Talysh people

This article is about the ethnicity. For region, see Talish (region).
For other uses, see Talysh and Talış.

Talysh
Tolışon • تالشان
Talysh people dancing, early 20th century in Iran
Regions with significant populations
Iran700,000–1,000,000[1]
Azerbaijan500,000[2]–1,000,000[3][4]
Languages
Talysh
Religion
Islam (predominantly Shia in Azerbaijan, predominantly Sunni in Iran[5][6][7])
Related ethnic groups
other Iranian peoples
especially Gilaks, Mazandaranis and Kurds

The Talysh people (Talysh: Tolışon, تالشان) or Talyshis, Talyshes, Talyshs, Talishis, Talishes, Talishs, Talesh are an Iranian ethnic group, with the majority residing in Azerbaijan and a minority in Iran.[8] They are the indigenous people of the Talish, a region on the western shore of the Caspian Sea shared between Azerbaijan and Iran.[9] The main city of the Talysh people and their homeland is Lankaran,[8][10][11] the majority of the population of which is ethnically Talysh.[12][13][14][15] They speak the Talysh language, one of the Northwestern Iranian languages.[8] The majority of Talyshis are Shiite Muslims.[8]

The Talysh people have a high birth rate[16] and nowadays they are the ethnic group experiencing the highest growth rate in modern Azerbaijan.[17] In addition, Talyshis are famous for their longevity and centenarianism.[18][19]

  1. ^ Arakelova 2022, p. 411.
  2. ^ Stilo 2015, pp. 414–415.
  3. ^ Arakelova 2022, p. 410.
  4. ^ Ter-Abrahamian 2005, p. 122.
  5. ^ Ter-Abrahamian 2005, p. 121.
  6. ^ Asatrian & Borjian 2005, p. 44.
  7. ^ Arakelova 2022, pp. 413–414.
  8. ^ a b c d Stokes 2009, p. 682.
  9. ^ Williams 2020, p. 1016.
  10. ^ Minahan, James (2002). Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: S-Z. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 1837. ISBN 978-0-313-32384-3.
  11. ^ "UNPO: Talysh". unpo.org. Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. Retrieved 8 February 2024. Largely concentrated in southern Azerbaijan and north-western Iran, with a major population centre in the city of Lenkoran.
  12. ^ "Lankaran". The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press. 2000. Retrieved 8 February 2024. Its inhabitants are mostly Talysh, an Iranian-speaking people who are Shiite Muslims.
  13. ^ Clifton et al. 2005, p. 3.
  14. ^ Williams 2020, p. 1018: "This move toward urbanization can be seen in the population figures for Lankaran to where large numbers of Talysh have migrated since the early 1980s. Indeed, according to 2000 figures, the Talysh population of Lankaran was forty-eight thousand people."
  15. ^ Allnutt, Luke (1 October 2007). "Azerbaijan: The Struggle To Shape Islam". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 8 February 2024. Only a few kilometers from the Iranian border, the southeastern town of Lankoran has close ties with Iran. The people in Lankoran are mainly Talysh, linguistically and ethnically similar to Persians.
  16. ^ Asatrian & Borjian 2005, p. 45.
  17. ^ Kotecha 2006, Executive Summary :"…(yet the population with the largest growth rate in the country)."
  18. ^ Williams 2020, pp. 1015–1018.
  19. ^ Legendary tales of life expectancy in Azerbaijan // Geographical. — 2022.