Iran's population increased dramatically during the later half of the 20th century, reaching about 75 million by 2011.[1] 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 stabilizes above 100 million by 2050.[2][3] In 2008, the number of households stood at 15.3 million (4.8 person/household).[4]
According to the OECD/World Bank statistics population growth in Iran from 1990 to 2008 was 17.6 million and 32 %.[5]
| Population in Iran[5] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Million | ||
| 1971 | 29.35 | ||
| 1980 | 39.12 | ||
| 1990 | 54.40 | ||
| 2000 | 63.94 | ||
| 2004 | 68.07 | ||
| 2008 | 71.96 | ||
| Source: OECD/World Bank | |||
The literacy rate was 80% in 2007.[6][7][8]
Contents |
| Period | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950-1955 | 933 000 | 529 000 | 404 000 | 50.6 | 28.7 | 21.9 | 6.93 | 262.1 |
| 1955-1960 | 1 018 000 | 505 000 | 514 000 | 49.2 | 24.4 | 24.8 | 6.93 | 212.5 |
| 1960-1965 | 1 093 000 | 479 000 | 614 000 | 46.5 | 20.3 | 26.2 | 6.93 | 172.6 |
| 1965-1970 | 1 164 000 | 455 000 | 709 000 | 43.3 | 16.9 | 26.4 | 6.70 | 140.7 |
| 1970-1975 | 1 253 000 | 443 000 | 811 000 | 40.8 | 14.4 | 26.4 | 6.24 | 116.4 |
| 1975-1980 | 1 503 000 | 430 000 | 1 073 000 | 42.1 | 12.0 | 30.1 | 6.27 | 92.2 |
| 1980-1985 | 1 889 000 | 720 000 | 1 170 000 | 44.4 | 16.9 | 27.5 | 6.54 | 69.8 |
| 1985-1990 | 1 955 000 | 550 000 | 1 406 000 | 38.6 | 10.8 | 27.8 | 5.62 | 55.4 |
| 1990-1995 | 1 633 000 | 359 000 | 1 274 000 | 28.5 | 6.3 | 22.2 | 3.95 | 47.1 |
| 1995-2000 | 1 318 000 | 338 000 | 980 000 | 21.1 | 5.4 | 15.7 | 2.62 | 38.9 |
| 2000-2005 | 1 213 000 | 360 000 | 853 000 | 18.0 | 5.3 | 12.7 | 1.96 | 32.5 |
| 2005-2010 | 1 274 000 | 389 000 | 885 000 | 17.7 | 5.4 | 12.3 | 1.77 | 27.2 |
| 1per 1000; 2 TFR = number of children per woman; 3per 1000 births | ||||||||
While nearly 100% of Iran's population is fluent in modern Persian, approximately 75-80% of Iran's peoples exclusively speak Iranian languages (the most common language known as Persian - or "Farsi" as it is known in the Persian language).[10] The major groups in this category include Persians, Turkic speakers, such as the Azeri, Kurds, Gilakis, Mazandaranis, Lurs, and Baluchis. 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.
CIA World Factbook, which is based on (2008) statics gives us the following numbers: Persian, Luri, Gilaki and Mazandarani 66%, Azeri and other Turkic languages 18%, Kurdish 10%, Arabs 2%, Baloch 2%, other 2%.[11]
Another source, Library of Congress like the Encyclopedia of Islam (Leiden)[12] 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%.[13] For sources prior to 2000, see Languages and ethnicities in Iran.
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.[14] The following is a list of the six most populous cities in the country.
| Rank | City (Province) | 2007 population |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Tehran (Tehran Province) | 12,765,238 (conurbation and commuter towns included)[15] (8,088,287 in the city itself)[15] |
| 2. | Mashad (Razavi Khorasan) | 2,868,350 (this does include suburban population) (2,410,800 in the city itself)[15] |
| 3. | Isfahan (Isfahan Province) | 3,430,353 (including its metropolitan area and the population living within the Isfahan conurbation) (1,602,110 in the city itself)[15] |
| 4. | Tabriz (East Azarbaijan) | 1,597,319 (city proper and main suburbs) (1,378,935 in the city itself)[15] |
| 5. | Karaj (Tehran Province) | 1,377,450[15] |
| 6. | Shiraz (Fars Province) | 1,204,882[15] |
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.[16] 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.[17][18]
Non-Muslim minorities have been shrinking in the past few decades as they have been emigrating and leaving Iran. 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. Today, there are about 8,000 Assyrian Christians in Iran, who belong to the Chaldean Catholic Church.
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. Migrant Iranian workers abroad remitted less than two billion dollars home in 2006.[19]
As of 2010, there are about five million Iranians living abroad, mostly in the United States, Canada, Europe, Persian Gulf States, Turkey, Australia and the broader Middle East.[14][20][21] In particular, the Los Angeles area is estimated to be host to approximately 720,000 Iranians, earning the Westwood area of LA the nickname Tehrangeles.[22] Other metropolises that have large Iranian populations include Dubai with 300,000 Iranians, Vancouver, 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.[23]
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.
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.[7]
It is estimated that some 200 million people around the world have Persian ancestry.[26]
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).
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. [2] Some, such as Ardeshir Irani, have also become very famous in cinema.
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.
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 ethnicities share the same Islamic Sunni faith.
Y-Chromosome DNA Y-DNA represents the male lineage, The Iranian Y-chromosome pool may be summarized as follows where haplogroups R1, J2, G, I, and NOP* comprise generally more than 90% of the total chromosomes.[27]
Mitochondrial DNA mtDNA represents the female lineage The Iranian mitochondrial DNA shows more European lineages than the Y-DNA lineages.[28]
|
||||||||
|
|||||||||||