Lurs

Lurs (also Lors, Lori/Persian:لُر) are an Iranian peoples living mainly in south-western Iran. Their population is estimated at around five million. They occupy Lorestan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Khuzestan, Isfahan, Fars, Bushehr and Kuh-Gilu-Boir Ahmed provinces. The Lur people mostly speak the Luri language (sometimes called 'Lori'), a Southwestern Iranian language related to Persian. According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the Lurs speak an form of Archaic Persian. According to the linguist Don Still, Lori-Bakhtiari alongside Persian is derived directly from Old Persian.