Demographics of Iran

Iran's population increased dramatically during the later half of the 20th century, reaching about 80 million by 2016.^[1][2] 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.^[3][4] More than half of Iran's population is under 35 years old (2012).^[5]

In 2009, the number of households stood at 15.3 million (4.8 persons per household).^[6] Families earn some 11.8 million rials (about $960) per month on average (2012).^[7]

According to the OECD/World Bank statistics population growth in Iran from 1990 to 2008 was 17.6 million and 32%.^[8] The literacy rate was 80% in 2007,^[9][10][11] and 85% in 2008.^[12]

Population

According to the 2016 population census the population of Iran was 79.9 million,^[1] a fourfold increase since 1956. Between 1976 and 1986, an average annual population growth of almost 4% was reached, but due to decreasing fertility levels the growth decreased to 1.2% between 2011 and 2016.

Population census results^[13]

Census date	Population	Average annual growth (%)	Population density/km2	Proportion urban (%)	Household size
1956-11-01	18,954,704	.	12	31.4
1966-11-01	25,785,210	3.1	16	~37.5
1976-11-01	33,708,744	2.7	20	47.0	5.02
1986-11-22	49,445,010	3.9	30	~54.0	5.11
1996-11-01	60,055,488	2.0	36	~61.0	4.84
2006-11-01	70,495,782	1.6	43	68.5	4.03
2011-11-01	75,149,669	1.3	46	71.4	3.55
2016-11-01	79,926,270	1.24	48	74.0	?

Vital statistics

UN estimates^[14]

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	1,316,400	333,200	983,200	20.9	5.3	15.6	2.63	32.0
2000–2005	1,214,400	345,800	868,600	17.9	5.1	12.8	1.97	25.0
2005–2010	1,308,000	369,800	938,200	18.1	5.2	13.0	1.79	19.0
2010–2015	1,390,600	376,200	1,014,400	18.2	4.7	13.5	1.75	15.0
2015–2020	1,266,800	366,600	900,200	15.6	4.5	11.1	1.62
2020–2025	1,059,800	391,400	668,400	12.4	4.6	7.8	1.53
2025–2030	906,600	439,800	466,800	10.3	5.0	5.3	1.50
1per 1000; 2 TFR = number of children per woman; 3per 1000 births

Registered births and deaths^[15][16]

	Average population (x 1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total Fertility Rate
1965		1,139,663	171,940	967,723
1966		1,101,606	178,991	922,615
1967		1,019,373	179,159	840,214
1968		1,037,022	174,201	862,821
1969		1,091,513	167,660	923,853
1970		1,189,203	163,430	1,025,773
1971		1,231,227	149,325	1,081,902
1972		1,138,843	153,568	985,275
1973		1,199,777	155,081	1,044,696
1974		1,248,256	149,785	1,098,471
1975		1,339,267	148,543	1,190,724
1976		1,401,426	155,981	1,245,445
1977		1,399,977	146,369	1,253,608
1978		1,369,597	127,587	1,242,010
1979		1,689,908	142,402	1,547,506
1980		2,450,308	162,176	2,288,132
1981		2,421,611	178,099	2,243,512
1982		2,101,894	200,614	1,901,280
1983		2,203,448	207,228	1,996,220
1984		2,067,803	186,440	1,881,363
1985		2,033,285	190,061	1,843,224
1986		2,259,055	199,511	2,059,544
1987		1,832,089	204,230	1,627,859
1988		1,944,149	238,390	1,705,759
1989		1,784,811	199,645	1,585,166
1990		1,722,977	217,597	1,505,380
1991		1,582,931	217,637	1,365,294
1992		1,433,243	188,647	1,244,596
1993		1,388,017	208,161	1,179,856
1994		1,426,784
1995		1,205,372
1996		1,187,903
1997		1,179,260
1998		1,185,639	551,345	634,294
1999	62,738	1,177,557	374,838	802,719	18.8	6.0	12.8
2000	63,658	1,095,165	382,674	712,491	17.2	6.0	11.2
2001	64,592	1,110,836	421,525	689,311	17.2	6.5	10.7
2002	65,540	1,122,104	337,237	784,867	17.1	5.1	12.0
2003	66,480	1,171,573	368,518	803,055	17.6	5.5	12.1
2004	67,477	1,154,368	355,213	799,155	17.1	5.3	11.8
2005	68,467	1,239,408	363,723	875,685	18.1	5.3	12.8
2006	70,496	1,253,912	408,566	845,346	17.8	5.8	12.0	1.60[17]
2007	71,532	1,286,716	412,736	873,980	18.0	5.8	12.2
2008	72,584	1,300,166	417,798	882,368	17.9	5.8	12.2
2009	73,651	1,348,546	393,514	955,032	18.3	5.3	13.0
2010	74,733	1,363,542	441,042	922,500	18.3	5.9	12.4
2011	75,149	1,382,229	422,133	960,096	18.3	5.6	12.7	1.30[17]
2012	76,026	1,421,689	367,512	1,054,177	18.7	4.8	13.9
2013	77,059	1,471,834	372,279	1,099,555	19.1	4.8	14.3
2014		1,534,362	446,333	1,088,029

