Demographics of Iran

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Iran's population was declared 70,049,262 in the 2006 census, with nearly one quarter of its people being 15 years of age or younger.^{[citation needed]} Iran is also ethnically and linguistically diverse, with some cities, such as Tehran, bringing various ethnic groups together.

Contents 1 Ethnic groups 1.1 Persians 1.2 Iranian Azeris 1.3 Iranian Kurds 1.4 Iranian Arabs 1.5 Iranian Turkmen 1.6 Iranian Armenians 1.7 Iranian Georgians 1.8 Iranian Jews 1.9 Iranian Kazakhs 2 Population Density 3 Linguistic Groups 4 Religious affiliations 5 Women 6 Iranian citizens abroad 7 People of Iranian Ancestry 7.1 Parsis 7.2 Iranis 7.3 Ajam (Bahrain) 7.4 Huwala 8 CIA World Factbook demographic statistics 8.1 Nationality 8.2 Population 8.3 Religions 8.4 Literacy 8.5 Age structure 8.6 Median age 8.7 Population growth rate 8.8 Birth rate 8.9 Death rate 8.10 Net migration rate 8.11 Sex ratio 8.12 Infant mortality rate 8.13 Life expectancy at birth 8.14 Total fertility rate 8.15 Refugee population 9 Genetics 9.1 Y-chromosome DNA 9.2 Mitochondrial DNA 10 References 11 See also 12 External links

[edit] Ethnic groups

According to the CIA World Factbook, Iran's ethnic groups consist of: Persians 51%, Azeris 24%, Gilakis and Mazandaranis 8%, Kurds 7%, Arabs 3%, Lurs 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%.^[1] Other sources mention different statistics, for example the Library of Congress has Persians 60% (Including Persian subgroups such as the Mazandaranis, Tats, and Gilakis), Azeris 20%, Kurds 7%, Lurs 3%, Arabs 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmens 2%, Turkic tribal groups (e.g. Qashqai) 2%, and non-Persian, non-Turkic groups (e.g. Armenians, Assyrians, and Georgians) 2%. This source however disreagards the Gilaki, Mazandarani and Talyshi population along the Caspian sea coast.^[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%.^[3]

[edit] Persians

The term “Persians” refers to the people speaking 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, Turkey, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada…).

[edit] 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.^[1][2] 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.^[4] Many others live in Tehran, Karaj and other regions.^[4] Generally, Azeris in Iran were regarded as "a well integrated linguistic minority" by academics prior to Iran's Islamic Revolution.^[5][6] 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.^[7] The Iranian and Turkic groups were integrated until 20th century nationalism and communalism began to alter popular perception.^[7] 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."^[7] In Iran the term "āzari" is used formally; however, informally, Azaris and other Turkic speaking Iranian populations are colloquially referred to as "Tork" (Turks).

[edit] Iranian Kurds

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, has sought either regional autonomy or the outright establishment of an independent Kurdish state.

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^[8][9]. 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).^[10]

[edit] Iranian Arabs

Three percent of Iran's citizens are Arabic-speakers.^[11] 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. ^[12]There are smaller communities in Khorasan and Fars provinces. Iranian Arab communities are also found in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

[edit] Iranian Turkmen

There are over 1 million Turkmen who are primarily concentrated in the provinces of Golestān and North Khorasan.^[13]

[edit] Iranian Armenians

The current Iranian-Armenian population is somewhere around 500,000.^[3] 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.

[edit] 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^[14] 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.

[edit] Iranian 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 ^[15] 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.^[16]

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.^[17]

[edit] Iranian Kazakhs

Iranian Kazakhs live mainly in the Golestan province in northern Iran. ^[18] According to ethnologue.org, however, there lived 3000 Kazakhs in Iran in 1982 in the city of Gorgan.^{[19] [20]} 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."^[21]

[edit] Population Density

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 2005 population estimates, approximately 67 percent of Iran's population lives in urban areas, up from 27 percent in 1950.^[22] The following is a list of the five most populous cities in the country.

