Languages of Iran
Encyclopedia
Different publications have reported different statistics for the languages of Iran
; There have been some limited census taken in Iran in 2001, 1991, 1986 and 1949-1954.
The following are the languages with the greatest number of speakers (Data from the CIA World Factbook):
According to the Kurdish-Belgian-American scholar Mehrdad Izady
whose work can be found at Columbia University
School of International and Public Affairs
, Gulf 2000 Project
web site., the Iranian census of 2001 mentions that 68% speak Persian as first language while he himself gives the folowing figures:
A census taken in the Iranian month of Mordad (July 21 – August 21) in 1991. In this census, all 49,588 mothers who gave birth in the country, were issued birth certificates. They were asked about their mother-tongue.
The break down: 46.2% (Persian/Farsi), 20.6% (Azeri-Turkish), 10% Kurdish, 8.9% Luri, 7.2% Gilaki and Mazandarani, 3.5% Arabic, 2.7% Baluchi, 0.6% Turkmen, 0.1% Armenian, and 0.2% Others.
A recent survey by the US based organization "Terror Free Tommorow" with error is +/- 3.1 percent margin and uniform sampling based on provincial populations mentions the breakdown as following
In 1986, there was also a nation-wide census done. See:
(Farhad Nu’mani, Sohrab Behdad, Class and Labor in Iran: Did the Revolution Matter?, Published 2006, Syracuse University Press, 2006)
on the percentage of Iranians that known Persian, those who do not know and tose who know it fluently.
The Library of Congress
like the Encyclopedia of Islam (Leiden) 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. Armenians
, Assyrians
, and Georgians
) less than 1%.
The following list details the languages spoken in Iran and lists the total number of speakers for each language: (Data from Ethnologue
.) (Note these numbers add up to 45 million which is less than 75 million of Iran's current population.
Extinct languages:
The sum of the above figures is almost 5 million more than the population despite the fact that the numbers of people who speak certain languages are still "unknown" according to this list. There is wide variations in the use of verbs with similar meanings in the languages and dialects of Iran even in the same subdivisions which sometimes make understanding difficult or impossible between the far or even near regions speaking linguistically the same language or dialect e.g. between northern and southern Kurdish
, Talysh
, etc. On the other hand, there are similarities between the languages of far places which are completely different from the standard Persian
.
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
; There have been some limited census taken in Iran in 2001, 1991, 1986 and 1949-1954.
The following are the languages with the greatest number of speakers (Data from the CIA World Factbook):
- PersianPersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, Luri, Gilaki and MazandaraniMazandaraniMazandarani may refer to :* Mazandarani people, Mazandaranis, Tabarian people* Mazandarani language, A language spoken mainly in South Caspian region* Morteza Sadouqi Mazandarani, Iranian grand ayatollah...
66% - Azeri and other Turkic languagesTurkic languagesThe Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...
18% - KurdishKurdish languageKurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
10% - BalochiBalochi languageBalochi is a Northwestern Iranian language. It is the principal language of the Baloch of Balochistan, Pakistan, eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan. It is also spoken as a second language by some Brahui. It is designated as one of nine official languages of Pakistan.-Vowels:The Balochi vowel...
2% - ArabicArabic languageArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
2% - Other languages which comprise the remaining 2%, include ArmenianArmenian languageThe Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
, AssyrianAssyrian Neo-AramaicAssyrian Neo-Aramaic is a Neo-Aramaic dialect, spoken by an estimated 220,000 people , formerly in the area between Lake Urmia, north-western Iran, and Siirt, south-eastern Turkey, but now more widely throughout the...
and Brahui, etc. - Total population 70,472,846 (2006 census)
According to the Kurdish-Belgian-American scholar Mehrdad Izady
Mehrdad Izady
Mehrdad Michael R.S.C. Izady , is a contemporary writer on ethnic and cultural topics, particularly the Greater Middle East, and Kurds. He was born to a Kurdish father and a Belgian mother, and spent much of his youth in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Korea, as his diplomat parents moved from one...
whose work can be found at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
School of International and Public Affairs
School of International and Public Affairs
The School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University is one of the most prestigious graduate schools of public policy in the world. Located on Columbia's Morningside Heights campus in the Borough of Manhattan, in New York City, the School has 15,000 graduates in more than 150...
