Persian evokes an ancient civilization known for its empires, literature and artistic traditions. It refers to a specific cultural and ethnic heritage that has influenced much of the Iranian world.
The terms Iranian and Persian are often used interchangeably to describe people from Iran, but the terms “Persian” and “Iranian” don’t necessarily mean the same thing. Some people draw a distinction in that Persian relates to a particular ethnicity—i.e. Persian people—and being Iranian is a claim to a certain nationality. Thus, a person could be one without being the other.
Persians, [b] or the Persian people, [c] are an Iranian ethnic group indigenous to the Iranian plateau in West Asia that comprise the majority of the population of modern-day Iran. [3][5] They have a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language. [6][7][8] In the Western world, "Persian" was largely understood as a demonym for all Iranians rather than as an ethnonym ...
Persian, predominant ethnic group of Iran (formerly known as Persia). Although of diverse ancestry, the Persian people are united by their language, Persian (Farsi), which belongs to the Indo-Iranian group of the Indo-European language family. (Dari, a variant of the Persian language, is the lingua franca and an official language of Afghanistan and is also spoken in Pakistan.)
Iran is often grouped with Arab nations, but it is not an Arab country. Its people are largely Persian, its language is Farsi, and its history stretches back to ancient empires long before Islam. Here’s a clear guide to Persian and Arab identity.
Why is Iran not an Arab country? Persian vs Arab identity explained ...