Rank	City (Province)	2007 (/2006) population
1.	Tehran (Tehran Province)	14,000,000 (conurbation and commuter towns included)[citation needed] (7,705,036 in the actual city itself)[23]
2.	Mashad (Razavi Khorasan)	2,868,350 (this does include suburban population) (2,410,800 in the actual city itself)[23]
3.	Isfahan (Isfahan Province)	A population of around 3,430,353 including its metropolitan and the population live witin the Isfahan conurbation (1,583,609 in the actual city itself)[23]
4.	Tabriz (East Azarbaijan)	1,597,319 (city proper and main suburbs) (1,378,935 in the actual city itself)[23]
5.	Karaj (Tehran Province)	1,377,450[23]
6.	Shiraz (Fars Province)	1,204,882[23]

[edit] Linguistic Groups

Approximately 70% of Iran's peoples speak Iranian languages.^[24] 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.

[edit] Religious affiliations

Most Iranians are Muslims; 90% belong to the Shi'a branch of Islam, the official state religion, and about 8% belong to the Sunni branch, which predominates in neighboring Muslim countries. 2% Non-Muslim minorities include Zoroastrians, Jews, Bahá'ís, Mandeans, Christians and Yarsan. The Bahá'í Faith, Iran's largest religious minority with a population around 300 000, is not officially recognized, and has been persecuted during its existence in Iran. Since the 1979 revolution the persecution of Bahá'ís has increased with executions, the denial of civil rights and liberties, and the denial of access to higher education and employment.^[25][26]

Non-Muslim minorities have been shrinking in the past few decades as they have been emigrating and leaving Iran.^{[citation needed]} About 11,000 to 40,000 Jews remain in Iran today, still being the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside Israel, but it stood at about 100,000 before the Islamic Revolution. Zoroastrian, and Christian communities are seeing similar contraction.^{[citation needed]}

Today, there are about 8,000 Assyrian Christians in Iran, who belong to the Chaldean Catholic Church.

[edit] Women

Iranian women have played an important role throughout history. Scheherazade, though fictional, is an important figure of female wit and intelligence, while the beauty of Mumtaz Mahal inspired the building of the Taj Mahal itself. While in ancient times, aristocratic females possessed numerous rights sometimes on par with men, generally Iranian women did not attain greater parity until the 20th century. However, Tahirih, the poet, had a great influence on modern women's movements throughout the Middle East. The Tahirih Justice Center is named after her. Females were given such status in ancient Irania that they were the first to ever serve in a national military.^{[citation needed]}

Iranian women today serve an active role in society. Peace activists such as Shirin Ebadi have pushed for greater rights for women, while many Iranian women exiles have set examples of excellence that have no doubt inspired many Iranian women to strive for change in the conservative society prevalent in today's Iran. Even with the current climate of religious conservativism, Iranian women still tend to take a more active role in social, religious and family affairs than their Arab or Turkish counterparts.^{[citation needed]} Despite the barriers imposed by the Revolution, Iranian women can be seen working in a variety of areas such as politics, law enforcement, transportation industries, etc. Universities still tend to be dominated by women in Iran and one may find a large number of female legislators in the Iranian Majlis (parliament),^{[citation needed]} even by western standards. Former Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, noted for her eloquence in dealing with western media, set a new standard for aspiring Iranian female politicians while serving under President Khatami. Outstanding Iranian female academics, such as Laleh Bakhtiar have forever left a mark in the fields they contribute to.

[edit] Iranian citizens abroad

The term "Iranian citizens abroad" or "Iranian/Persian diaspora" refers to the Iranian people born in Iran and their children but living outside of Iran.

Depending on estimates, between two and three million Iranians have emigrated to North America, Europe, Persian Gulf States, Turkey and Australia, mostly after the Islamic revolution in 1979.^[27][28] In particular, the Los Angeles area is estimated to be host to approximately 500,000 Iranians, earning the Westwood area of LA the nickname Tehrangeles. Other metropolises that have large Iranian populations include Dubai with 300,000 Iranians, London, Toronto, San Francisco Bay Area, Washington D.C., Stockholm, Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt. Their combined net worth is estimated to be $1.3 trillion ^[29].

Migrant Iranian workers abroad remitted less than two billion dollars home in 2006.^[30]

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.

[edit] People of Iranian Ancestry

There are perhaps some 200 million people around the world who have Persian ancestry.^[31]

[edit] Parsis

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 Asian 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).

[edit] Iranis

In Pakistan and India, the term "Irani" has come to denote Iranian Zoroastrians who have immigrated 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 immigrated 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. [3] Some, such as Ardeshir Irani, have also become very famous in cinema.

[edit] Ajam (Bahrain)

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 both the Sunni or Shiite sect of Islam are Ajam, and they are different from the Huwala, who have Arab origins.

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.

