Demographics of Iran

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Demographics of Iran
Population pyramid of Iran in 2020
Population87,929,883 (2023 est.)
Growth rate0.98% (2022 est.)
Birth rate15.27 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate5.17 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy75.25 years
 • male73.89 years
 • female76.67 years
Fertility rate1.66 children born/woman (2023 official)
Infant mortality rate14.84 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate−0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years24.11%
65 and over5.87%
Sex ratio
Total1.03 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth1.05 male(s)/female
Under 151.05 male(s)/female
65 and over0.77 male(s)/female
Nationality
NationalityIranian
Language
OfficialPersian (Farsi)
Historical population of Iran
Population of Iranian provinces and counties in 2021.

Iran's population increased dramatically during the later half of the 20th century, reaching about 80 million by 2016.[1][2] As of 2022, Iran's population is around 86.5 million.[3] In recent years, however, Iran's birth rate has dropped significantly. Studies project that Iran's rate of population growth will continue to slow until it stabilises above 100 million by 2050.[4][5] Half of Iran's population was under 35 years old in 2012.[6]

In 2009, the number of households stood at 15.3 million (4.8 persons per household).[7] Families earn some 11.8 million rials (about $960) per month on average (2012).[8]

According to the OECD/World Bank statistics population growth in Iran from 1990 to 2008 was 17.6 million and 32%.[9] The literacy rate was 80% in 2002,[10][11] and 85% in 2016.[12] The fertility rate has fallen to 1.6, below the natural replacement rate of 2.1.[13]

Population[edit]

According to the 2016 population census the population of Iran was 79.9 million,[1] a fourfold increase since 1956. Between 1976 and 1986, an average annual population growth of almost 4% was reached, but due to decreasing fertility levels the growth decreased to 1.2% between 2011 and 2016.

Population census results[14]
Census date Population Average annual
growth (%)
Population
density/km2
Proportion
urban (%)
Household size
1956-11-01 18,954,704 12 31.4
1966-11-01 25,785,210 3.13 16 37.5
1976-11-01 33,708,744 2.71 20 47.0 5.02
1986-11-22 49,445,010 3.91 30 54.0 5.11
1996-11-01 60,055,488 2.0 37 61.0 4.84
2006-11-01 70,495,782 1.62 43 68.5 4.03
2011-11-01 75,149,669 1.29 46 71.4 3.55
2016-11-01 79,926,270 1.24 49 74.0 3.3

Vital statistics[edit]

UN estimates[edit]

(2022 estimates).[15]

