Iranians

The term Iranians can refer to:

• inhabitants or citizens of the modern nation of Iran,

• Iranian peoples are a group of peoples speaking Iranian languages and inhabiting a part of Asia on and near the Iranian plateau, which include the Persians and the Kurds.

• a synonym for the term Aryans, referring to the hypothesized ethnic group to which the first speakers of Indo-European languages belonged.

The term Iranian (Persian: ایرانیان) is etymologically descended from the term Aryan (Persian: آریایی), resulting from a shift in pronunciation of the latter.

The name Iran, actually Aryana, has as its original meaning "land of the Aryans", where the root ar- is derived from ancient Avestan, meaning noble. Similar cognates exist in other Indo-European languages.

The Iranian peoples of prehistory are generally believed to be ancestors of the contemporary Iranians, northern Indians (partly), northern and western Afghans, the Tajikis, the Uzbeks (partly), Azerbaijanis, Ossetians, Kurds and Baluchis. There is also a hypothesis which links the South Slavic people with the Iranians through the Alans.

In contemporary usage, the term Iranians refers to the people of the nation of Iran, which includes Persian, Azerbaijani, Baluch, Gilaki, Kurd, Lur, Mazandarani, Qashqai, Arab and Turkmen ethnic groups.

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