Ethnic Groups in Iran

Ethnic Groups In Iran

Approximately 75-80% of Iran's peoples speak Iranian languages. The major groups in this category include Persians, Kurds, Gilakis, Mazandaranis, Lurs and Baluchs. 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.Mandaeans are estimated to be between 5,000 and 10,000 Mandaeans in Iran. There are also communities of Talysh people in northern Iran,there are no statistical data on the numbers of Talysh-speakers in Iran, but estimates show their number to be around 1 million. According to the CIA World Factbook, Iran's ethnic groups consist of: Persians 61%, Azeris 16%, Kurds 10%, Lurs 6%, Arabs 2% Baloch 2%, Turkmen and Turkic tribes 2%, other 1%. Another source, Library of Congress states Iran's ethnic group as following: 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. Pashtuns, Armenians, Assyrians, and Georgians) less than 1%. Other sources mention different statistics: Persians 51%, Azeris 24%, Kurds 7%, Lurs 2%, Baloch 2%, Arabs 3%, Turkmens 2%, Turkic tribal groups (e.g. Qashqai and Kazakhs) 1%, and other groups (e.g. Tats, Pashtuns, Armenians, Jews, Assyrians, and Georgians) 1%. At the turn of 1900, the approximate population of Iran was: "Persian 6 million 50% Azeris 2.5 million Mazandaranis 200,000 Gilakis 200,000 Taleshis 20,000 Tatis 20,000".