Population
(on 1 July)
Live births per year Deaths per year Natural change per year crude birth rate1 crude death rate1 natural change1 total fertility rate2 infant mortality rate3
1950 16,833,000 844,000 469 000 375,000 50.1 27.9 22.3 6.95 209.0
1951 17,220,000 863,000 481 000 382,000 50.1 27.9 22.2 6.95 207.3
1952 17,614,000 883,000 485 000 398,000 50.1 27.5 22.6 6.96 203.7
1953 18,018,000 904,000 490 000 414,000 50.1 27.2 23.0 6.98 200.5
1954 18,435,000 925,000 490 000 434,000 50.1 26.6 23.6 7.01 197.2
1955 18,874,000 946,000 491 000 455,000 50.1 26.0 24.1 7.04 192.9
1956 19,332,000 968,000 494 000 474,000 50.0 25.5 24.5 7.08 189.5
1957 19,806,000 996,000 497 000 499,000 50.2 25.1 25.2 7.18 185.8
1958 20,295,000 1,022,000 494 000 528,000 50.3 24.3 26.0 7.28 181.6
1959 20,822,000 1,046,000 494 000 551,000 50.2 23.7 26.5 7.38 177.8
1960 21,389,000 1,049,000 493 000 556,000 49.0 23.1 26.0 7.30 174.0
1961 21,984,000 1,053,000 489 000 564,000 48.0 22.3 25.7 7.23 170.2
1962 22,605,000 1,069,000 500 000 569,000 47.4 22.2 25.2 7.22 167.3
1963 23,259,000 1,082,000 485 000 597,000 46.6 20.9 25.7 7.18 162.8
1964 23,949,000 1,098,000 483 000 615,000 45.9 20.2 25.7 7.13 159.1
1965 24,667,000 1,120,000 482 000 637,000 45.5 19.6 25.9 7.11 155.4
1966 25,399,000 1,145,000 480 000 664,000 45.1 18.9 26.2 7.08 151.6
1967 26,133,000 1,174,000 480 000 694,000 44.9 18.4 26.6 7.05 147.6
1968 26,875,000 1,195,000 487 000 708,000 44.5 18.1 26.4 6.97 144.0
1969 27,644,000 1,220,000 474 000 746,000 44.2 17.2 27.0 6.90 138.9
1970 28,450,000 1,229,000 468 000 761,000 43.2 16.5 26.8 6.71 134.1
1971 29,274,000 1,239,000 459 000 780,000 42.4 15.7 26.7 6.51 128.9
1972 30,112,000 1,237,000 456 000 782,000 41.1 15.1 26.0 6.25 123.8
1973 30,982,000 1,258,000 440 000 818,000 40.6 14.2 26.4 6.11 118.2
1974 31,896,000 1,295,000 433 000 862,000 40.6 13.6 27.0 6.04 113.0
1975 32,857,000 1,339,000 428 000 911,000 40.8 13.0 27.8 6.01 107.7
1976 33,841,000 1,416,000 425 000 991,000 41.8 12.5 29.3 6.14 102.3
1977 34,876,000 1,474,000 421 000 1,053,000 42.3 12.1 30.2 6.20 96.6
1978 35,994,000 1,550,000 446 000 1,104,000 43.1 12.4 30.7 6.33 92.4
1979 37,205,000 1,645,000 411 000 1,234,000 44.2 11.0 33.2 6.53 85.1
1980 38,521,000 1,708,000 422 000 1,286,000 44.4 11.0 33.4 6.58 79.5
1981 40,476,000 1,756,000 463 000 1,293,000 44.1 11.6 32.4 6.56 74.3
1982 42,500,000 1,886,000 467 000 1,419,000 44.4 11.0 33.4 6.55 69.3
1983 44,028,000 1,930,000 458 000 1,472,000 43.9 10.4 33.5 6.51 65.1
1984 45,628,000 1,966,000 420 000 1,546,000 43.1 9.2 33.9 6.44 61.5
1985 47,266,000 1,974,000 415 000 1,559,000 41.8 8.8 33.0 6.26 58.2
1986 48,913,000 1,957,000 409 000 1,547,000 40.0 8.4 31.7 6.01 55.3
1987 50,541,000 1,915,000 407 000 1,507,000 37.9 8.1 29.9 5.69 52.6
1988 52,112,000 1,872,000 399 000 1,473,000 36.0 7.7 28.3 5.39 49.8
1989 53,645,000 1,828,000 358 000 1,470,000 34.1 6.7 27.4 5.11 47.4
1990 55,794,000 1,788,000 395 000 1,393,000 32.5 7.2 25.3 4.86 46.5
1991 57,991,000 1,790,000 359 000 1,431,000 30.9 6.2 24.7 4.51 43.1
1992 59,372,000 1,697,000 358 000 1,340,000 28.5 6.0 22.5 4.08 41.3
1993 59,755,000 1,579,000 352 000 1,227,000 26.1 5.8 20.3 3.68 39.8
1994 59,986,000 1,367,000 340 000 1,027,000 22.8 5.7 17.1 3.27 38.2
1995 60,795,000 1,244,000 335 000 908,000 20.4 5.5 14.9 2.89 36.8
1996 61,598,000 1,145,000 333 000 811,000 18.6 5.4 13.2 2.57 35.4
1997 62,481,000 1,081,000 334 000 747,000 17.3 5.4 12.0 2.33 34.0
1998 63,461,000 1,064,000 336 000 727,000 16.8 5.3 11.5 2.20 32.5
1999 64,475,000 1,065,000 333 000 732,000 16.6 5.2 11.4 2.10 31.0
2000 65,544,000 1,071,000 337 000 735,000 16.4 5.2 11.2 2.02 29.5
2001 66,675,000 1,082,000 344 000 738,000 16.3 5.2 11.1 1.94 28.1
2002 67,327,000 1,086,000 345 000 742,000 16.1 5.1 11.0 1.87 26.4
2003 67,955,000 1,081,000 370 000 712,000 16.0 5.5 10.5 1.82 25.6
2004 69,062,000 1,107,000 345 000 762,000 16.1 5.0 11.1 1.80 23.4
2005 70,183,000 1,134,000 348 000 786,000 16.2 5.0 11.2 1.78 21.9
2006 71,276,000 1,173,000 349 000 824,000 16.5 4.9 11.6 1.77 20.6
2007 72,319,000 1,221,000 350 000 872,000 16.9 4.8 12.1 1.77 19.4
2008 73,318,000 1,265,000 369 000 896,000 17.3 5.0 12.2 1.77 18.2
2009 74,323,000 1,304,000 381 000 923,000 17.5 5.1 12.4 1.77 17.2
2010 75,374,000 1,337,000 385 000 953,000 17.8 5.1 12.6 1.77 16.3
2011 76,343,000 1,388,000 381 000 1,008,000 18.2 5.0 13.2 1.80 15.5
2012 77,324,000 1,464,000 378 000 1,085,000 18.9 4.9 14.0 1.89 14.8
2013 78,459,000 1,526,000 385 000 1,141,000 19.4 4.9 14.5 1.96 14.2
2014 79,962,000 1,579,000 391 000 1,188,000 19.8 4.9 14.9 2.04 13.6
2015 81,791,000 1,583,000 395 000 1,188,000 19.4 4.8 14.6 2.05 13.1
2016 83,306,000 1,584,000 394 000 1,190,000 19.0 4.7 14.3 2.07 12.6
2017 84,505,000 1,572,000 396 000 1,176,000 18.6 4.7 13.9 2.07 12.2
2018 85,618,000 1,475,000 404 000 1,071,000 17.2 4.7 12.5 1.97 11.8
2019 86,564,000 1,308,000 421 000 886,000 15.1 4.9 10.2 1.77 11.4
2020 87,290,000 1,243,000 486 000 757,000 14.2 5.6 8.7 1.71 11.0
2021 87,923,000 1,204,000 566 000 638,000 13.7 6.4 7.3 1.69 10.7

1per 1000; 2 TFR = number of children per woman; 3per 1000 births

Registered births and deaths[edit]

(2001 statistics)[16][17] [18]