Structure of the population

Structure of the population 2006 and 24.10.2011 (Census):

Age group	Number(2006)	Percentage(2006)	Number(2011)	Percentage(2011)
Total	70,495,782	100	75,149,669	100
0–4	5,463,978	7.75	6,232,552	8.29
5–9	5,509,057	7.81	5,657,791	7.53
10–14	6,708,591	9.52	5,671,435	7.55
15–19	8,726,761	12.38	6,607,043	8.79
20–24	9,011,422	12.78	8,414,497	11.20
25–29	7,224,952	10.25	8,672,654	11.54
30–34	5,553,531	7.88	6,971,924	9.28
35–39	4,921,124	6.98	5,571,018	7.41
40–44	4,089,158	5.80	4,906,749	6.53
45–49	3,522,761	5.00	4,030,481	5.36
50–54	2,755,420	3.91	3,527,408	4.69
55–59	1,887,981	2.68	2,680,119	3.57
60–64	1,464,452	2.08	1,862,907	2.48
65–69	1,197,550	1.70	1,343,731	1.79
70–74	1,119,318	1.59	1,119,968	1.49
75–79	694,122	0.98	913,531	1.22
80+	645,601	0.92	919,539	1.22
Unclear	-	-	46,322	0.06

Number of children 0-14	Number of people 15-49	Proportion	Number of women 15-49	Proportion
17,681,629 (2006)	43,049,709 (2006)	0.4107 (2006)	~21,524,855 (2006)	0.8215 (2006)
17,561,778 (2011)	45,174,366 (2011)	0.3888 (2011)	~22,587,183 (2011)	0.7775 (2011)

Year	0-14	15-64	65+
1976	44.5	52	3.5
1985	45.5	51.5	3
1996	39.5	56.1	4.3
2006	25.08 (17,681,629)	69.73 (49,157,562)	5.19 (3,656,591)
2011	23.37 (17,561,778)	70.91 (53,297,122)	5.72 (4,290,769)

Table 9 – Population and Average Annual Growth by Provinces: 2006 and 2011

Province	2006	2011	Average annual growth
Alborz	2,076,991	2,412,513	3.04
Ardabil	1,228,155	1,248,488	0.33
Bushehr	886,267	1,032,949	3.11
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari	857,910	895,263	0.86
East Azerbaijan	3,603,456	3,724,620	0.66
Fars	4,336,878	4,596,658	1.17
Gilan	2,404,861	2,480,874	0.62
Golestan	1,617,087	1,777,014	1.90
Hamadan	1,703,267	1,758,268	0.64
Hormozgan	1,403,674	1,578,183	2.37
Ilam	545,787	557,599	0.43
Isfahan	4,559,256	4,879,312	1.37
Kerman	2,652,413	2,938,988	2.07
Kermanshah	1,879,385	1,945,227	0.69
Khuzestan	4,274,979	4,531,720	1.17
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad	634,299	658,629	0.76
Kurdistan	1,440,156	1,493,645	0.73
Lorestan	1,716,527	1,754,243	0.44
Markazi	1,351,257	1,413,959	0.91
Mazandaran	2,922,432	3,073,943	1.02
North Khorasan	811,572	867,727	1.35
Qazvin	1,143,200	1,201,565	1.00
Qom	1,046,737	1,151,672	1.93
Razavi Khorasan	5,593,079	5,994,402	1.40
Semnan	589,742	631,218	1.37
Sistan and Baluchestan	2,405,742	2,534,327	1.05
South Khorasan	636,420	662,534	0.81
Tehran	11,345,375	12,183,391	1.44
West Azerbaijan	2,873,459	3,080,576	1.40
Yazd	990,818	1,074,428	1.63
Zanjan	964,601	1,015,734	1.04
Total	70,495,782	75,149,669	1.29

