The official language of Iran is Persian which has been ratified since the 1979 Constitution of Iran stating that Persian is the formal language of the government as well as education. The Persian language can also be known as Farsi, and the dialect has evolved from Middle Persian. The Middle Persian language broke the Arabic monopoly on writing in the area and Persian was also used in the court system during this time. The language has had a prestigious history in court traditions as well as writing and poetry and has even influenced other languages of the Middle East.
There are approximately 50 million Persian speakers out the 80 million inhabitants of the country which makes up 61% of the population. There are nearly 110 million Persian speakers worldwide, and the language holds official status in Iran as well as the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan and Tajikistan. There are 12 recognised Persian dialects within the country, but they are all mutually intelligible, similar to American and British English.
The Persian language shares some similarities, as well as Islamic greetings, with the Arabic language and the pronunciation of this kind of language can be tough to master. A simple way of saying hello in Persian is either "dorood" or "salaam", both of which are considered acceptable greetings in most situations. Another easy-to-remember phrase in Persian is "man az ... hastam", which can be used to tell people who speak Persian where an individual is from.
There are many different minority languages in a country such as Iran with rich cultural and anthropological history. Azerbaijani, a Turkic language, is spoken by around 14 percent of the population of Iran. Individuals who speak Kurdish as their primary language accounts for roughly 7 percent of the population. Other minority languages within the country include Arabic, Balochi, Gildaki, Mazandarani, and Tati among others.
This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018
More on Graphicmaps
Published on 2019-11-06
What is a Trade Embargo?
Published on 2019-11-04
Which Two Countries Used to Have the Same Flag?
Published on 2019-09-16
What Is the Only Two-Sided State Flag?
Published on 2019-09-16
Which Country Flag Looks Like the Texas Flag?
Published on 2019-08-29
Flags That Resemble the US Flag
Published on 2019-08-20