Average population Live births Deaths Natural change Crude birth rate (per 1000) Crude death rate (per 1000) Natural change (per 1000) Total Fertility Rate
1959 864,846 176,268 688,578
1960 876,206 171,040 705,166
1961 902,260 159,371 742,889
1962 957,500 165,488 792,012
1963 920,967 135,912 785,055
1964 1,118,911 145,174 973,737
1965 1,139,663 171,940 967,723
1966 1,101,606 178,991 922,615
1967 1,019,373 179,159 840,214
1968 1,037,022 174,201 862,821
1969 1,091,513 167,660 923,853
1970 1,189,203 163,430 1,025,773
1971 1,231,227 149,325 1,081,902
1972 1,138,843 153,568 985,275
1973 1,199,777 155,081 1,044,696
1974 1,248,256 149,785 1,098,471
1975 1,339,267 148,543 1,190,724
1976 1,401,426 155,981 1,245,445
1977 1,399,977 146,369 1,253,608
1978 1,369,597 127,587 1,242,010
1979 1,689,908 142,402 1,547,506
1980 2,450,308 162,176 2,288,132
1981 2,421,611 178,099 2,243,512
1982 2,101,894 200,614 1,901,280
1983 2,203,448 207,228 1,996,220
1984 2,067,803 186,440 1,881,363
1985 2,033,285 190,061 1,843,224
1986 2,259,055 199,511 2,059,544
1987 1,832,089 204,230 1,627,859
1988 1,944,149 238,390 1,705,759
1989 1,784,811 199,645 1,585,166
1990 1,722,977 217,597 1,505,380
1991 1,582,931 217,637 1,365,294
1992 1,433,243 188,647 1,244,596
1993 1,388,017 208,161 1,179,856
1994 1,426,784 3.50
1995 1,205,372 3.22
1996 1,187,903 2.95
1997 1,179,260 2.73
1998 1,185,639 551,345 634,294 2.53
1999 62,738,000 1,177,557 374,838 802,719 18.8 6.0 12.8 2.36
2000 63,658,000 1,095,165 382,674 712,491 17.2 6.0 11.2 2.19
2001 64,592,000 1,110,836 421,525 689,311 17.2 6.5 10.7 2.09
2002 65,540,000 1,122,104 337,237 784,867 17.1 5.1 12.0 2.01
2003 66,480,000 1,171,573 368,518 803,055 17.6 5.5 12.1 1.92
2004 67,477,000 1,154,368 355,213 799,155 17.1 5.3 11.8 1.87
2005 69,672,000 1,239,408 363,723 875,685 18.1 5.3 12.8 1.82
2006 70,554,000 1,253,912 408,566 845,346 17.8 5.8 12.0 1.79
2007 71,336,000 1,286,716 412,736 873,980 18.0 5.8 12.2 1.81
2008 72,120,000 1,300,166 417,798 882,368 17.9 5.8 12.2 1.80
2009 72,924,000 1,348,546 393,514 955,032 18.3 5.3 13.0 1.78
2010 73,762,000 1,363,542 441,042 922,500 18.3 5.9 12.4 1.77
2011 74,634,000 1,382,229 422,133 960,096 18.3 5.6 12.7 1.74
2012 75,539,000 1,421,689 367,512 1,054,177 18.7 4.8 13.9 1.73
2013 76,481,000 1,471,834 372,279 1,099,555 19.1 4.8 14.3 1.70
2014 77,465,000 1,534,362 446,333 1,088,029 19.8 5.8 14.0 1.68
2015 78,492,000 1,570,219 374,827 1,195,392 20.0 4.8 15.2 2.16
2016 79,926,000 1,528,053 388,792 1,139,261 19.2 4.9 14.3 2.11
2017 80,960,000 1,487,923 369,751 1,118,172 19.0 4.6 14.4 2.07
2018 81,865,000 1,366,519 376,731 989,788 16.9 4.6 12.3 1.97
2019 82,585,000 1,196,132 395,319 800,813 14.4 4.8 9.6 1.77
2020 83,220,000 1,114,128 511,881 602,247 13.4 6.2 7.5 1.71
2021 83,935,000 1,116,212 544,517 571,695 13.2 6.4 6.8 1.74
2022 1,075,381 1.66

Current vital statistics[edit]

[19]

Period Live births Deaths Natural increase
March 21 2021 – December 21 2021 844,723 428,549 +416,174
March 21 2022 – December 21 2022 810,877 313,545 +497,332
Difference Decrease -33,846 (-4.0%) Positive decrease -115,004 (-26.8%) Increase +81,158
Age group Number(2006) Percentage(2006) Number(2011) Percentage(2011)
Total 70,495,782 100 75,149,669 100
0–4 5,463,978 7.75 6,232,552 8.29
5–9 5,509,057 7.81 5,657,791 7.53
10–14 6,708,591 9.52 5,671,435 7.55
15–19 8,726,761 12.38 6,607,043 8.79
20–24 9,011,422 12.78 8,414,497 11.20
25–29 7,224,952 10.25 8,672,654 11.54
30–34 5,553,531 7.88 6,971,924 9.28
35–39 4,921,124 6.98 5,571,018 7.41
40–44 4,089,158 5.80 4,906,749 6.53
45–49 3,522,761 5.00 4,030,481 5.36
50–54 2,755,420 3.91 3,527,408 4.69
55–59 1,887,981 2.68 2,680,119 3.57
60–64 1,464,452 2.08 1,862,907 2.48
65–69 1,197,550 1.70 1,343,731 1.79
70–74 1,119,318 1.59 1,119,968 1.49
75–79 694,122 0.98 913,531 1.22
80+ 645,601 0.92 919,539 1.22
Unclear 46,322 0.06
Number of children 0–14 Number of people 15–49 Proportion Number of women 15–49 Proportion
17,681,629 (2006) 43,049,709 (2006) 0.4107 (2006) ~21,524,855 (2006) 0.8215 (2006)
17,561,778 (2011) 45,174,366 (2011) 0.3888 (2011) ~22,587,183 (2011) 0.7775 (2011)

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020) (Data refer to the Iranian Year which begins on 21 March and ends on 20 March of the following year.):[20]

Age Group Male Female Total %
Total 42,484,186 41,553,414 84,037,600 100
0–4 3,751,160 3,584,640 7,335,800 8.73
5–9 3,644,823 3,453,109 7,097,932 8.45
10–14 3,195,837 3,043,160 6,238,997 7.42
15–19 2,850,201 2,723,069 5,573,270 6.63
20–24 2,817,236 2,715,743 5,532,979 6.58
25–29 3,398,106 3,322,934 6,721,040 8.00
30–34 4,246,233 4,166,179 8,412,412 10.01
35–39 4,226,366 4,147,771 8,374,137 9.96
40–44 3,375,662 3,271,031 6,646,693 7.91
45–49 2,687,892 2,591,386 5,279,278 6.28
50–54 2,321,552 2,270,429 4,591,981 5.46
55–59 1,841,337 1,847,872 3,689,209 4.39
60–64 1,510,299 1,557,919 3,068,218 3.65
65–69 1,058,091 1,138,129 2,196,220 2.61
70–74 640 098 748 890 1,388,988 1.65
75–79 415 623 459 393 875 016 1.04
80+ 503 670 511 760 1,015,430 1.21
Age group Male Female Total Percent
0–14 10,591,820 10,080,909 20,672,729 24.60
15–64 29,274,884 28,614,333 57,889,217 68.88
65+ 2,617,482 2,858,172 5,475,654 6.52
Year 0–14 15–64 65+
1976 44.5 52 3.5
1985 45.5 51.5 3
1996 39.5 56.1 4.3
2006 25.1 (17,681,629) 69.7 (49,157,562) 5.2 (3,656,591)
2011 23.4 (17,561,778) 70.9 (53,297,122) 5.7 (4,290,769)
2016 24.0 (19,192,665) 69.9 (55,862,087) 6.1 (4,871,518)

