Foreign Languages in Iran
Armenians and Assyrians form a great population of racial minorities in Iran. They have lived in different parts of Iran for hundreds of years and have enriched Iran’s culture in many ways. There were no united Armenian communities in Iran until Shah Abbas relocated a huge number of Armenians from Armenia to an area of Isfahan called New Julfa in the 17th century. After that time, Iranian Armenians have learned Farsi and have contributed vastly in the development of Iran. Assyrians have a much longer history in Iran. It is stated that Assyrians in Iran have existed in the north-western Iran for thousands of years. The Assyrian population in Iran used to be over 200,000 prior to the Iranian revolution but that number had shrunk immensely to about 32,000 by 1996. Many Assyrians have fled to foreign countries after the revolution since they saw threat to their existence in the Middle East region.
Picture from: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2013-08/05/132604100_31n.jpg
Armenians and Assyrians form a great population of racial minorities in Iran. They have lived in different parts of Iran for hundreds of years and have enriched Iran’s culture in many ways. There were no united Armenian communities in Iran until Shah Abbas relocated a huge number of Armenians from Armenia to an area of Isfahan called New Julfa in the 17th century. After that time, Iranian Armenians have learned Farsi and have contributed vastly in the development of Iran. Assyrians have a much longer history in Iran. It is stated that Assyrians in Iran have existed in the north-western Iran for thousands of years. The Assyrian population in Iran used to be over 200,000 prior to the Iranian revolution but that number had shrunk immensely to about 32,000 by 1996. Many Assyrians have fled to foreign countries after the revolution since they saw threat to their existence in the Middle East region.
Picture from: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2013-08/05/132604100_31n.jpg