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Persian-speakers of Iran

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This article is about the Persian speaking people, an ethnolinguistic group found mainly in Iran. For Central Asian Persian speakers, see Tajiks and Hazaras. For more information about Persians see Persian people and Persian empire.
Persian speaking people
Total population
Approximately 55 million (including related/subgroups)
45 million to 60 million total Iranian population
Regions with significant populations
 Iran50 million Including subgroups inside Iran [1][2][3]
1,186,140[4]
 United States800,000[5]
 Turkey400,000[6]
United Arab Emirates UAE227,000[7]
 United Kingdom130,000
 Canada121,505 (2006 Census)[8]
 Germany110,000[9]
 Israel40,000[5]
 Qatar73,000[10]
 France62,000[5]
 Kuwait60,000
 Sweden60,000
 Russia50,242[11]
 Philippines and  South Korea50,000[12]
 Syria50,000[5]
 Bahrain48,000[13]
 Azerbaijan22,000 (Speak a Medieval Iranian Dialect called Tat-Iranian )[14][5]
 Greece20,000[5]
 Australia18,000[15]
 Denmark10,000[5]
 Belgium6,000[5]
 Norway6,000[5]
 Italy5,910[16]
 Finland2,000[5]
Languages
Persian (Western dialect, in addition to regional varieties)
Religion
Predominately Shi'a Muslim,[17][18] and small minorities of Sunni Muslims, Bahá'ís, Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians.

The Persian speakers (local names: فارسی‌زبانان IPA: [fɒːrˈsi-zæbɒːnɒːn] or پارسی‌زبانان [pɒːrˈsi-zæbɒːnɒːn]; of Iran are a supra-ethnic group comprised of numerous regional peoples who speak the Farsi dialect of the Persian language. Iranian Persian speakers are also found in expatriate communities in bordering countries as well as the Persian Gulf states. Additionally, many expatriates reside overseas in North America (where many refer to themselves as ethnic 'Persians' or Iranians and Europe. Iranian Persians are typically characterized by their usage of the Persian language as their mother tongue and a common culture.

Iranian Persians trace their linguistic roots to the ancient Indo-European Aryans who arrived circa 2000-1500 BCE. Starting around 550 BCE, from the province of Fars, the ancient Persians spread their language and culture to other parts of the Iranian plateau through conquest and assimilated local Aryan and non-Aryan groups over time. This process of assimilation continued in the face of Greek, Arab, Mongol and Turkic invasions and continued right up to Islamic times.[19] Numerous dialects and regional identities emerged over time and Persian speakers tended to identify themselves mostly based on the geographical location and not by 'ethnicity' in the modern Western sense.

Persian-speakers, even under theocratic governments, have shown a strong predilection towards urbanization and modernity. Exiled communities in the United States and Europe have continued to maintain close ties with their families in Iran and are a source of Western influence. In addition, with the break-up of the former Soviet Union, Persian speakers have also begun to foster closer cultural ties with closely related groups in the Caucasus including the Tats and Talysh as well as Central Asian Persian speaking people in Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

Main articles: Tajiks, Farsiwan, Kizilbash, and Hazara people

Persian speakers can also be found outside Iran and include the Tajiks and Farsiwan of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang province of China and Northern Pakistan. The Tajiks are descendents of various Iranian peoples, as well as numerous invaders. Tajiks and their cousins the Farsiwan have a particular affinity with Persian speakers in neighboring Khorasan due to historical interaction some stemming from the Islamic period.

Other smaller groups include the Qizilbash of Afghanistan and Pakistan who are related to the Farsiwan and Azerbaijanis. In the Caucasus, the Tats are concentrated in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russian Dagestan and their origins are traced to Sassanid merchants who settled in the region. In addition, the Hazara and Aimaq are ethnic groups of partial Persianized Mongol and Turkic origin.