1 The population of the provinces of Alborz and Tehran for 2006 and their average annual growth have been calculated based on the data of 2011.

Unofficial Translation 17

Table 10 – Population Percentages by Province: 2006 and 2011 (Percentage)

Province	2006	2011
Alborz	2.95	3.21
Ardabil	1.74	1.66
Bushehr	1.26	1.37
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari	1.22	1.19
East Azerbaijan	5.11	4.96
Fars	6.15	6.12
Gilan	3.41	3.30
Golestan	2.29	2.36
Hamadan	2.42	2.34
Hormozgan	1.99	2.10
Ilam	0.77	0.74
Isfahan	6.47	6.49
Kerman	3.76	3.91
Kermanshah	2.67	2.59
Khuzestan	6.06	6.03
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad	0.90	0.88
Kurdistan	2.04	1.99
Lorestan	2.43	2.33
Markazi	1.92	1.88
Mazandaran	4.15	4.09
North Khorasan	1.15	1.15
Qazvin	1.62	1.60
Qom	1.48	1.53
Razavi Khorasan	7.93	7.98
Semnan	0.84	0.84
Sistan and Baluchestan	3.41	3.37
South Khorasan	0.90	0.88
Tehran	16.09	16.21
West Azerbaijan	4.08	4.10
Yazd	1.41	1.43
Zanjan	1.37	1.35
Total	100	100

1 The population of the provinces of Alborz and Tehran for 2006 and their average annual growth have been calculated based on the data of 2011.

Languages and ethnic groups

The largest linguistic group comprises speakers of Iranian languages, like modern Persian, Kurdish, Gilaki, Mazandarani, Luri, Talysh, and Balochi. Speakers of Turkic languages, most notably Azerbaijanis, which is by far the second-most spoken language in the country, but also the Turkmen, and the Qashqai peoples, comprise a substantial minority. The remainder are primarily speakers of Semitic languages such as Arabic and Assyrian. There are small groups using other Indo-European languages such as Armenian, Russian, Pashto; Georgian (a member of the Kartvelian language family), spoken in a large pocket only by those Iranian Georgians that live in Fereydan, Fereydunshahr. Most of those Georgians who live in the north Iranian provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, Isfahan, Tehran Province and the rest of Iran no longer speak the language but keep a Georgian conscience. The Circassians in Iran, a very large minority in the past and speakers of the Circassian language, have been strongly assimilated and absorbed within the population in the past few centuries. However, significant pockets do exist spread over the country, and they are the second-largest Caucasus-derived group in the nation after the Georgians.^[18][19]

Jews have had a continuous presence in Iran since the time of Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire. In 1948, there were approximately 140,000–150,000 Jews living in Iran. According to the Tehran Jewish Committee, the Jewish population of Iran was (more recently) estimated at about 25,000 to 35,000, of which approximately 15,000 are in Tehran with the rest residing in Hamadan, Shiraz, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Yazd, Kerman, Rafsanjan, Borujerd, Sanandaj, Tabriz and Urmia. However, the official 2011 state census recorded only 8,756 Jews in Iran.^[20]

• 
• 
• 
• 

The CIA World Factbook (which is based on 2013 statistics) gives the following numbers for the languages spoken in Iran today: Persian, Luri, Gilaki and Mazandarani 66%; Azerbaijani and other Turkic languages 18%; Kurdish 10%; Arabic 2%; Baloch 2%; others 1% (Armenian, Georgian, Circassian, Assyrian, etc.).^[21]

Other sources, such as the Library of Congress, and the Encyclopedia of Islam (Leiden)^[22] give Iran's ethnic groups as following: Persians 65%, Azerbaijanis 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, Georgians, Assyrians, Circassians, Basseri ) less than 1%.^[23] For sources prior to and after 2000, see Languages and ethnicities in Iran.

