| Total population |
|---|
| 912,000 |
| Regions with significant populations |
 Azerbaijan: 76,800-800,000[1][2] Iran:112,000 [3] |
| Languages |
| Religion |
|
Islam (Shi'a and Sunni;[4] sources disagree as to the specific makeup[5][6][7]) |
| Related ethnic groups |
|
other Iranian peoples |
Talysh (also Talishi, Taleshi or Talyshi) are an Iranian people who speak the Talysh language, one of the Northwestern Iranian languages. It is spoken in the northern regions of the Iranian provinces of Gilan and Ardabil and the southern parts of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Northern Talysh (the part in the Republic of Azerbaijan) was historically known as Talish-i Gushtasbi.
Contents |
Language
Talysh has two major mutually intelligible dialects — Northern (in Azerbaijan and Iran), and Southern (in Iran). According to Ethnologue, Azerbaijani is used as literary language and speakers also use Azerbaijani.
Location
There are no statistical data on the numbers of Talysh-speakers in Iran, but estimates show their number to be around 1 million[citation needed]. According to Ethnologue some 800,000 Talysh live in the Republic of Azerbaijan [4], bringing the worldwide Talysh population close to 912,000 people[5]. In the thesis Positive Orientation Towards the Vernacular among the Talysh of Sumgayit [6] the number of Talyshs speakers in 2003 is estimated to be at least 400,000 in the Republic of Azerbaijan. According to the official census of the Republic of Azerbaijan, whose figures are in dispute by Talysh nationalists, the number of Talysh people in the Republic of Azerbaijan is 80,000. [7]. According to some sources, the Azerbaijani government has also implemented a policy of forceful integration of all minorities, including Talysh, Tat, and Lezgins.[8]. However, in a view of Hema Kotecha “the attitude towards any separatist tendencies seems predominantly negative” among Talyshs. [9] According to Svante E. Cornell: Whereas officially the number of Lezgins registered as such is around 180,000, the Lezgins claim that the number of Lezgins registered as Azerbaijani is many times higher than this figure, some accounts showing over 700,000 Lezgins in Azerbaijan. These figures are denied by the Azerbaijani government but in private many Azeris acknowledge the fact that Lezgins- for that matter Talysh or the Tat population of Azerbaijan is far higher than the official figure. [10].
| Major Ethnic Groups of Iran |
|---|
 Uninhabited
Talysh
|
According to talysh activist Ismail Shabanov:
“A massive resettlement of Kurds to the originally Talysh-populated southern regions of Azerbaijan is underway. Some 5,000 Kurds have moved to Lenkoran alone, plus some 500-1,500 people per village. Intolerable conditions for the locals are being created: they cannot buy land or open businesses. While the Talysh population is strangulated by excessive regulation, the newcomers are given preferential treatment. All the young Talysh people have left the region. In broad daylight, we see Azerbaijan destroy the ancient civilization and the language in which Avesta, the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, was written”.[11]
History
The Talishis generally identify themselves with the ancient Cadusians, who inhabited the area to the southwest of Caspian sea, bounded on the north by Kura river, including modern provinces of Ardabil and Zanjan. The name of Talishi can be etymologically related to Cadusi.[citation needed]
References
- ^ The State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan Republic: «Population by ethnic groups»
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ Clifton/Deckinga/Lucht/Tiessen (2005), "Sociolinguistic Situation of the Talysh in Azerbaijan". SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2005. p. 5
- ^ UNPO - Talysh
- ^ The Unreached Peoples Prayer Profiles
- ^ Hoover Institution - Hoover Digest - What I Saw
- ^ Christina Bratt (EDT) Paulston, Donald Peckham, Linguistic Minorities in Central and Eastern Europe, Multilingual Matters. 1853594164, pg 106
- ^ Hema Kotecha, “Islamic and Ethnic Identities in Azerbaijan: Emerging Trends and Tensions”, OSCE Report, Baku, July 2006, [3]
- ^ Svante E. Cornell. Small Nations and Great Powers. Routledge (UK), Jan 1, 2001, ISBN 0-7007-1162-7, pg 269
- ^ The Talysh Issue, by Yana Amelina, Strategic Culture Foundation, 2008
|
||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