Table 9 – Population and Average Annual Growth by Provinces: 2006 and 2011

Province 2006 2011 Average annual growth
Alborz 2,076,991 2,412,513 3.04
Ardabil 1,228,155 1,248,488 0.33
Bushehr 886,267 1,032,949 3.11
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari 857,910 895,263 0.86
East Azerbaijan 3,603,456 3,724,620 0.66
Fars 4,336,878 4,596,658 1.17
Gilan 2,404,861 2,480,874 0.62
Golestan 1,617,087 1,777,014 1.90
Hamadan 1,703,267 1,758,268 0.64
Hormozgan 1,403,674 1,578,183 2.37
Ilam 545,787 557,599 0.43
Isfahan 4,559,256 4,879,312 1.37
Kerman 2,652,413 2,938,988 2.07
Kermanshah 1,879,385 1,945,227 0.69
Khuzestan 4,274,979 4,531,720 1.17
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad 634,299 658,629 0.76
Kurdistan 1,440,156 1,493,645 0.73
Lorestan 1,716,527 1,754,243 0.44
Markazi 1,351,257 1,413,959 0.91
Mazandaran 2,922,432 3,073,943 1.02
North Khorasan 811,572 867,727 1.35
Qazvin 1,143,200 1,201,565 1.00
Qom 1,046,737 1,151,672 1.93
Razavi Khorasan 5,593,079 5,994,402 1.40
Semnan 589,742 631,218 1.37
Sistan and Baluchestan 2,405,742 2,534,327 1.05
South Khorasan 636,420 662,534 0.81
Tehran 11,345,375 12,183,391 1.44
West Azerbaijan 2,873,459 3,080,576 1.40
Yazd 990,818 1,074,428 1.63
Zanjan 964,601 1,015,734 1.04
Total 70,495,782 75,149,669 1.29

1 The population of the provinces of Alborz and Tehran for 2006 and their average annual growth have been calculated based on the data of 2011.

Unofficial Translation 17

Table 10 – Population Percentages by Province: 2006 and 2011 (Percentage)

Province 2006 2011
Alborz 2.95 3.21
Ardabil 1.74 1.66
Bushehr 1.26 1.37
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari 1.22 1.19
East Azerbaijan 5.11 4.96
Fars 6.15 6.12
Gilan 3.41 3.30
Golestan 2.29 2.36
Hamadan 2.42 2.34
Hormozgan 1.99 2.10
Ilam 0.77 0.74
Isfahan 6.47 6.49
Kerman 3.76 3.91
Kermanshah 2.67 2.59
Khuzestan 6.06 6.03
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad 0.90 0.88
Kurdistan 2.04 1.99
Lorestan 2.43 2.33
Markazi 1.92 1.88
Mazandaran 4.15 4.09
North Khorasan 1.15 1.15
Qazvin 1.62 1.60
Qom 1.48 1.53
Razavi Khorasan 7.93 7.98
Semnan 0.84 0.84
Sistan and Baluchestan 3.41 3.37
South Khorasan 0.90 0.88
Tehran 16.09 16.21
West Azerbaijan 4.08 4.10
Yazd 1.41 1.43
Zanjan 1.37 1.35
Total 100 100

1 The population of the provinces of Alborz and Tehran for 2006 and their average annual growth have been calculated based on the data of 2011.

Languages and ethnic groups[edit]

Colour-coded map of Iran's ethnic groups. The centre of the country is mostly Persians; Azerbaijanis, Gilaks, Kurds, and Talysh are in the northwest; Lurs, Qashqai and Arabs in the southwest; Turkmens and more Kurds in the northeast; Balochis in the southeast.

The largest linguistic group comprises speakers of Iranian languages, like modern Persian, Kurdish, Gilaki, Mazandarani, Luri, Talysh, and Balochi. Speakers of Turkic languages, most notably Azerbaijanis, which is by far the second-most spoken language in the country, but also the Turkmen, and the Qashqai peoples, comprise a substantial minority. The remainder are primarily speakers of Semitic languages such as Arabic and Assyrian. A small number of Mandaeans in Khuzestan speak Mandaic. There are small groups using other Indo-European languages such as Armenian and Russian; also, Georgian (a member of the Kartvelian language family) is spoken in a large pocket only by those Iranian Georgians that live in Fereydan, Fereydunshahr. Most of those Georgians who live in the north Iranian provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, Isfahan, Tehran Province and the rest of Iran no longer speak the language. The Circassians in Iran, a very large minority in the past and speakers of the Circassian language, have been strongly assimilated and absorbed within the population in the past few centuries. However, significant pockets do exist spread over the country, and they are the second-largest Caucasus-derived group in the nation after the Georgians.[21][22]

Jews have had a continuous presence in Iran since the time of Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire. In 1948, there were approximately 140,000–150,000 Jews living in Iran. According to the Tehran Jewish Committee, the Jewish population of Iran was (more recently) estimated at 25,000 to 35,000, of which approximately 15,000 are in Tehran with the rest residing in Hamadan, Shiraz, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Yazd, Kerman, Rafsanjan, Borujerd, Sanandaj, Tabriz and Urmia. However, the official 2011 state census recorded only 8,756 Jews in Iran.[23]

The CIA World Factbook (which is based on 2013 statistics) gives the following numbers for the languages spoken in Iran today: Persian, Luri, Gilaki and Mazandarani 66%; Azerbaijani and other Turkic languages 18%; Kurdish 10%; Arabic 2%; Balochi 2%; others 2% (Armenian, Georgian, Circassian, Assyrian, etc.).[24]

According to anthropologist Brian Spooner, around half of Iran's population uses a language other than Persian at home and in informal public situations.[25]

Other sources, such as the Library of Congress, and the Encyclopedia of Islam (Leiden)[26] give Iran's ethnic groups as following: Persians 65%, Azerbaijanis 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, Georgians, Assyrians, Circassians) less than 1%.[27] For sources prior to and after 2000, see Languages and ethnicities in Iran.

