Languages spoken in Iran: map, families and speakers

Languages of Iran at a glance

83living languages
5language families
88.4 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
19with a CLDR share

Tap the map to list every language whose area covers a spot in Iran. Areas are generalisations from published atlases and overlap, and a language that is mapped here is not necessarily spoken everywhere inside its area.

The 40 most widely spoken languages in Iran

Languages with a Unicode CLDR share come first, biggest first by estimated speakers; the rest follow A to Z. Estimated speakers are the share applied to CLDR’s own population figure for the country.

Language	Family	Share of population	Estimated speakers	Status
Western Farsi	Indo-European	75%	66,290,175	Not endangered
North Azerbaijani	Turkic	24%	21,212,856	Not endangered
Mazanderani	Indo-European	5%	4,419,345	Not endangered
Gilaki	Indo-European	4.6%	4,065,797	Not endangered
Southern Kurdish	Indo-European	4.5%	3,977,410	Threatened
Turkmen	Turkic	2.8%	2,474,833	Not endangered
Northern Luri	Indo-European	2.1%	1,856,125	Not endangered
Southern Balochi	Indo-European	2%	1,767,738	Not endangered
Standard Arabic	Afro-Asiatic	2%	1,767,738	Not endangered
Domari	Indo-European	1.9%	1,679,351	Moribund
Bakhtiari	Indo-European	1.4%	1,237,417	Not endangered
Southern Luri	Indo-European	1.2%	1,060,643	Not endangered
Laki	Indo-European	0.8%	671,740	Not endangered
Kara-Kalpak	Turkic	0.7%	592,192	Not endangered
Central Kurdish	Indo-European	0.6%	556,837	Not endangered
Northern Kurdish	Indo-European	0.6%	494,967	Threatened
Western Balochi	Indo-European	0.6%	494,967	Not endangered
Eastern Armenian	Indo-European	0.2%	212,129	Not endangered
Southern Pashto	Indo-European	0.2%	141,419	Not endangered
Aimaq	Indo-European			Not endangered
Alamuti	Indo-European			Shifting
Alviri-Vidari	Indo-European			Moribund
Ashtiani	Indo-European			Threatened
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Afro-Asiatic			Shifting
Bajelani	Indo-European			Threatened
Balkan Romani	Indo-European			Not endangered
Bashkardi	Indo-European			Shifting
Brahui	Dravidian			Threatened
Dari	Indo-European			Not endangered
Dezfuli-Shushtari	Indo-European			Nearly extinct
Eastern Balochi	Indo-European			Not endangered
Eshtehardi	Indo-European			Shifting
Fars Dialects	Indo-European			Shifting
Gazic	Indo-European			Shifting
Georgian	Kartvelian			Not endangered
Gilit Mesopotamian Arabic	Afro-Asiatic			Not endangered
Gulf Arabic	Afro-Asiatic			Not endangered
Gurani	Indo-European			Threatened
Harzani-Kilit	Indo-European			Threatened
Hazaragi	Indo-European			Not endangered

Language families in Iran

Indo-European (62 languages)
Turkic (10 languages)
Afro-Asiatic (9 languages)
Dravidian (1 language)
Kartvelian (1 language)

All 83 languages in Iran, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Iran comes from the overlap of Glottography and Glottolog language areas and positions with the country outline, together with the languages Glottolog assigns to the country. The shares come from Unicode CLDR release 48 and are estimates. See every source and licence.

Questions about languages in Iran

How many languages are spoken in Iran?

83 living languages are mapped in Iran, from 5 families. The number depends on how a catalogue decides where one language ends and another begins, so other sources give other totals.

What is the most spoken language in Iran?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Western Farsi is spoken by 75% of the population, about 66,290,175 people, followed by North Azerbaijani (24%). Shares are approximate, can add up to more than 100% because many people speak several languages, and only cover languages CLDR has a figure for.

Which language families are found in Iran?

Indo-European (62 languages), Turkic (10 languages), Afro-Asiatic (9 languages), Dravidian (1 language) and Kartvelian (1 language).