, Gulf 2000 Project
Gulf 2000 project
The Gulf/2000 Project is a cultural and academic project created in 1993 with backing and sponsorship by Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs...
web site., the Iranian census of 2001 mentions that 68% speak Persian as first language while he himself gives the folowing figures:
- PersianPersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, Luri 63.3% - Azeri and other Turkic languagesTurkic languagesThe Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...
13% - KurdishKurdish languageKurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
7% - GilakiGilaki languageThe Gilaki language is a Caspian language, and a member of the northwestern Iranian language branch, spoken in Iran's Gīlān Province.The language is divided into three dialects: Western Gilaki, Eastern Gilaki, and Galeshi . Furthermore, the Gilaki language is closely related to Mazanderani, and the...
3.6% - MazandaraniMazandarani languageMazandarani or Tabari is an Iranian language of the Northwestern branch, spoken mainly in Iran's Mazandaran, Gilan and Golestan provinces...
3% - BalochiBalochi languageBalochi is a Northwestern Iranian language. It is the principal language of the Baloch of Balochistan, Pakistan, eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan. It is also spoken as a second language by some Brahui. It is designated as one of nine official languages of Pakistan.-Vowels:The Balochi vowel...
2.5% - ArabicArabic languageArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
1.8% - Other languages include Georgian, Qashqai, Brahui, Raji, Minabi, Lari, Pashto, Turkomen, Armenian, Assyrians, as well as other Iranian languages (Talysh, Tatic, Raji, etc.)
A census taken in the Iranian month of Mordad (July 21 – August 21) in 1991. In this census, all 49,588 mothers who gave birth in the country, were issued birth certificates. They were asked about their mother-tongue.
The break down: 46.2% (Persian/Farsi), 20.6% (Azeri-Turkish), 10% Kurdish, 8.9% Luri, 7.2% Gilaki and Mazandarani, 3.5% Arabic, 2.7% Baluchi, 0.6% Turkmen, 0.1% Armenian, and 0.2% Others.
A recent survey by the US based organization "Terror Free Tommorow" with error is +/- 3.1 percent margin and uniform sampling based on provincial populations mentions the breakdown as following
-
- Persian 50.5%
- Azeri 21.6%
- Gilaki&Mazandarani 6.9%
- Kurd 7.6%
- Arab 2.7%
- Lur 5.9%
- Baloch 1.4%
- Turkman 0.9%
- Other 1.2%
- unknown/refused about 1-1.5%
In 1986, there was also a nation-wide census done. See:
(Farhad Nu’mani, Sohrab Behdad, Class and Labor in Iran: Did the Revolution Matter?, Published 2006, Syracuse University Press, 2006)
on the percentage of Iranians that known Persian, those who do not know and tose who know it fluently.
The Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
like the Encyclopedia of Islam (Leiden) states Iran's ethnic group as following: Persians
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
65%, Azeris 16%, Kurds 7%, Lurs
Lurs
Lurs are an Iranic people living mainly in south-western Iran. Their population is estimated at above two million. They occupy Lorestan, Bakhtiari, and Kuh-Gilu-Boir Ahmed. "....
6%, Arabs 2%, Baloch
Baloch people
The Baloch or Baluch are an ethnic group that belong to the larger Iranian peoples. Baluch people mainly inhabit the Balochistan region and Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Western Asia....
2%, Turkmens 1%, Turkic tribal groups (e.g. Qashqai
Qashqai
Qashqai are the largest group of nomadic pastoralists people of Azeri descent who mainly live in the provinces of Fars, Khuzestan and southern Isfahan on the territory of modern Iran, especially around the city of Shiraz in Fars. They speak the Qashqai language which is a member of the Turkic...
) 1%, and non-Persian, non-Turkic groups (e.g. Armenians
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
, Assyrians
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
, and Georgians
Georgians
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
) less than 1%.
Ethnologue. list of languages in Iran
Ethnologue
Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
.) (Note these numbers add up to 45 million which is less than 75 million of Iran's current population.
- AimaqAimaq languageAimaq is a dialect of the Persian language spoken west of the Hazarajat , in central northwest Afghanistan, eastern Iran, and Tajikistan. It is the dominant dialect of Persian spoken by the Aymāq people. It is very close to Khorasani and Dari dialects...
170,030 - Gulf ArabicGulf ArabicGulf Arabic is a variety of the Arabic language spoken around the shore of the Persian Gulf such as in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman...
