Oil Industry and Development of Population and Occupation in Oil Rich Regions in the South of Iran

The present research attempts to find out how the human resources were provided in Anglo-Persian Oil Company in Abadan and Masjid Soleyman. Different factors attracted nomads to oil-rich cities. We also discuss the motivations that led people to immigrate from other cities and villages to oil-rich regions. Oil industry development led to population movement, job change and formation of industrial labor stratum in Iran’s southern oil-rich regions. The present descriptive-analytic research emphasizes the existing documents and evidence in Iran and UK archives. History from below is the methodology and theory used in this study which deals with writing the history of the subaltern in the oil industry. In other words, it can be said that history from below is a different account of social history. In such an approach, the historian tries to find the common people’s role in the social developments. The findings indicate that the activity of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in the south of Iran led to the establishment of facilities and refineries. Employment of nomads and villagers as labor in the vast oil industry, enjoying relative safety, stable financial facilities and health services caused people to emigrate from different places to the oil-rich Khūzestan region. Thus, a great step was taken towards strengthening the labor class in Iran