Urban population[edit]

Evolution of Iran population divided into urban and rural population
Provinces of Iran by population density in 2013

In addition to its international migration pattern, Iran also exhibits one of the steepest urban growth rates in the world according to the UN humanitarian information unit. According to 2015 population estimates, approximately 73.4 per cent of Iran's population lives in urban areas, up from 27 per cent in 1950.[28]

The following is a list of the eight most populous cities in the country:

Rank City Province population
City[29] Metro[30]
1 Tehran Tehran 8,693,706 14,700,000
2 Mashhad Razavi Khorasan 3,001,184 3,100,000
3 Isfahan Isfahan 1,961,260 3,100,000
4 Karaj Alborz 1,592,492 2,500,000
5 Shiraz Fars 1,565,572 1,700,000
6 Tabriz East Azarbaijan 1,588,693 1,760,000
7 Qom Qom 1,201,158 1,240,000
8 Ahvaz Khuzestan 1,184,788 1,320,000

Religious affiliations[edit]

Religion in Iran by CIA

  Shia Islam (94.1%)
  Sunni Islam (5.3%)
  Other/Unspecifed (0.6%)
The entrance to Shah Mosque (aka Imam Mosque or Shah Jame' Mosque) in Isfahan. This mosque is a prominent example of Persian architecture during the Safavid dynasty.
Population of Iran according to religion 1956–2011 per the UN[14][16]
Religion census 1956 census 1966 census 1976 census 2006 census 2011
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Muslims 18,654,127 98.4 24,771,922 98.8 33,396,908 99.1 70,097,741 99.4 74,682,938 99.4
Christians 114,528 0.6 149,427 0.6 168,593 0.5 109,415 0.2 117,704 0.2
Zoroastrians 15,723 0.1 19,816 0.1 21,400 0.1 19,823 0.0 25,271 0.0
Jews 65,232 0.3 60,683 0.2 62,258 0.2 9,252 0.0 8,756 0.0
Other 59,256 0.3 77,075 0.3 54,234 0.1 49,101 0.1
Unknown 45,838 0.2 59,583 0.2 205,317 0.3 265,899 0.4

About 99% of the Iranians are Muslims; 90% belong to the Shi'a branch of Islam, the official state religion, and about 9% belong to the Sunni branch, which predominates in neighbouring Muslim countries.[11] Less than 1% non-Muslim minorities include Christians, Zoroastrians, Jews, Baháʼís, Mandaeans, and Yarsan. By far the largest group of Christians in Iran are Armenians under the Armenian Apostolic Church which has between 110,000,[31] 250,000,[32] and 300,000,[33] adherents. There are hundreds of Christian churches in Iran.[citation needed] The Baháʼí Faith, Iran's largest non-Muslim religious minority with a population around 300,000, is not officially recognised (and therefore not included in the census results), and has been persecuted since its inception in Iran. Since the 1979 revolution the persecution of Baháʼís has increased with executions, the denial of civil rights and liberties, and the denial of access to higher education and employment.[34][35] Unofficial estimates for the Assyrian Christian population range between 20,000,[36][37] and 70,000.[38][39] The number of Iranian Mandaeans is a matter of dispute. In 2009, there were an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 Mandaeans in Iran, according to the Associated Press.[40] Whereas Alarabiya has put the number of Iranian Mandaeans as high as 60,000 in 2011.[41]

Iranian citizens abroad[edit]

The term "Iranian citizens abroad" or " Iranian/Persian diaspora" refers to the Iranian people and their children born in Iran but living outside of Iran. Migrant Iranian workers abroad remitted less than two billion dollars home in 2006.[42]

As of 2010, there are about four to five million Iranians living abroad, mostly in the United States, Canada, Europe, Persian Gulf States, Turkey, Australia and the broader Middle East.[28][43] According to the 2000 Census and other independent surveys, there are an estimated 1 million Iranian-Americans living in the U.S., in particular, the Los Angeles area is estimated to be host to approximately 72,000 Iranians, earning the Westwood area of LA the nickname Tehrangeles.[44] Other metropolises that have large Iranian populations include Dubai with 300,000 Iranians, Vancouver, London, Toronto, San Francisco Bay Area, Washington D.C., Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Stockholm, Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt. Their combined net worth is estimated to be $1.3 trillion.[45]

Note that this differs from the other Iranian peoples living in other areas of Greater Iran, who are of related ethnolinguistical family, speaking languages belonging to the Iranian languages which is a branch of Indo-European languages.

Refugee population[edit]

Iran hosts one of the largest refugee population in the world, with more than one million refugees, mostly from Afghanistan (80%) and Iraq (10%). Since 2006, Iranian officials have been working with the UNHCR and Afghan officials for their repatriation.[46][47] Between 1979 and 1997, UNHCR spent more than US$1 billion on Afghan refugees in Pakistan but only $150 million on those in Iran. In 1999, the Iranian government estimated the cost of maintaining its refugee population at US$10 million per day, compared with the US$18 million UNHCR allocated for all of its operations in Iran in 1999.[47] As of 2016, some 300,000 work permits have been issued for foreign nationals in Iran.[48]

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics[edit]

Net Iranian migration (1979–2008). A positive value represents more people entering Iran than leaving it

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.[49]

Age structure[50]

0–14 years: 24.11% (male 10,472,844/female 10,000,028)
15–24 years: 13.36% (male 5,806,034/female 5,537,561)
25–54 years: 48.94% (male 21,235,038/female 20,327,384)
55–64 years: 7.72% (male 3,220,074/female 3,337,420)
65 years and over: 5.87% (male 2,316,677/female 2,670,254) (2020 est.)

Median age

total: 31.7 years
male: 31.5 years
female: 32 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate

1.03% (2021 est.)