Urban population

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 2015 population estimates, approximately 73.4 percent of Iran's population lives in urban areas, up from 27 percent in 1950.^[24] Changes in urbanization law and regulations eased the urbanization process of rural areas, which created more than 400 cities only in the period of 1996-2005.^[25]

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)[26] (8,088,287 in the city itself)[26]
2.	Mashhad (Razavi Khorasan)	2,868,350 (this includes suburban population) (2,410,800 in the city itself)[26]
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)[26]
4.	Tabriz (East Azarbaijan)	1,597,319 (city proper and main suburbs) (1,378,935 in the city itself)[26]
5.	Karaj (Alborz Province)	1,377,450[26]
6.	Shiraz (Fars Province)	1,204,882[26]

Religious affiliations

Population of Iran according to religion 1956-2011 per the UN^[13][15]

Religion	census 1956		census 1966		census 1976		census 2006		census 2011
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Muslims	18,654,127	98.4	24,771,922	98.8	33,396,908	99.1	70,097,741	99.4	74,682,938	99.4
Christians	114,528	0.6	149,427	0.6	168,593	0.5	109,415	0.2	117,704	0.2
Zoroastrians	15,723	0.1	19,816	0.1	21,400	0.1	19,823	0.0	25,271	0.0
Jews	65,232	0.3	60,683	0.2	62,258	0.2	9,252	0.0	8,756	0.0
Other	59,256	0.3	77,075	0.3			54,234	0.1	49,101	0.1
Unknown	45,838	0.2			59,583	0.2	205,317	0.3	265,899	0.4

About 99% of the Iranians are Muslims; 90% belong to the Shi'a branch of Islam, the official state religion, and about 9% belong to the Sunni branch, which predominates in neighboring Muslim countries.^[10] Less than 1% non-Muslim minorities include Christians, Zoroastrians, Jews, Bahá'ís, Mandeans, and Yarsan. By far the largest group of Christians in Iran are Armenians under the Armenian Apostolic Church which has between 110,000,^[28] 250,000,^[29] and 300,000,^[30] adherents. There are hundreds of Christian churches in Iran.^[31] The Bahá'í Faith, Iran's largest non-Muslim religious minority with a population around 300,000, is not officially recognized (and therefore not included in the census results), 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.^[32][33] Unofficial estimates for the Assyrian Christian population range between 20,000,^[34][35] and 70,000.^[36][37] The number of Iranian Mandaeans is a matter of dispute. In 2009, there were an estimated 5,000 and 10,000 Mandaeans in Iran, according to the Associated Press.^[38] Whereas Alarabiya has put the number of Iranian Mandaeans as high as 60,000 in 2011.^[39]

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. Migrant Iranian workers abroad remitted less than two billion dollars home in 2006.^[40]

As of 2010, there are about four to five million Iranians living abroad, mostly in the United States, Canada, Europe, Persian Gulf States, Turkey, Australia and the broader Middle East.^[24][41][42] According to the 2000 Census and other independent surveys, there are an estimated 1 million Iranian-Americans living in the U.S., in particular, the Los Angeles area is estimated to be host to approximately 72,000 Iranians, earning the Westwood area of LA the nickname Tehrangeles.^[43] Other metropolises that have large Iranian populations include Dubai with 300,000 Iranians, Vancouver, London, Toronto, San Francisco Bay Area, Washington D.C., Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Stockholm, Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt. Their combined net worth is estimated to be $1.3 trillion.^[44]

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.

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.^[45][46] 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, 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.^[46] As of 2016, some 300,000 work permits have been issued for foreign nationals in Iran.^[47]

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.^[48]

Age structure

0-14 years: 23.69% (male 9,937,715/female 9,449,716)

15-24 years: 17.58% (male 7,386,826/female 6,998,188)

25-54 years: 46.87% (male 19,534,794/female 18,817,480)

55-64 years: 6.58% (male 2,650,049/female 2,731,997)

65 years and over: 5.28% (male 1,990,961/female 2,326,544) (2015 est.)

Median age

total: 28.8 years

male: 28.6 years

female: 29.1 years (2015 est.)

