The official language of Iran is only one: Persian. As the names for regions, people, and languages are mostly the same, seven more languages are recognized as regional languages: Azerbaijani, Kurdish, Lori, Mazandarani, Gilaki, Baluchi and Arabic.
• Azari is the name of the ancient language of Azerbaijan which belongs to a branch of the northwestern Iranian language.
• The majority of the Baluch tribe whose language is called Baluchi, are settled in Baluchistan, in the southern district of Iran, Pakistan, and some parts of Afghanistan in the southeast.
• Mazandarani and Gilaki languages refer to the people who live in the north.
• Kurd tribes live in west of Iran, a part of Turkey and Iraq, and speak Kurdish languages. They come from different religions.
• Lori dialect is between Kurdish and Farsi and is commonly spoken in western and southwestern parts of Iran.
Engel from Austria said that “while travelling in Iran never forget to pack with you some basic Iranian words and phrases and enjoy chatting with local people”.
|Engel from Austria is talking to local children of Iran|