Birth rate

15.78 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Death rate

5.14 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 76.3% of total population (2021)
rate of urbanisation: 1.32% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Life expectancy in Iran since 1950
Life expectancy in Iran since 1960 by gender

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female
total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 75.06 years
male: 73.71 years
female: 76.48 years (2021 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.93 children born/woman (2021 est.)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 85.5%
male: 90.4%
female: 80.8% (2016)

Genetics[edit]

Haplogroups[edit]

Y-chromosome DNA[edit]

Y-Chromosome DNA Y-DNA represents the male lineage, the Iranian Y-chromosome pool is as follows where haplogroups, R1 (25%), J2 (23%) G (14%), J1 (8%) E1b1b (5%), L (4%), Q (4%), comprise more than 85% of the total chromosomes.[51]

Haplogroup[52] n B C E1b1a E1b1b1a2 E1b1b1a3 E1b1b1c F G H I J1 J2 K L N O P,R Q R1a R1b R1b1a R1b1b R2 T
Marker M2 V13 V22 M34 M343 V88 M269 M70
Iran 566 0.53 0.18 1.41 1.77 1.8 0.88 0.35 14.00 2.65 0.8 8.13 23.86 0.71 4.00 2.12 1.41 0.71 4.01 17.49 1.24 0.35 6.18 1.41 2.12

Mitochondrial DNA[edit]

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) represents the female lineage. West Eurasian mtDNA makes up over 90% of the Iranian population on average. (2013).[53]

Among them, U3b3 lineages appear to be restricted to populations of Iran and the Caucasus, while the sub-cluster U3b1a is common in the whole Near East region.[53]

In Iran outliers in the Y-chromosomes and Mitochondrial DNA gene pool are consisted of the north Iranian ethnicities, such as the Gilaks and Mazandarani's, whose genetic build up including chromosomal DNA are nearly identical to the major South Caucasian ethnicities, namely the Georgians, Armenians and Azerbaijani's. Other outliers are made by the Baloch people, representing a mere 1–2% of the total Iranian population, who have more patrilinial and mitochondrial DNA lines leaning towards northwest South Asian ethnic groups.

Levels of genetic variation in Iranian populations are comparable to the other groups from the Caucasus, Anatolia and Europe.[53]

Autosomal DNA[edit]

A large-scale genetic analyses on various ethnic groups of Iran, published in 2019, found that genetically speaking different Iranian ethnic groups, such as Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Lurs, Mazanderanis, Gilaks and Arabs, cluster tightly together, forming a single cluster known as the "CIC" (Central Iranian cluster). Compared with worldwide populations, Iranians (CIC) cluster in the center of the wider West Eurasian cluster, close to Europeans, Middle Easterners, and South-Central Asians. Iranian Arabs and Turkic-speaking Azeris genetically overlap with Iranian-speaking peoples such as Persians. The genetic substructure of Iranians was found to be low, compared with other "1000G" populations. Iranians display their highest genetic affinity with other Southwest and West Asian populations, followed by Europeans and Central Asian groups. Certain South Asians (specifically the Parsi minority) showed the highest affinity with Iranians, inline with their ethnic history. Overall, the study results suggest that the genetic makeup of the Iranian gene pool formed already about 5,000 years ago and shows high continuity since then, suggesting that they were largely unaffected by migration events from outside groups. On a global scale, Iranians display their highest affinity with other "West Eurasian" populations (such as Europeans or South Asians, but also Latin Americans), while Sub-Saharan Africans and East Asians showed large degrees of differentiation with Iranians.[54]

People of Iranian ancestry[edit]

Tats (Caucasus)[edit]

The "Tats" are an Iranian people, presently living within Azerbaijan and Russia (mainly Southern Dagestan). The Tats are part of the indigenous peoples of Iranian origin in the Caucasus.[55][56][57]

Tats use the Tat language, a southwestern Iranian language and a variety of Persian[58][59][60][61][62] Azerbaijani and Russian are also spoken. Tats are mainly Shia Muslims, with a significant Sunni Muslim minority. Likely the ancestors of modern Tats settled in South Caucasus when the Sassanid Empire from the 3rd to 7th centuries built cities and founded military garrisons to strengthen their positions in this region.[63]

Parsis[edit]

The Parsis are the close-knit Zoroastrian community based primarily in India but also found in Pakistan. Parsis are descended from Persian Zoroastrians who emigrated to the Indian subcontinent over 1,000 years ago. Indian census data (2001) records 69,601 Parsis in India, with a concentration in and around the city of Mumbai (previously known as Bombay). There are approximately 8,000 Parsis elsewhere on the subcontinent, with an estimated 2,500 Parsis in the city of Karachi and approximately 50 Parsi families in Sri Lanka. The number of Parsis worldwide is estimated to be fewer than 100,000 (Eliade, 1991:254).

Iranis[edit]

In Pakistan and India, the term "Irani" has come to denote Iranian Zoroastrians who have migrated to Pakistan and India within the last two centuries, as opposed to most Parsis who arrived in India over 1000 years ago. Many of them moved during the Qajar era, when persecution of Iranian Zoroastrians was rampant. They are culturally and linguistically closer to the Zoroastrians of Iran. Unlike the Parsis, they speak a Dari dialect, the language spoken by the Iranian Zoroastrians in Yazd and Kerman. Their last names often resemble modern Iranian names, however Irani is a common surname among them. In India they are mostly located in modern-day Mumbai while in Pakistan they are mostly located in modern-day Karachi. In both Pakistan and India, they are famous for their restaurants and tea-houses.[64] Some, such as Ardeshir Irani, have also become very famous in cinema.

Ajam (Bahrain)[edit]

The "Ajam" are an ethnic community of Bahrain, of Iranian origin. They have traditionally been merchants living in specific quarters of Manama and Muharraq. The Iranians who adhere to Shiite sect of Islam are Ajam, and they are different from the Huwala. Ajams are also a large percentage of the populace in UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman.

In addition to this, many names of ancient villages in Bahrain are of Persian origin. It is believed that these names were given during the Safavid rule of Bahrain (1501–1722). i.e. Karbabad, Salmabad, Karzakan, Duraz, Barbar, which indicates that the history of Ajams is much older.

