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{{Short description|Turkic ethnic group}}
Azerbaijanis are commonly associated with the Turkic peoples and the ancient land of Azerbaijan. They are the descendants Turks (primaraly the '''Oghuz Turks''') who speak the Azerbaijani language (often called Azerbaijani Turkish or Azeri) that belongs to a Turkic branch of the Altaic languages. Azerbaijani is very close to Turkish (the language of Turkey) and Turkmen (the language of Turkmenistan) which are also languages which have emerged from the Oghuz Turks. The modern language and the nationhood of the Azerbaijanis developed from from the 10th to the 13th centuries, in a timespan that is called Azerbaijan's national, cultural and linguistic "golden age." The Azerbaijanis are also rich inheritants of several ancient civilizations such as that of Sumer, Elam, Urartu, Mannai, Media and Caucasian Albania.
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{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Azerbaijanis
| native_name = {{lang|az|Azərbaycanlılar}}<br />{{lang|az-Arab|{{nq|آذربایجانلیلار}}}}
| image = Azerigirls.JPG
| image_caption = Azerbaijani girls in ]
| population = 30–35 million
| total_year = 2002
| total_ref = <ref name="avraham">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJwsAQAAIAAJ&q=30-35 |title=The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East|author=Sela, Avraham|publisher=Continuum|year=2002|isbn=978-0-8264-1413-7|page=197|quote=They number 30-35 million and live primarily in Iran (approximately 20 million), the Republic of Azerbaijan (8 million), Turkey (1-2 million), Russia (1 million), and Georgia (300,000).|author-link=Avraham Sela}}</ref>
| region1 = {{flagcountry|Iran}}
| pop1 = 12–23 million{{refn|<ref name="dictionary" /><ref name="16.7mil">{{Cite web |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/IR/status |title=Iran|website=Ethnologue|access-date=26 October 2018|archive-date=4 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904065634/https://www.ethnologue.com/country/IR/status|url-status=live |quote=Ethnic population: 16,700,000 (2019)}}</ref><ref name="18mil">{{cite book |last1=Elling |first1=Rasmus Christian |author1-link=Rasmus Christian Elling |title=Minorities in Iran: Nationalism and Ethnicity after Khomeini |date=18 February 2013 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-137-04780-9 |page=28 |quote=CIA and Library of Congress estimates range from 16 percent to 24 percent—that is, 12–18 million people if we employ the latest total figure for Iran’s population (77.8 million).}}</ref><ref name = "Gheissari">{{cite book |last1=Gheissari |first1=Ali |title=Contemporary Iran: Economy, Society, Politics |date=2 April 2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-988860-3 |page=300 |quote=As of 2003, the ethnic classifications are estimated as: Azeri (24 percent)}}</ref><ref name = "Bani-Shoraka">{{cite journal |last1=Bani-Shoraka |first1=Helena |title=Cross-generational bilingual strategies among Azerbaijanis in Tehran |journal=International Journal of the Sociology of Language |date=1 July 2009 |issue=198 |page=106 |doi=10.1515/IJSL.2009.029 |s2cid=144993160 |issn=1613-3668 |quote=The latest figures estimate the Azerbaijani population at 24% of Iran’s 70 million inhabitants (NVI 2003/2004: 301). This means that there are between 15 and 20 million Azerbaijanis in Iran.}}</ref><ref name = "Potter">{{cite book |last1=Potter |first1=Lawrence G. |title=Sectarian Politics in the Persian Gulf |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=290 |isbn=978-0-19-937726-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=50pRBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA290 |access-date=14 January 2023}}</ref><ref name = "Crane">{{cite book |last1=Crane |first1=Keith |last2=Lal |first2=Rollie |last3=Martini |first3=Jeffrey |title=Iran's Political, Demographic, and Economic Vulnerabilities |date=6 June 2008 |publisher=RAND Corporation |page=38 |isbn=978-0-8330-4527-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PmlMdb5ACHEC&pg=PA38 |access-date=17 January 2023}}</ref><ref name = "Moaddel">{{cite book |last1=Moaddel |first1=Mansoor |last2=Karabenick |first2=Stuart A. |title=Religious Fundamentalism in the Middle East: A Cross-National, Inter-Faith, and Inter-Ethnic Analysis |date=4 June 2013 |publisher=Brill |page=101 |quote=The Azeris have a mixed heritage of Iranic, Caucasian, and Turkic elements(...) Between 16 to 23 million Azeris live in Iran.