5 Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Iran
A majority of Iran's people are of Aryan origin. Most speak one of the Iranian languages, though only Persian is an official language. While the number, percentage, and definition of the different Iranian peoples is disputed, the major groups in the Iranian languages category include Persians (51%), Gilaki and Mazandarani (8%) (considered Persian by some people, including some of themselves), Kurds (7%), Lurs (2%), and Baluchi (2%). The remainder are primarily Turkic-speaking people such as the Azeris (24%) and Turkmens (2%), but also include Arabs (3%), Armenians, Jews, and Assyrians and others. (Please note that the numbers are according to 2004 edition of CIA's The World Factbook, which may be more neutral that other sources. Different claims include higher numbers up to 70% for Persians and a respectively lower numbers for Turkic peoples or a higher number for Turkic peoples, even more than 50%, and a lower one for Persians and other ethnicities. Some people in the first group claim that the CIA statistics are based on guesses made around 1964, while CIA claims that the edition is based on January 2004 information.)
Most Iranians are Muslims; 89% belong to the Shia branch of Islam, the official state religion, and about 10% belong to the Sunni branch, which predominates in most Muslim countries. Non-Muslim religious minorities include Bahá'ís and Zoroastrians, both being religions that originated in Iran, as well as Jews and Christians. Only the latter three are officially recognised minority religions. Iran's population size increased dramatically in the latter part of the 20th century.
6 Provinces
Main article: Provinces of Iran
Iran consists of 28 provinces (ostan-haa, singular - ostan):