Huwala[edit]

Huwala are the descendants of Persians and Arab-Persians who belong to the Sunni sect of Islam.[65] Huwala migrated from Ahvaz in Iran to the Persian Gulf in the seventeenth and eighteenth century.[65][66]

Recent immigration[edit]

Most of the large Circassian migrational waves towards mainland Iran stem from the Safavid and Qajar era, however a certain amount also stem from the relatively recent arrivals that migrated as the Circassians were displaced from the Caucasus in the 19th century. A Black African population exists due to historical slavery. A substantial number of Russians arrived in the early 20th century as refugees from the Russian Revolution, but their number has dwindled following the Iran crisis of 1946 and the Iranian Revolution. In the 20th to 21st centuries, there has been limited immigration to Iran from Turkey, Iraq (especially huge numbers during the 1970s known as Moaveds), Afghanistan (mostly arriving as refugees in 1978), Lebanon (especially in Qom, though a Lebanese community has been present in the nation for centuries), India (mostly arriving temporarily during the 1950s to 1970s, typically working as doctors, engineers, and teachers), Korea (mostly in the 1970s as labour migrants), China (mostly since the 2000s working in engineering or business projects), and Pakistan, partly due to labour migrants and partly to Balochi ties across the Iranian-Pakistani border. About 200,000 Iraqis arrived as refugees in 2003,[citation needed] mostly living in refugee camps near the border; an unknown number of these has since returned to Iraq.