History

See also: Persian people, Persian Empire, and History of Iran

The Persian speakers are descendents of the Aryan (Indo-Iranian) tribes that began migrating from Central Asia into what is now Iran in the second millennium BC.[20][21][22] The Persian language and other Iranian tongues emerged as these Aryan tribes split up into two major groups, the Persians and the Medes, and intermarried with peoples indigenous to the Iranian plateau such as the Elamites.[23][24]

The ancient Persians from the province of Pars became the rulers of a large empire under the Achaemenid dynasty (Hakhamaneshiyan) in the sixth century BC, reuniting with the tribes and other provinces of the ancient Iranian plateau and forming the Persian Empire. Over the centuries Persia was ruled by various dynasties; some of them were ethnic Iranians including the Achaemenids, Parthians (Ashkanian), Sassanids (Sassanian), Buwayhids and Samanids, and some of them were not, such as the Seleucids, Ummayyads, Abbasids, and Seljuk Turks.

Language

Main article: Persian language

The Persian language is one of the world's oldest languages still in use today, and is known to have one of the most powerful literary traditions, with formidable Persian poets like Ferdowsi, Hafez, Khayyam, Attar, Saadi, Nezami, Roudaki, Rumi and Sanai. By native speakers as well as in Urdu, Bengali, Turkish, Arabic and other neighboring languages, it is called Fārsī, and additionally Dari or Tajiki in the eastern parts of Greater Iran.

Persian is part of the Iranian sub-section of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Persian is a Western Dialect, and its speakers form the marjority in Iran. The Eastern speakers, also called Dari or Tajiki, form majorities in Tajikistan, and Afghanistan,[25] and a large minority in Uzbekistan. Smaller groups of Persian-speakers are found in Pakistan, western China (Xinjiang), as well as in the UAE, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and Azerbaijan.

Religion

The entrance to Shah Mosque (aka Imam Mosque or Shah Jame' Mosque) in Isfahan. This mosque is an example of Persian architecture during the Safavid dynasty.

Most Persian speakers in Iran are Shia Muslims, while some communities of Shia Sufis also exist. There is also a sizeable number of Sunni Muslims. Historically, some of the greatest Sunni Muslim scholars were Persian speakers or had Persian descent, including Abu Dawood, Al Muslim, Hakim al-Nishaburi,Salman the Persian, Al-Tabarani, Ghazali, Imam Bukhari, Tirmidhi, Al-Nasa'i and Abu Hanifa, amongst many others. There are also smaller communities of Zoroastrians, Christians, Jews, and Bahá'ís. Bahá'ís are the largest non-Muslim religious minority in the country.[26] There are also Persian speakers who are atheist and agnostic. Also see religious minorities in Iran.

See also

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References

  1. ^ CIA - The World Factbook - Iran
  2. ^ CIA - The World Factbook - Iran
  3. ^ Country Briefings Economist.com, "Factsheet". Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  4. ^ American FactFinder
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i The Persian Diaspora
  6. ^ Travel Video Television News - Iranians investing heavily in Dubai
  7. ^ Ethnologue report for language code:pes
  8. ^ 2006 Canadian Census
  9. ^ wo.org/Disporia.htm Iranian World Outreach - Iranian -speaking people outside of Iran
  10. ^ Ethnologue report for language code:pes
  11. ^ [1]
  12. ^ [2]
  13. ^ Ethnologue 14 report for Bahrain
  14. ^ Gernot L. Windfuhr, Persian Grammar: History and State of Its Study, Walter de Gruyter, 1979, pp4
  15. ^ [3]
  16. ^ [4]
  17. ^ CIA - The World Factbook - Iran
  18. ^ http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=12883
  19. ^ [www.iranologie.com/history/history9.html] Lands of Iran Encyclopedia Iranica (July 25, 2005) (retrieved 3 March 2008)
  20. ^ Iran :: Ethnic groups - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  21. ^ Stearns, Peter N. (ed.). Encyclopedia of World History (6th ed.). The Houghton Mifflin Company/Bartleby.com. The Medes and the Persians, c.1500-559
  22. ^ Bahman Firuzmandi "Mad, Hakhamanishi, Ashkani, Sasani" pp. 20
  23. ^ Iran. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05
  24. ^ Bahman Firuzmandi "Mad, Hakhamanishi, Ashkani, Sasani" pp. 12-19
  25. ^ BBC News - Afghan poll's ethnic battleground
  26. ^ Federation Internationale des Ligues des Droits de L'Homme (2003-08). "Discrimination against religious minorities in IRAN" (PDF). fidh.org. Retrieved 2006-10-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)


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