200,000 - Mesopotamian ArabicIraqi ArabicIraqi Arabic is a continuum of mutually intelligible Arabic varieties native to the Mesopotamian basin of Iraq as well as spanning into eastern and northern Syria, western Iran, southeastern Turkey, and spoken in respective Iraqi diaspora communities.-Varieties:Iraqi Arabic has two major varieties...
1,200,000 - ArmenianArmenian languageThe Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
170,800 - Ashtiani 21,099
- Assyrian Neo-AramaicAssyrian Neo-AramaicAssyrian Neo-Aramaic is a Neo-Aramaic dialect, spoken by an estimated 220,000 people , formerly in the area between Lake Urmia, north-western Iran, and Siirt, south-eastern Turkey, but now more widely throughout the...
10,00 - 20,000 - Azerbaijani languageAzerbaijani languageAzerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
11,200,000 - BakhtiariBakhtiari dialectBakhtiari dialect is a southwestern Iranian dialect, spoken by Bakhtiari people in Chaharmahal-o-Bakhtiari, western Khuzestan and parts of Isfahan and Lorestan provinces. It is closely related to the Boir-Aḥmadī, Kohgīlūya, and Mamasanī dialects in northwestern Fars. These dialects, together with...
1,000,000 (350,000 are monolingual) - Balochi, southernBalochi languageBalochi is a Northwestern Iranian language. It is the principal language of the Baloch of Balochistan, Pakistan, eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan. It is also spoken as a second language by some Brahui. It is designated as one of nine official languages of Pakistan.-Vowels:The Balochi vowel...
405,000 - Balochi, westernBalochi languageBalochi is a Northwestern Iranian language. It is the principal language of the Baloch of Balochistan, Pakistan, eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan. It is also spoken as a second language by some Brahui. It is designated as one of nine official languages of Pakistan.-Vowels:The Balochi vowel...
451,000 - BashkardiBashkardi languageBashkardi or Bashagerdi is a northwestern Iranian language spoken in the southeast of Iran in the provinces of Kerman, Sistan and Baluchestan, and Hormozgan....
7,033 - Brahui 10,000
- Dari, ZoroastrianDari (Zoroastrian)Dari is a Northwestern Iranian ethnolect spoken as a first language by an estimated 8,000 to 15,000 Zoroastrians in and around the cities of Yazd and Kerman in central Iran...
8,000 to 15,000 - DomariDomari languageDomari is an Indo-Aryan language, spoken by the Dom people across the Middle East, mainly in Iran and Egypt, but significant numbers of speakers are also found in India where they are known as Domba....
1,338,271 - Fars, northwesternFars languageDialects of Fars are a group of southwestern and northwestern Iranian dialects spoken in the central Fars province. The southwestern dialects can be divided to three family of dialects according to geographical distribution and local names: Southwestern , South-central and Southeastern...
7,500 - Fars, southwesternFars languageDialects of Fars are a group of southwestern and northwestern Iranian dialects spoken in the central Fars province. The southwestern dialects can be divided to three family of dialects according to geographical distribution and local names: Southwestern , South-central and Southeastern...
7,500 - Gazi 7,033
- GeorgianGeorgian languageGeorgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...
60,000 - GilakiGilaki languageThe Gilaki language is a Caspian language, and a member of the northwestern Iranian language branch, spoken in Iran's Gīlān Province.The language is divided into three dialects: Western Gilaki, Eastern Gilaki, and Galeshi . Furthermore, the Gilaki language is closely related to Mazanderani, and the...
1,265,000 - Harzani 28,132
- Hawrami 22,948
- HazaragiHazaragi languageHazaragi is a dialect of the Persian language spoken by the Hazara people, most of all in an area known as the Hazarajat.- General :The primary differences between Standard Persian and Hazaragi are the accent and Hazaragi's greater array of Turkic and Mongolian loanwords...
283,000 - Karingari 17,583
- KazakhKazakh languageKazakh is a Turkic language which belongs to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic languages, closely related to Nogai and Karakalpak....
3,000 - KhalajKhalaj languageKhalaj is a Turkic language spoken in Iran.It is a member of the Azerbaijani subgroup of the Oghuz languages.There were approximately 42,000 speakers of this language as of 2000...
42,108 - Kho'ini (unknown)
- Khorosani Turkic 400,000
- KhunsariKhunsari languageKhunsari dialect is a Central dialect within the South Median branch of Northwestern Iranian languages, spoken in Khansar, a town in the west of Isfahan Province of Iran. Some of the oldest isoglosses include the development of Aryan palatals to fricatives: OIr...
