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Genetik/Peoples/Persians

Persians

Персы · Q484206

language area per Glottologcensus counts
2,434
Russia, census 2021
3,575
sum of censuses in 4 countries, 2001-2021
Indo-European
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Russia: 2,434 people in the 2021 census.

Official figures exist for 4 countries; together they add up to 3,575. This is not an estimate of the world total: the censuses were held in different years (2001-2021) and define belonging differently, and countries without such data are not counted.

In Russia's 2020 census (reference date 1 October 2021), 2,434 people identified with the nationality "Персы" (Persians)1. That is less than 0.01% of the 130,587,364 residents who stated a nationality.

Rosstat also assigns 10 other self-designations to this nationality (listed in Russian in the source table).

Main language: Western Farsi. Glottolog classifies it in the Indo-European family.

Where they live: census figures

Each figure comes from the country's official census. Censuses define belonging differently (self-identification, citizenship, mother tongue, ancestry); the type is given on each row.

Russia2021 · ethnicity / nationality · «Персы» · [1]
2,434
Tajikistan2010 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Persian» · [2]
473
Ukraine2001 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Persian» · [3]
419
Kazakhstan2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Persian» · [4]
249
Sum across 4 countries3,575

In detail: Russia, 2021 census

Sex

Men 1,586 · 65.2%Women 848 · 34.8%

Urban and rural

Urban 1,850 · 76.0%Rural 584 · 24.0%

Where: the 10 regions with the largest numbers

Moscow (city)
291
Kabardino-Balkar Republic
263
Republic of Dagestan
234
Saint Petersburg (city)
167
Moscow Oblast
144
Krasnodar Krai
102
Republic of Tatarstan
69
Astrakhan Oblast
67
Stavropol Krai
56
Orenburg Oblast
54

Source [1]: Rosstat, 2020 census, vol. 5, table 1

Languages and their lineage

Western Farsi

  1. Indo-Europeanindo1319
  2. Classical Indo-Europeanclas1257
  3. Indo-Iranianindo1320
  4. Iranian-Nuristaniiran1271
  5. Iranianiran1269
  6. Southwestern Iraniansout3157
  7. Middle-Modern Persianmidd1352
  8. Modern Southwestern Iranianmode1259
  9. Farsic-Caucasian Tatfars1254
  10. Farsicfars1255
  11. Western Farsiwest2369

People-to-language links: Wikidata (properties P103 and P2936), checked against ISO 639-3 codes. Language classification: Glottolog 5.3.

Peoples of the same language family

PakistanisRussiansMarathiGermansSpaniardsMexicansUkrainiansEnglishIrishAmericansItaliansRomaniansNepali (Khas-Arya)DutchBelarusiansTajiksCzechsScotsSerbsBulgariansSlovaksArmeniansCubansLithuanians

Sources

  1. Rosstat. National composition of the population of the Russian Federation. Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census (reference date 1 October 2021), vol. 5, table 1. Tom5_tab1_VPN-2020.xlsx (archived copy)
  2. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Tajikistan, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  3. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Ukraine, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  4. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Kazakhstan, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  5. Hammarström H., Forkel R., Haspelmath M., Bank S. (2026). Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. glottolog.org (CC BY 4.0)