Ethnicities in Iran

Approximately 75-80% of Iran's peoples speak Iranian languages. The major groups in this category include Persians, Kurds, Gilakis, Mazandaranis, Pashtuns, Lurs, and Baluchis. Turkic speakers, such as the Azeri, Turkmen, and the Qashqai peoples, comprise a substantial minority. The remainder are primarily Semitics such as Arabs and Assyrians or other Indo-Europeans such as Armenians. There are also small communities of Brahui in southeastern Iran. The Georgian language is spoken only by those Iranian Georgians that live in Fereydan and Fereydunshahr. All other communities of Iranian Georgians in Iran have already lost their language.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Iran's ethnic groups consist of: Persians 60%, Azeris 20%, Gilakis and Mazandaranis 8%, Kurds 7%, Arabs 3%, Lurs 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%. Other sources mention different statistics, for example the Library of Congress Iran's ethnic groups consist of: Persians 65%, Azeris 16%, Kurds 7%, Lurs 6%, Arabs 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmens 1%, Turkic tribal groups (e.g. Qashqai) 1%, and non-Persian, non-Turkic groups (e.g. Armenians, Assyrians, and Georgians) 2%.

Another estimates are: Persians 49%, Azeris 18%, Kurds 10%, Gilakis 6%, Lors 4%, Mazandaranis 4%, Baluchis 2.4%, Arabs 2.4%, Bakhtiaris 1.9%, Turkmens 1.6%, Armenians 0.7%.

Persians

Main article: Persian people

The term “Persians” refers to an ethnic group who speak the Western dialect of Persian and living in the modern country of Iran as well as the descendants of the people who emigrated from the territory of modern-day Iran to neighboring countries, such as the UAE, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, and more recently, to the West (notably USA, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Sweden…).

Iranian Azeris

Main article: Iranian Azeris

Iranian Azeris, who are mainly Shi’a Muslims, are the largest ethnic group in Iran, after the Persians [and are] believed to constitute fifteen to eighteen percent of the population. The "Azeri" (also known as "Azerbaijani") population of Iran is mainly found in the northwest provinces: East Azarbaijan, West Azarbaijan, Ardabil, Zanjan, and in some regions of Kordestan, Hamadan and Markazi. Many others live in Tehran, Karaj and other regions. Generally, Azeris in Iran were regarded as "a well integrated linguistic minority" by academics prior to Iran's Islamic Revolution. In fact, until the Pahlavi period in the 20th century, "the identity of Iran was not exclusively Persian, but supra-ethnic", as much of the political leadership, starting from the 11th century, had been Turkic. The Iranian and Turkic groups were integrated until 20th century nationalism and communalism began to alter popular perception. Despite friction, Azerbaijanis in Iran came to be well represented at all levels of, "political, military, and intellectual hierarchies, as well as the religious hierarchy." In Iran the term "āzari" is used formally; however, informally, Azeris and other Turkic speaking Iranian populations are colloquially referred to as "Tork" (Turks).

Iranian Kurds

Main article: Iranian Kurdistan

The Kurds constitute approximately 7% of Iran's overall population. Kurds in Iran have resisted the Iranian government's efforts, both before and after the revolution of 1979, to assimilate them into the mainstream of national life and, along with their fellow Kurds in adjacent regions of Iraq and Turkey, have sought regional autonomy.

In the seventeenth century, a large number of Kurds were deported by Shah Abbas I to Khorasan in Eastern Iran and forcibly resettled in the cities of Quchan and Birjand. The Kurds of Khorasan, numbering around 700,000, still use the Kurmanji Kurdish dialect. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, successive Iranian governments crushed Kurdish revolts led by Kurdish notables such as Shaikh Ubaidullah (against Qajars in 1880) and Simko (against Pahlavis in the 1920s).

Iranian Arabs

Main article: Iranian Arabs

Mazanderani

Persian

Kurd

Kurd

Gilaki

Lur

Balochi

Azerbaijani

Turkmen

Qashqai

Uninhabited

Arab

Arab

Talysh

Three percent of Iran's citizens are Arabic-speakers. A 1998 report by UNCHR reported 2 million of them live in Khuzestan Province, most of whom being Shi'a. Sunni Muslim Arabs live along the Persian Gulf coastline. There are smaller communities in Khorasan and Fars provinces. Iranian Arab communities are also found in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Iranian Turkmen

There are over 1 million Turkmen who are primarily concentrated in the provinces of Golestān and North Khorasan.

Iranian Armenians

Main article: Iranian Armenians

The current Iranian-Armenian population is somewhere around 500,000. They mostly live in Tehran and Jolfa district. After the Iranian Revolution, many Armenians immigrated to Armenian diasporic communities in North America and western Europe. Today the Armenians are Iran's largest Christian religious minority.

Iranian Georgians

Main article: Iranian Georgians

Iranian Georgians are an ethnic group living in Iran. They are Twelver Shia Moslems. The Phereidnuli Georgian dialect is still spoken in Iran.

The number of Georgians in Iran is estimated from 50,000 to over 100,000. According to Encyclopaedia Georgiana (1986) some 12,000-14,000 lived in rural Fereydan prior to 1985 but these numbers are obvious underestimations. The Georgian alphabet is also known to some in Fereydunshahr.

The Georgian language is still used by some people in Iran. The center of Georgians in Iran is Fereydunshahr, a small city, 150 km to the west of Isfahan. The western part of Isfahan province is historically called Fereydan. In this area there are 10 Georgian towns and villages around Fereydunshahr. In this region the old Georgian identity is retained the best compared to other places in Iran. In many major Iranian cities, such as Tehran, Esfahan, Karaj and Shiraz live Georgians too.

In many other places such as Najafabad, Rahmatabad, Yazdanshahr and Amir Abad (near Esfahan). In Mazandaran Province in northern Iran, there are ethnic Georgians too. They live in the town of Behshahr, and also in Behshahr county, in Farah Abad, and many other places, which are usually called Gorji Mahalle. Most of them no longer speak the Georgian language, but retain aspects of Georgian culture. Some argue that Iranian Georgians retain remnants of Christian traditions, but there is no evidence for this.

Iranian Jews

Main article: Persian Jews

Judaism is one of the oldest religions practiced in Iran and dates back to the late biblical times. The biblical books of Isaiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles, and Esther contain references to the life and experiences of Jews in Iran.

By various estimates, 10,800 Jews remain in Iran, mostly in Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz. BBC reported Yazd is home to ten Jewish families, six of them related by marriage, however some estimate the number is much higher. Historically, Jews maintained a presence in many more Iranian cities. Iran supports by far the largest Jewish population of any Muslim country.

A number of groups of Jews of Iran have split off since ancient times. They are now recognized as separate communities, such as the Bukharan Jews and Mountain Jews. In addition, there are several thousand in Iran who are, or who are the direct descendants of, Jews who have converted to Islam and the Bahá'í Faith.

Iranian Kazakhs

Main article: Iranian Kazakhs

Iranian Kazakhs live mainly in the Golestan province in northern Iran. According to ethnologue.org, however, there lived 3000 Kazakhs in Iran in 1982 in the city of Gorgan. The number of Iranian Kazakhs might have been slightly higher, because many of them returned to Kazakhstan after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, from where they had immigrated to Iran after the Bolshevik October Revolution."