}}</ref><ref name = "Eschment">{{cite book |editor1-last=Eschment |editor1-first=Beate |editor2-last=von Löwis |editor2-first=Sabine |title=Post-Soviet Borders: A Kaleidoscope of Shifting Lives and Lands |date=18 August 2022 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=31 |quote=Irrespective of the large Azerbaijani population in Iran (about 20 million, compared to 7 million in Azerbaijan)(...)}}</ref>}}
| region2 = {{flagcountry|Azerbaijan}}
| pop2 = 8,172,800
| ref2 = <ref> stat.gov.az</ref>
| region3 = {{flagcountry|Russia}}
| pop3 = 603,070
| ref3 = <ref name="Russian Census">{{cite web|url=http://www.perepis-2010.ru/results_of_the_census/tab5.xls |title=Итоги переписи |work=2010 census |year=2012 |publisher=Russian Federation State Statistics Service |access-date=24 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424113952/http://www.perepis-2010.ru/results_of_the_census/tab5.xls |archive-date=24 April 2012}}</ref>
| region4 = {{flagcountry|Turkey}}
| pop4 = 530,000–2 million
| ref4 = <ref name="Leeuw">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sNoP1zphWf8C&pg=PA19|title=Azerbaijan: a quest for identity : a short history|author=van der Leeuw, Charles|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2000|isbn=978-0-312-21903-1|page=19|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=20 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320173346/http://books.google.com/books?id=sNoP1zphWf8C&pg=PA19|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="avraham" />
| region5 = {{flagcountry|Georgia}}
| pop5 = 233,178
| ref5 = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://geostat.ge/cms/site_images/_files/english/population/Census_release_ENG_2016.pdf|title=Ethnic groups by major administrative-territorial units|publisher=National Statistics Office of Georgia|work=2014 census|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-date=10 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010074805/http://geostat.ge/cms/site_images/_files/english/population/Census_release_ENG_2016.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
| region7 = {{flagcountry|Kazakhstan}}
| pop7 = 114,586
| ref7 = <ref name="etno2020">{{Cite web|url=https://www.stat.gov.kz/api/getFile/?docId=ESTAT355258|title=Численность населения Республики Казахстан по отдельным этносам на начало 2020 года|publisher=Комитет по статистике Министерства национальной экономики Республики Казахстан|accessdate=2020-04-27|archive-date=27 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200527204929/https://www.stat.gov.kz/api/getFile/?docId=ESTAT355258|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| region8 = {{flagcountry|Ukraine}}
| pop8 = 45,176
| ref8 = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/|title=About number and composition population of Ukraine by data All-Ukrainian census of the population 2001|work=Ukraine Census 2001|publisher=State Statistics Committee of Ukraine|access-date=17 January 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111217151026/http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/|archive-date=17 December 2011}}</ref>
| region9 = {{flagcountry|Uzbekistan}}
| pop9 = 44,400
| ref9 = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arbuz.com/Umid/Main/Uzbekistan/Population/population.html|title=The National Structure of the Republic of Uzbekistan|year=1989|publisher=Umid World|access-date=17 January 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223090542/http://www.arbuz.com/Umid/Main/Uzbekistan/Population/population.html|archive-date=23 February 2012}}</ref>
| region10 = {{flagcountry|Turkmenistan}}
| pop10 = 33,365
| ref10 = <ref>{{cite journal|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php?reg=14|script-title=ru:Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР|journal=Демоскоп Weekly|language=ru|issue=493–494|date=1–22 January 2012|access-date=17 January 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314043707/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php?reg=14|archive-date=14 March 2012}}</ref>
