Historically, Iran was commonly referred to as "Persia" in the Western world.[1] Likewise, the modern-day ethnonym "Persian" was typically used as a demonym for all Iranian nationals, regardless of whether or not they were ethnic Persians. This terminology prevailed until 1935, when, during an international gathering for Nowruz, the Iranian king Reza Shah Pahlavi officially requested that foreign delegates begin using the endonym "Iran" in formal correspondence. Subsequently, "Iran" and "Iranian" were standardized as the terms referring to the country and its citizens, respectively. Later, in 1959, Pahlavi's son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi announced that it was appropriate to use both "Persia" and "Iran" in formal correspondence.[2] However, the issue is still debated among Iranians.[3] A variety of scholars from the Middle Ages, such as the Persian polymath Al-Biruni, also used terms like "Xuniras" (Avestan: Xvaniraθa-, transl. "self-made, not resting on anything else") to refer to Iran: "which is the center of the world, [...] and it is the one wherein we are, and the kings called it the Iranian realm."[4]
- ^ Fishman, Joshua A. (2010). Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity: Disciplinary and Regional Perspectives. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 266. ISBN 978-0195374926.
'Iran' and 'Persia' are synonymous. The former has always been used by the Iranian speaking peoples themselves, while the latter has served as the international name of the country in various languages
. - ^ Yarshater, Ehsan (1989). "Communication". Iranian Studies. XXII (1): 62–65. doi:10.1080/00210868908701726. JSTOR 4310640. Reprinted online as "Persia or Iran, Persian or Farsi" (Archived 2010-10-24 at the Wayback Machine).
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Majd2008awas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Shahbazi, A. Shapur. "HAFT KEŠVAR -- Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 14 July 2024.