visa. For those travelers, travel permits are issued on arrival by Kish officials and are valid for 14 days. History Kish Island has been mentioned in history variously as Kamtina, Arakia (), Arakata, and Ghiss. Kish Island's strategic geographic location served as a way-station and link for the ancient Assyrian and Elamite civilizations when their sailboats navigated from Susa through the Karun River into the Persian Gulf along the southern coastline, passing Kish, Qeshm, and Hormoz islands. When these civilizations vanished, Kish Island's advantageous position was lost and for a period it was subjected to turmoil and the tyranny of local potentates and other vendors. With the establishment of the Achaemenid dynasty, the Persian Gulf was profoundly affected. Kish was, in particular, economically and politically linked with the civilization of the Medes and Persians when they were at the height of their power. In the shadow of the empire, the islands in the Gulf became prosperous, navigation in the Persian Gulf was expanded, and better vessels were used to carry passengers and goods. Navigational aids, including lighthouses, were set up to facilitate navigation in the Persian Gulf. In 325 BC, Alexander the Great commissioned Nearchus to set off on an expeditionary voyage to the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf. Nearchus's writings on Arakata contain the first known mention of Kish Island in antiquity. When Marco Polo visited the Imperial court in China, he commented on the Emperor's wife's pearls; he was told that they were from Kish. Throughout much of its history, it was ruled by Arab merchants, when it was known as Qeys. In the 1970s, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, turned the island into a luxury resort for the international elite and a