Over the same period, there has also been substantial emigration from Iran, especially since the Iranian revolution (see Iranian diaspora, Human capital flight from Iran, Jewish exodus from Iran), especially to the United States, Canada, Germany, Israel, and Sweden.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Iran Census Results 2016 Archived 23 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine United Nations
  2. ^ Asia-Pacific Population Journal, United Nations. "A New Direction in Population Policy and Family Planning in the Islamic Republic of Iran". Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2006.
  3. ^ "Iran Population (2021) – Worldometer".
  4. ^ "International Programs". census.gov. Archived from the original on 29 April 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  5. ^ Iran News, Payvand.com. "Iran's population growth rate falls to 1.5 percent: UNFP". Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2006.
  6. ^ "International News". ABC News. 30 November 2012. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  7. ^ "Iran". Iran economy: Social indicators & living standards. Economist Intelligence Unit. 23 June 2009.
  8. ^ "Central bank: Income equality improved in Iran". Tehran Times. Archived from the original on 15 November 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  9. ^ CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion Archived 12 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine Population 1971–2008 (pdf Archived 6 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine pages 83–85) IEA (OECD/ World Bank) original population ref e.g. in IEA Key World Energy Statistics 2010 page 57)
  10. ^ UNDP.org Archived 22 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine Table H
  11. ^ a b "CIA – The World Factbook". Cia.gov. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  12. ^ "The World Factbook". cia.gov. 6 May 2019.
  13. ^ "Iran's fertility rate alarmingly low". Tehran Times. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  14. ^ a b Iran Census Results 2011 Archived 23 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine United Nations
  15. ^ United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2022). "World Population Prospects 2022 Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XLS (91MB)). United Nations Population Division. 27 (Online ed.). New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. rows 7709:7780, cols M,X,AE,S,AH,S,AA,AV,AI. Archived from the original on 9 August 2022.
  16. ^ a b "United Nations Statistics Division – Demographic and Social Statistics". United Nations. Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  17. ^ ".:: National Organization for Civil Registration-Home ::". sabteahval.ir. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  18. ^ "Census 2016".
  19. ^ "دفتر آمار و اطلاعات جمعیتی و مهاجرت". Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  20. ^ "Demographic Yearbook – 2020". New York: United Nations Statistics Division. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  21. ^ Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East Archived 14 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine Facts On File, Incorporated ISBN 143812676X p 141
  22. ^ "Circassian (people)". Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  23. ^ "Jewish woman brutally murdered in Iran over property dispute". The Times of Israel. 28 November 2012. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014. A government census published earlier this year indicated there were a mere 8,756 Jews left in Iran
  24. ^ "The World Factbook – Iran". Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  25. ^ Brian Spooner (2012). "PERSIAN, FARSI, DARI, TAJIKI: LANGUAGE NAMES AND LANGUAGE POLICIES". In Schiffman, Harold (ed.). Language Policy and Language Conflict in Afghanistan and Its Neighbors. Brill. p. 89.
  26. ^ See Iran in Encyclopedia of Islam, Leiden. C.E. Bosworth (editor)
  27. ^ Curtis, Glenn E.; Hooglund, Eric (May 2008). "Country Profile: Iran" (PDF). Library of Congress – Federal Research Division. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
  28. ^ a b "Statistical Center of Iran". Migrationinformation.org. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  29. ^ "Statistical Center of Iran > Home".
  30. ^ "Major Agglomerations of the World – Population Statistics and Maps". citypopulation.de. 13 September 2018. Archived from the original on 13 September 2018.
  31. ^ "In Iran, 'crackdown' on Christians worsens". Christian Examiner. Washington D.C. April 2009. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  32. ^ Price, Massoume (December 2002). "History of Christians and Christianity in Iran". Christianity in Iran. FarsiNet Inc. Archived from the original on 22 March 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  33. ^ "In Iran, 'crackdown' on Christians worsens". Christian Examiner. Washington D.C. April 2009. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  34. ^ International Federation for Human Rights (1 August 2003). "Discrimination against religious minorities in Iran" (PDF). fdih.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 October 2006. Retrieved 19 March 2007.
  35. ^ Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (2007). "A Faith Denied: The Persecution of the Baháʼís of Iran" (PDF). Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2007.
  36. ^ "انتقال مقر جهاني آشوريان به ايران". jamejamonline.ir. Archived from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  37. ^ "ASSYRIANS IN IRAN". iranicaonline.org. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  38. ^ Hooglund, Eric (2008). "The Society and Its Environment" (PDF). In Curtis, Glenn E.; Hooglund, Eric (eds.). Iran: A Country Study. Area Handbook Series. United States Library of Congress, Federal Research Division (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. pp. 81–142. ISBN 978-0-8444-1187-3. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  39. ^ BetBasoo, Peter (1 April 2007). "Brief History of Assyrians". Assyrian International News Agency. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  40. ^ Contrera, Russell. "Saving the people, killing the faith – Holland, MI". The Holland Sentinel. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
  41. ^ "Iran Mandaeans in exile following persecution". Al Arabiya. 6 December 2011. Archived from the original on 31 July 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
  42. ^ Iran Daily – Domestic Economy – 10/22/07 Archived 25 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  43. ^ "Iran: Coping With The World's Highest Rate Of Brain Drain". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty.[permanent dead link]
  44. ^ "Iranian-Americans cast ballots on Iran's future". CNN. 16 June 2009. Archived from the original on 17 August 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  45. ^ Iran Daily – Domestic Economy – 02/14/07 Archived 6 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  46. ^ "Tripartite meeting on returns to Afghanistan". United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2006.
  47. ^ a b "Migration Information Source – Iran: A Vast Diaspora Abroad and Millions of Refugees at Home". Migrationinformation.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  48. ^ "300K Foreigners Have Work Permits". 26 December 2016. Archived from the original on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  49. ^ "The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". cia.gov. Retrieved 30 May 2007.
  50. ^ "Iran Demographics Profile".
  51. ^ Regueiro et al. 2006, Nasidze et al. 2008
  52. ^ Bekada A, Fregel R, Cabrera VM, Larruga JM, Pestano J, et al. (2013) Introducing the Algerian Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosome Profiles into the North African Landscape Archived 22 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine. PLoS ONE 8(2): e56775. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0056775
  53. ^ a b c Miroslava Derenko; Boris Malyarchuk; Ardeshir Bahmanimehr; Galina Denisova; Maria Perkova; Shirin Farjadian; Levon Yepiskoposyan (November 2013). "Complete Mitochondrial DNA Diversity in Iranians". PLOS ONE. 8 (11): e80673. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...880673D. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0080673. PMC 3828245. PMID 24244704.
  54. ^ Mehrjoo, Zohreh; Fattahi, Zohreh; Beheshtian, Maryam; Mohseni, Marzieh; Poustchi, Hossein; Ardalani, Fariba; Jalalvand, Khadijeh; Arzhangi, Sanaz; Mohammadi, Zahra; Khoshbakht, Shahrouz; Najafi, Farid (24 September 2019). "Distinct genetic variation and heterogeneity of the Iranian population". PLOS Genetics. 15 (9): e1008385. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1008385. ISSN 1553-7404. PMC 6759149. PMID 31550250. Seven groups (Iranian Arabs, Azeris, Gilaks, Kurds, Mazanderanis, Lurs and Persians) strongly overlapped in their overall autosomal diversity in an MDS analysis (Fig 1B), suggesting the existence of a Central Iranian Cluster (CIC), notably also including Iranian Arabs and Azeris. On a global scale (Fig 2 including "Old World" populations only; see S2 Fig for all 1000G populations), CIC Iranians closely clustered with Europeans, while Iranian Turkmen showed similar yet distinct degrees of admixture compared to other South Asians. A local comparison corroborated the distinct genetic diversity of CIC Iranians relative to other geographically close populations [2, 6, 44] (Fig 3 and S3 Fig). Still, genetic substructure was much smaller among Iranian groups than in relation to any of the 1000G populations, supporting the view that the CIC groups form a distinct genetic entity, despite internal heterogeneity. European (FST~0.0105–0.0294), South Asians (FST~0.0141–0.0338), but also some Latin American populations (Puerto Ricans: FST~0.0153–0.0228; Colombians: FST~0.0170–0.0261) were closest to Iranians, whereas Sub-Saharan Africans and admixed Afro-Americans (FST~0.0764–0.1424) as well as East Asians (FST ~ 0.0645–0.1055) showed large degrees of differentiation with Iranians.
  55. ^ Pilkington, H. (27 November 2002). Islam in Post-Soviet Russia – Among other indigenous peoples of Iranian origin were the Tats, the Talishes and the Kurds. Psychology Press. p. 27. ISBN 9780203217696. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  56. ^ R. Khanam,"Encyclopaedic Ethnography of Middle-East and Central Asia:P-Z, Volume 1", Global Vision Publishing Ho, 2005. pg 746:"The contemporary Tats are the descendants of an Iranian-speaking population sent out of Persia by the dynasty of the Sasanids in the fifth to sixth centuries."
  57. ^ T. M. Masti︠u︡gina; Lev Perepelkin; Vitaliĭ Vi͡a︡cheslavovich Naumkin (1996). An Ethnic History of Russia: Pre-Revolutionary Times to the Present – The Iranian Peoples (Ossetians, Tajiks, Tats, Mountain Judaists). Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 80. ISBN 9780313293153. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  58. ^ Gernot Windfuhr, "Persian Grammar: history and state of its study", Walter de Gruyter, 1979. pg 4:""Tat- Persian spoken in the East Caucasus""
  59. ^ V. Minorsky, "Tat" in M. Th. Houtsma et al., eds., The Encyclopædia of Islam: A Dictionary of the Geography, Ethnography and Biography of the Muhammadan Peoples, 4 vols. and Suppl., Leiden: Late E.J. Brill and London: Luzac, 1913–38.
  60. ^ V. Minorsky, "Tat" in M. Th. Houtsma et al., eds., The Encyclopædia of Islam: A Dictionary of the Geography, Ethnography and Biography of the Muhammadan Peoples, 4 vols. and Suppl., Leiden: Late E.J. Brill and London: Luzac, 1913–38. Excerpt: Like most Persian dialects, Tati is not very regular in its characteristic features"
  61. ^ "It is a comparison of the verbal systems of three varieties of Persian—standard Persian, tat, tajik". Archived from the original on 17 September 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2016 – via Google Scholar.
  62. ^ Borjian, Habib, "Tabari Language Materials from Il'ya Berezin's Recherches sur les dialectes persans", Iran and the Caucasus, Volume 10, Number 2, 2006, pp. 243–258(16). Excerpt:"It embraces Gilani, Ta- lysh, Tabari, Kurdish, Gabri, and the Tati Persian of the Caucasus, all but the last belonging to the north-western group of Iranian language."
  63. ^ V. Minorsky. A History of Sharvan and Darband in the 10th–11th Centuries
  64. ^ "What sets Zoroastrian Iranis apart – Persian Journal Culture Archaeological History Art Archaeology cultural history news & Iranian culture newspaper". Archived from the original on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  65. ^ a b "Two ethnicities, three generations: Phonological variation and change in Kuwait" (PDF). Newcastle University. 2010. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  66. ^ Farmanfarmaian, Roxane (2008). War and Peace in Qajar Persia. Routledge. p. 128. ISBN 978-0415421195.

External links[edit]