Population growth rate

1.2% (2015 est.)

Birth rate

17.99 births/1,000 population (2015 est.)

Death rate

5.94 deaths/1,000 population (2015 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 73.4% of total population (2015)

rate of urbanization: 2.07% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female

total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 71.15 years

male: 69.56 years

female: 72.82 years (2015 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.83 children born/woman (2015 est.)

Youth literacy

definition: age 15-24 can read and write

total population: above 90%^[49]

male youth: 98%

female youth: 98.0% (2008 est.)

Genetics

Y-chromosome DNA

Y-Chromosome DNA Y-DNA represents the male lineage, the Iranian Y-chromosome pool is as follows where haplogroups, R1 (25%), J2 (23%) G (14%), J1 (8%) E1b1b (5%), L (4%), Q (4%), comprise more than 85% of the total chromosomes.^[50]

Haplogroup[51]	n	B	C	E1b1a	E1b1b1a2	E1b1b1a3	E1b1b1c	F	G	H	I	J1	J2	K	L	N	O	P,R	Q	R1a	R1b	R1b1a	R1b1b	R2	T
Marker				M2	V13	V22	M34														M343	V88	M269		M70
Iran	566	0.53	0.18	1.41	1.77	1.8	0.88	0.35	14.00	2.65	0.8	8.13	23.86	0.71	4.00	2.12	1.41	0.71	4.01	17.49	1.24	0.35	6.18	1.41	2.12

Mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA mtDNA represents the female lineage. The Iranian mitochondrial DNA shows more Western Eurasian lineages than the Y-DNA lineages.^[52] Nonetheless, a West Eurasian MtDNA makes up over 90% of the Iranian population on average. (2013).^[53]

Among them, U3b3 lineages appear to be restricted to populations of Iran and the Caucasus, while the sub-cluster U3b1a is common in the whole Near East region.^[53]

In Iran outliers in the Y-chromosomes and Mitochondrial DNA gene pool are consisted by the north Iranian ethnicities, such as the Gilaki's and Mazandarani's, who's genetic build up including chromosomal DNA are nearly identical to the major South Caucasian ethnicites, namely the Georgians, Armenians and Azerbaijani's. Other outliers are made by the Baloch people, representing a mere 1-2% of the total Iranian population, who have more patrilinial and mitochondrial DNA lines leaning towards northwest South Asian ethnic groups.

Levels of genetic variation in Iranian populations are comparable to the other groups from the Caucasus, Anatolia and Europe.^[53]

People of Iranian ancestry

Tats (Caucasus)

The "Tats" are an Iranian people, presently living within Azerbaijan and Russia (mainly Southern Dagestan). The Tats are part of the indigenous peoples of Iranian origin in the Caucasus.^[54][55][56]

Tats use the Tat language, a southwestern Iranian language and a variety of Persian^{[57][58][59][60][61]} Azerbaijani and Russian are also spoken. Tats are mainly Shia Muslims, with a significant Sunni Muslim minority. Likely the ancestors of modern Tats settled in South Caucasus when the Sassanid Empire from the 3rd to 7th centuries built cities and founded military garrisons to strengthen their positions in this region.^[62]

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 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).

Iranis

In Pakistan and India, the term "Irani" has come to denote Iranian Zoroastrians who have migrated 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 moved 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.^[63] Some, such as Ardeshir Irani, have also become very famous in cinema.

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 Shiite sect of Islam are Ajam, and they are different from the Huwala, who are Sunnis and some of them have Arab origin.

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

Huwala are the descendants of Persians and Persian Arabs who belong to the Sunni sect of Islam.^[64] Huwala migrated from Ahwaz in Iran to the Persian Gulf in the seventeenth and eighteenth century.^[64][65]

See also

• Culture of Iran
• Economy of Iran
• Education in Iran
• Ethnic groups in West Asia
• Health care in Iran
  • Family planning in Iran
• Human rights in Iran
• Human capital flight from Iran
• Iranian names
• Social class in Iran
• Women in Iran
• List of Iranians

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Demographics of Iran.

• 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)
• Human Development Report - 2009 (UNDP Iran's entry)

Videos

• Iran population decline alarms observers - PressTV (2014)
• Iran's population and the future plans - PressTV (2013)