[edit] Huwala

Huwala are the descendants of Sunni Arabs, and the word is also mistakenly used to call Sunni Persians, who migrated from Iran to the Arabian peninsula. The Huwala are much different from the Sunni Persians who also have migrated from their original homeland "Iran" to Arabia, except that the two ethincity share the same Islamic Sunni faith.

[edit] CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.^[32]

[edit] Nationality

noun: Iranian(s)

adjective: Iranian

[edit] Population

65,875,223 (July 2008 est.) / 70,049,262 according to Iran's 2006 census.

[edit] Religions

Shi'a Muslim 90%, Sunni Muslim 8%, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Bahá'í (largest minority) 2%.

[edit] Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 80%

male: 86%

female: 73.0% (2003 est.)

[edit] Age structure

0-14 years: 22.3% (male 7,548,116; female 7,164,921)

15-64 years: 72.3% (male 24,090,976; female 23,522,861)

65 years and over: 5.4% (male 1,713,533; female 1,834,816) (2008 est.)

[edit] Median age

total: 26.4 years

male: 26.2 years

female: 26.7 years (2008 est.)

[edit] Population growth rate

0.792% (2008 est.)

[edit] Birth rate

16.89 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

[edit] Death rate

5.69 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

[edit] Net migration rate

-3.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

[edit] Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.93 male(s)/female

total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

[edit] Infant mortality rate

36.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

[edit] Life expectancy at birth

total population: 70.86 years

male: 69.39 years

female: 72.4 years (2008 est.)

[edit] Total fertility rate

1.71 children born/woman (2008 est.)

[edit] Refugee population

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.^[33][34] 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 alone, 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.^[35]

[edit] Genetics

[edit] Y-chromosome DNA

Y-Chromosome DNA Y-DNA represents the male lineage, The Iranian Y-chromosome pool may be summarized as follows where haplogroups R1, J, E1b1b, G, I, and NOP comprise generally more than 90% of the total chromosomes.^[36]

• R1 ~ 30%
• J ~ 30%
• I ~ 10%
• G ~ 10%
• NOP ~ 10%
• Other Haplogroups 10%

[edit] Mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA mtDNA represents the female lineage The Iranian mitochondrial DNA shows more European lineages than the Y-DNA lineages.^[37]

• Haplogroup UK ~ 30%
• Haplogroup JT ~ 25%
• Other Haplogroups ~20%

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of Iranians
• Iranian names
• Education in Iran
• Health care in Iran
  • Family planning in Iran
• Iran's brain drain
• Culture of Iran

[edit] External links

• Statistical Center of Iran
• BBC - Iran in Maps - Map of Iranian ethnic groups & population density
• Iran: A Vast Diaspora Abroad and Millions of Refugees at Home - Migration Information Institute (2006)
• Iran's Challenges from Within: An Overview of Ethno-Sectarian Unrest by Chris Zambelis

v • d • e Demographics of Asia Sovereign states Afghanistan · Armenia1 · Azerbaijan1 · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Bhutan · Brunei · Burma2 · Cambodia · People's Republic of China · Cyprus1 · East Timor3 · Egypt4 · Georgia4 · India · Indonesia · Iran · Iraq · Israel · Japan · Jordan · Kazakhstan4 · North Korea · South Korea · Kuwait · Kyrgyzstan · Laos · Lebanon · Malaysia · Maldives · Mongolia · Nepal · Oman · Pakistan · Philippines · Qatar · Russia4 · Saudi Arabia · Singapore · Sri Lanka · Syria · Tajikistan · Republic of China5 · Thailand · Turkey4 · Turkmenistan · United Arab Emirates · Uzbekistan · Vietnam · Yemen Dependencies, autonomies, other territories Aceh · Adjara1 · Abkhazia1 · Akrotiri and Dhekelia · Altai · British Indian Ocean Territory · Buryatia · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · Guangxi · Hong Kong · Inner Mongolia · Iraqi Kurdistan · Jakarta · Khakassia · Macau · Nagorno-Karabakh · Nakhchivan · Ningxia · Northern Cyprus · Palestine (Gaza Strip · West Bank) · Papua · Sakha · South Ossetia1 · Tibet · Tuva · West Papua · Xinjiang · Yogyakarta Italics indicates an unrecognised or partially recognised country.  1 Sometimes included in Europe, depending on the border definitions.  2 Officially known as Myanmar.  3 Sometimes included in Oceania, and also known as Timor-Leste.  4 Transcontinental country.  5 Commonly known as Taiwan.

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