The curliest attested cultures in Iran date back to the Lower Paleolithic. Owing to its geopolitical position, Iran has influenced cultures as far as Greece and Italy to the west, Russia to the north, the Arabian Peninsula to the south, and south and east Asia to the east. Farsi, the official language of Iran, is historically one of the most prominent languages of the Middle East and extended regions. Iranian culture in one of the oldest in the Middle East region, and it has influenced cultures like Italy, Macedonia, Greece, Russia, the Arabian Peninsula, and parts of Asia. Islam is practiced by the majority of Iranians and governs their personal, political, economic and legal lives. The Persian calendar is a solar calendar, however, some of the official religious Islamic and Shia holidays are based on a lunar calendar.
Few countries enjoy such a long cultural heritage as does Iran, and few people are so aware of and articulate about their deep cultural tradition as are the Iranian. Iran, or Persia, as a historical entity, dates to the time of the Achaemenids (about 2500 years ago), and, despite political, religious, and historic changes, Iranians maintain a deep connection to their past. Although daily life in modern Iran id closely interwoven with Shiite Islam, the country’s art, literature, and architecture are an ever-present reminder of its deep national tradition and of a broader literary culture that during the early modern period spread throughout the Middle East and South Asia. Despite the predominance of Persian culture, Iran remains a multiethnic state, and the country’s Armenian, Azerbaijan, Kurdish, and smaller ethnic minorities each have their own literary and historical traditions dating back many centuries, even in the case of the Armenians to the pre-Christian era. These groups frequently maintain close connections with larger cultural life of their kindred outside Iran.
Iranian hospitality is limitless; it goes to “infinity and beyond”. Iranian have a saying that “guest is a gift from god” showing how they feel about their guests and they cherish them like a precious jewel. This is a lovely fact that whoever has traveled to Iran can remember vividly. There are tons of stories out there about Iranian hospitality from a nice little smile in the street to giving a free map to the tourist. There is an attraction in Iran that is not listed on the UNESCO world heritage sites or the national treasury list, or on any map or guiding books and applications; it is only in the heart of its people and will be devoted to the guests with kind eye contacts, genuine smiles, small friendly talks, and invitation for tea or dinner. No matter what city or region in the country you go, since there are so many different ethnicities in Iran, you will be received with open arms. We must say that every Iranian has this famous ‘Persian hospitality’ running in their veins not matter where they live. The Persian hospitality is so renowned that put Iran on the top destinations of 2017 list next to other stunning destinations such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Peru, Madagascar, and more. Iran gets under your skin because of the welcoming people Right in the moment when you feel scared because you are in a different and unknown country with strangers who don’t understand theirs. Their deep kindness come to save you and let you know that we can make our world smaller and a better place to live just by being kind to one another. Iran is a country where you can connect with the people in a different level from the vocal language. You will have a connection by the feeling that are in the soul of every human being, it’s a universal language that we all know by heart.
As with the spoken languages, the ethnic group composition also remains a point of debate, mainly regarding the largest and seconds-largest ethnic groups, the Persians in and Azerbaijan, due to the lack of Iranian state censuses based on ethnicity. The CIA’s World Facebook has estimated that around 79% of the population of Iran are a diverse Indo-European ethnolinguistic group that comprise the speakers of the Iranian languages, with Persians (Mazenderanis; and Gilaks) constituting 61% of the population, Kurds 10%, Lurs 6%, and Balochs 2%. Peoples of other ethno-linguistic groups make up the remaining 21%, with Azerbaijan zerbaijanis constituting 16%, Arabs 2%, Turkmens and other Turkic tribes 2%, and others (Armenians, Taiysh, Georgians, Circassians, Assyrians) 1%. The Library of Congress issued slightly different estimates: 65% Persians (Mazenderanis, Gilaks, and the Taiysh), 16% Azerbaijan is, 7% Kurds, 6% Lurs, 2% Baloch, 1% Turkish tribal groups (incl. Qashqai and Turkmens) and non-Iranian, non-Turkish groups (Armenians, Georgians, Assyrians, Circassians, and Arabs) less than 3%. It determined that Persian is the first language of at least 65% of the country’s population, and is the second language for most of the remaining 35%. Other non-governmental estimations regarding the groups other than the Persians and Azerbaijan is roughly congruent with the World Fact book and the Library of Congress. However, many scholarly and organizational estimations regarding the number of these two groups differ significantly from the mentioned census. According to many of them, the number of ethnic Azerbaijan is in Iran comprises between 21.6-30% of the total population, with the majority holding it on 25%. In any case, the largest population of Azerbaijan is in the world live in Iran.
Although the majority of Iranians are Persian, Iran has a varied population that includes different ethnic groups, each with their own language, tradition, and clothes, all of which add to the richness of the country’s culture. Traditionally marked in women’s clothes, it’s easy to identify which region or tribe the person belongs to base on the colorful fabrics, embroidered patterns, decorative jewelry, and style of hijab. Here, we uncover the traditional dress of Iran’s diverse people.
The clothes of the Bakhtiari nomadic tribe are rather versatile, accounting for the extreme weather conditions they may encounter during migration. Men wear tunics, wide trousers fastened at the ankle, and wool skullcaps. Colorful, layered skirts paired with matching vests are common for women. Their long scarves are embellished with hand-stitched designs or ornaments.
The Qashqai people are nomadic tribes of Turkic origin. Women are distinguished by their voluminous, multi-layered, colorful skirts and long headscarves pinned under the chin, which allow loose pieces of hair to frame their face. Men's round hats are made of sheep hair, which is unique to this tribe.
The southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the traditional clothes of this region therefore resemble the typical Shahvar Kameez of these neighboring countries. Along with pants and colorful embroidered knee-length dresses, women adorn themselves with gold bracelets, necklaces, and brooches, and a second, longer shawl often covers their head and shoulders. Long pants, loose-fitting shirts, and a turban are customary for men.
Earthy tones dominate the traditional dress of Turkmen men and women. Wearing long dresses with open robes, women often conceal part of their face with a cloth hanging just below the nose. Wool hats, worn to protect against cold weather, are the prominent feature of men's garments.
Kurds have varying styles, as reflected by their residence in different regions. Both men and women tend to wear baggy clothes shaped at the waist by a wide belt Men wear matching jackets, and women decorate their headscarves with dangling coins and jewels.
In contrast to Lur men, who favor neutral colors in their baggy clothes, women lean towards bright, feminine colors, with the trademark stripes hemmed on the pant cuffs. A vest reveals the sleeves of the long dress worn over the pants. After wrapping the headscarf around the bead, neck, and shoulders, a long piece is left hanging down the hack.
Worn with long shirts and matching vests, floor-sweeping skirts with colorful horizontal stripes at the bottom are the discerning feature of the traditional Gilak wardrobe in the northern Gilan province. Men are distinguished by the wide cotton bell around the waist
National costumes of Azeri people are very beautiful and original. Female dresses are graceful in silhouette and cut, emphasizing supple waists of Azeri beauties. They are decorated with intricate embroidery trimmed with beautiful "gold" bands. Menswear is also very original. It emphasizes courage should not be too tight to constrain swift movements. Women's wear was made basically of silk and velvet, the man's - from cloth and home-made cashmere fabric. A remarkable element of Azeri clothes is underwear. Both female and male it was made of linen and cotton fabrics. Rich beauties could afford silk ones.
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