(Southern Iran)
Name: Greater Tonb Island, Jazireye Tonbe Bozorg in Persian.
Province: Hormozgán, Southern Iran
Island Population: ca. 450
Language: Persian
Transportation: Boats from Bandare Abás, Bandare Lenge and Qešm island. It is although possible to fly from Bandare Abás (by Ostándári Air) to Great Tonb.
Map: Click here
The Island of Greater Tonb, has become fashionable, but it is still an untouched piece of true Iran. On account of the simple and relaxing atmosphere that reigns all around the island.
This brown circular isle, with a 4-kilometers diameter and a maximum height of 53 meters, was covered with grass in the late winter and early spring months, and traditionally provided pasturage for the animals sent to the island from the Persian mainland.
In the nineteenth century, the British officers stationed in the Persian Gulf made regular use of the isle for picnics, during which they hunted and coursed antelopes, goats, and rabbits. In the 1930s, the British naval officers considered, albeit briefly, expanding the island's recreational possibilities by adding a golf course, football (soccer) field, and cricket ground to the landscape, which has been dominated for more than a century and a half by a very old banyan tree located near the center of the island.
The terms tonb and tal, which mean "hill" in the Persian dialect spoken in southern Persia, occur with frequency in an environment dominated by the maritime ranges that extend along the Persian coast from Bušehr to Lenge: An early evidence of the use of tonb is found in Istakhri's 10th century description of the Ardešir Kure district of Fars. The mound-like appearance of the Tonb Islands is no doubt responsible for the origin of Tonb.
The hulk of the housing units in the state of unfinished since 1978 tell of a once greater ambition for the island.
