Larak

Iran, Iran

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“Larak, Iran” most commonly refers to Larak Island, a small but strategically important island in the Straits of Hormuz, part of Hormozgan Province in southern Iran, located east of Qeshm Island and south of Hormuz Island, near the narrowest point of the Strait of Hormuz (about 38–39 kilometers wide) between Iran and Oman’s Great Quoin (Salāma) Island.

The island is a salt plug, with its surface made of sandstone, rock salt, and iron oxide, and it has an area of about 77 square kilometers, stretches roughly 11 kilometers in length, and rises to a highest point of 138 meters above sea level. Its surroundings are among the most biologically diverse coral reef areas in the Persian Gulf, with 37 known species of stony corals and clear, shallow waters suitable for swimming and diving.

Larak has been used for centuries as a waypoint and port in the region, and from the 16th to 17th centuries it was under the control of the Portuguese, British, and Dutch, later returning to Iranian sovereignty under Shah Abbas. In more recent history, it was a major Iranian oil export site from 1987, was bombed by Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War in 1986.