21,099 - Koroshi 180
- Kurdish, centralSoranîSoranî is the name of a Kurdish language that is spoken in Iran and Iraq. Soranî is one of the main Kurdish languages, which are a branch of the Iranian languages.- Name :...
3,250,000 - Kurdish, northern 350,000
- Kurdish, southern 3,000,000
- LakiLaki languageLaki is a Northwestern Iranian language. Although it is usually grouped with Southern Kurdish dialects, Ethnologue classifies it as a fourth subgroup of Kurdish....
1,000,000 - Luri, northernLuri languageLori or Luri is a collection of Southwestern Iranian languages which are mainly spoken by the Lurs and Bakhtiari people in the Iranian provinces of Loristan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad and parts of Khuzestan and Esfahan province and Fars provinces...
1,500,000 - Luri, southernLuri languageLori or Luri is a collection of Southwestern Iranian languages which are mainly spoken by the Lurs and Bakhtiari people in the Iranian provinces of Loristan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad and parts of Khuzestan and Esfahan province and Fars provinces...
875,000 - MandaicMandaic languageThe Mandaic language is the language of the Mandaean religion. Classical Mandaic is used by a section of the Mandaean community in liturgical rites....
500 - Mazanderani 3,265,000
- Natanzi 7,033
- Nayini 7,033
- Parsi-Dari 350,000
- Pashto, southernPashto languagePashto , known as Afghani in Persian and Pathani in Punjabi , is the native language of the indigenous Pashtun people or Afghan people who are found primarily between an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan and...
113,000 - Persian, westernPersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
22,500,000 - Persian, easternPersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
1,000,000 - Qashqa'i 1,500,000
- SemnaniSemnani languageThe Semnani languages are a group of Northwestern Iranian languages, spoken in Semnan province of Iran that share many linguistic features and structures with Caspian languages. These languages are also called "dialects" in some sources....
21,099 - SenayaSenaya languageThe Senaya language is a modern Eastern Aramaic or Syriac language. It is the language of Assyrians originally from Sanandaj in Iranian Kurdistan. Most Senaya speakers now live in California, United States and few families still live in Tehran, Iran...
60 - SivandiSivandi languageSivandi is an Iranian language spoken in Fars Province, Iran by around 7000 people.- External links :...
7,033 - Soi 7,033
- Takestani 220,000
- TalyshTalysh languageThe Talyshi language is a Northwestern Iranian language spoken in the northern regions of the Iranian provinces of Gilan and Ardabil and the southern regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Historically, the language and its people can be traced through the middle Iranian period back to the ancient...
112,000 - Tat, MuslimTat languageThe Tat language or Tat/Tati Persian or Tati is a Southwestern Iranian language and a variety of Persian spoken by the Tats in Azerbaijan and Russia. According to the Ethnologue, it's spoken by 18,000 people in Azerbaijan, 8000 in Iran, and 2300 in Russia. Its written form is related to Middle...
7,000 - TurkmenTurkmen languageTurkmen is the national language of Turkmenistan...
2,000,000 - VafsiVafsi languageVafsi, is an Iranian language spoken in the Vafs village and surrounding area in the Markazi province of Iran. Vafsi belongs to a branch of Iranian languages called the Central Dialects...
18,000
Extinct languages:
- AvestanAvestan languageAvestan is an East Iranian language known only from its use as the language of Zoroastrian scripture, i.e. the Avesta, from which it derives its name...
- Zoroastrian
- Classical MandaicMandaic languageThe Mandaic language is the language of the Mandaean religion. Classical Mandaic is used by a section of the Mandaean community in liturgical rites....
The sum of the above figures is almost 5 million more than the population despite the fact that the numbers of people who speak certain languages are still "unknown" according to this list. There is wide variations in the use of verbs with similar meanings in the languages and dialects of Iran even in the same subdivisions which sometimes make understanding difficult or impossible between the far or even near regions speaking linguistically the same language or dialect e.g. between northern and southern Kurdish
Kurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
, Talysh
Talysh language
The Talyshi language is a Northwestern Iranian language spoken in the northern regions of the Iranian provinces of Gilan and Ardabil and the southern regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Historically, the language and its people can be traced through the middle Iranian period back to the ancient...
, etc. On the other hand, there are similarities between the languages of far places which are completely different from the standard Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
.