Turkic people of Iran

Turkic people of Iran are Turkic speaking people livinge in various regions of Iran. They are mainly concentrated in north-west, north-east, middle-north und south (Fars province) of Iran. The largest Turkic group in Iran are the Iranian Azerbaijanis, forming by far the second largest ethnicity in the nation. Other large Turkic groups of Iran are Khorasani Turks, Qashqais, Iranian Turkmen, Khalaj people and Afshars.
Turkic Population of Iran
Iranian Azerbaijanis, Khorasani Turks, Qashqais, Iranian Turkmen, Khalaj people, Afshars, Iranian Kazakhs, Bayat, Baharlu and Shahsevan are the main Turkic peoles of Iran.
Azerbaijanis
Iranian Azerbaijanis also known as Iranian Turks, a Turkic-speaking people who live mainly in Iranian Azerbaijan. Their number or percentage in the country are estimated differently as they are often mentioned to be politically motivated. They are by far the second largest ethnicity in Iran and the largest ethnic minority. The main estimations are stated below (from the lowest estimation on):
* 16%
* 21.6
* 24-25 percent
* 25-30 percent
In the Azerbaijan region, the population consists mainly of Azerbaijanis. Azeris are the largest group in Iranian Azerbaijan. Iranian Azerbaijan is one of the richest and most densely populated regions of Iran. Many of these various linguistic, religious, and tribal minority groups, and Azeris themselves have settled widely outside the region. The majority Azeris are followers of Shi'a Islam. The Iranian Azerbaijanis, mainly reside in the northwest provinces, including the Iranian Azerbaijan provinces (East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Ardabil, and Zanjan), as well as regions of the North to Hamadan County and Shara District Some Azerbaijani minorities also live in Markazi, Kordestan, Gilan and Kermanshah. Azerbaijanis also make up significant minorities in various parts of central Iran, especially Tehran, where they constitute 25% — one-third of the population.
Khorasani Turks
The Khorasani Turks or Qizilbash are Turkic-speaking people inhabiting part of northeastern Iran, and in the neighboring regions of Turkmenistan up to beyond the Amu Darya River. They speak the Khorasani Turkic and live in the North Khorasan, Razavi Khorasan and Golestan provinces of Iran alongside Turkmens.
Turkmen
Turkmen are primarily concentrated in the provinces of and North Khorasan. They live mostly in the cities of Gonbade Kavoos. The next largest Turkmen city is Bandar Torkaman.
Qashqai people
The Qashqai people mainly live in the provinces of Fars, Khuzestan and southern Isfahan, especially around the city of Shiraz in Fars. They are bilingual and speak the Persian language and the Qashqai language which is a member of the Turkic family of languages. The Qashqai were originally nomadic pastoralists and some remain so today.
The traditional nomadic Qashqai travelled with their flocks each year from the summer highland pastures north of Shiraz roughly 480 km or 300 mi south to the winter pastures on lower (and warmer) lands near the Persian Gulf, to the southwest of Shiraz. The majority, however, have now become partially or wholly sedentary. The trend towards settlement has been increasing markedly since the 1960s.
Afshar people
The Afshar are one of the Oghuz Turkic peoples. These originally nomadic Oghuz tribes moved from Central Asia and initially settled in what is now Iranian Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Republic, Eastern Turkey. Later some of them relocated by the Safavids to Khurasan, Kerman and Mazandaran. Today, they are variously grouped as a branch of the Azerbaijanis, Turkmens or Turkomans.
Afshars in Iran remain a largely nomadic group, with tribes in central Anatolia, northern Iran, and Azerbaijan. They were the source of the Afsharid, Karamanid dynasties, Baku Khanate, Zanjan Khanate and Urmia Khanate.

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