| region11 = {{flagcountry|United States}}
| pop11 = 24,377
| ref11 = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news.az/articles/5620|title=Azerbaijani-American Council rpartners with U.S. Census Bureau|publisher=News.Az|date=28 December 2009|access-date=2012-07-11|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407043029/http://www.news.az/articles/5620|archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref><ref>http://www.azeris.org/images/proclamations/May28_BrooklynNY_2011.JPG{{dead link|date=October 2016|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stlamerican.com/reader_interaction/letters_to_the_editor/article_a906f9d6-4a8f-11e0-9d87-001cc4c03286.html|title=Obama, recognize us – St. Louis American: Letters To The Editor|publisher=Stlamerican.com|date=9 March 2011|access-date=2012-07-11|archive-date=13 September 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913202500/http://www.stlamerican.com/reader_interaction/letters_to_the_editor/article_a906f9d6-4a8f-11e0-9d87-001cc4c03286.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| region12 = {{flagcountry|Germany}}
| pop12 = 20,000–30,000
| ref12 = <ref>{{cite web |title=A portrait of a migrant: Azerbaijanis in Germany |url=https://www.boell.de/en/2022/01/12/portrait-migrant-azerbaijanis-germany |website=boell.de |publisher=HEINRICH-BÖLL-STIFTUNG – The Green Political Foundation |date=12 January 2022 |access-date=7 March 2022}}</ref>
| region13 = {{flagcountry|Netherlands}}
| pop13 = 18,000
| ref13 = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://mfa.gov.az/eng/downloads/bilaterial/Netherlands.pdf|title=The Kingdom of the Netherlands: Bilateral relations: Diaspora|publisher=Republic of Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs|access-date=17 January 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119175140/http://mfa.gov.az/eng/downloads/bilaterial/Netherlands.pdf|archive-date=19 January 2012}}</ref>
| region14 = {{flagcountry|Kyrgyzstan}}
| pop14 = 17,823
| ref14 = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stat.kg/stat.files/din.files/census/5010003.pdf|title=5.01.00.03 Национальный состав населения|publisher=National Statistical Committee of Kyrgyz Republic|year=2011|language=ru|access-date=17 January 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219092904/http://www.stat.kg/stat.files/din.files/census/5010003.pdf|archive-date=19 February 2012}}</ref>
| region15 = {{flagcountry|France}}
| pop15 = 70,000
| ref15 = <ref>{{cite news|last=İlhamqızı|first=Sevda|date=2 October 2007|title=Gələn ilin sonuna qədər dünyada yaşayan azərbaycanlıların sayı və məskunlaşma coğrafiyasına dair xəritə hazırlanacaq|url=http://az.trend.az/azerbaijan/society/1034370.html|language=az|work=Trend News Agency|location=Baku|access-date=8 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202205358/http://az.trend.az/azerbaijan/society/1034370.html|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| region16 = {{flagcountry|Canada}}
| pop16 = 9,915
| ref16 = <ref>{{cite web|title=Canada Census Profile 2021|url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?LANG=E&GENDERlist=1&STATISTIClist=1,4&DGUIDlist=2021A000011124&HEADERlist=31&SearchText=Canada|website=Census Profile, 2021 Census|date = 7 May 2021|publisher=Statistics Canada Statistique Canada|access-date=3 January 2023}}</ref>
| region17 = {{flagcountry|Portugal}}
| pop17 = 8,000
| ref17 = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sef.pt/pt/Documents/RIFA2022%20vF2a.pdf |title=Estrangeiros em Portugal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://azerbaijan.az/en/related-information/207|title=Number of Azerbaijanis living outside Azerbaijan - Azerbaijan.az|website=azerbaijan.az}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://azertag.az/en/bolme/diaspora?page=19&device=Desktop|title=DIASPORA - AZERTAC}}</ref>
| region18 = {{flagcountry|United Arab Emirates}}
| pop18 = 7,000
| ref18 = <ref name="BQ">{{cite web|url=http://www.bqdoha.com/2015/04/uae-population-by-nationality|title=UAE´s population – by nationality|work=BQ Magazine|date=12 April 2015|access-date=13 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711160839/http://www.bqdoha.com/2015/04/uae-population-by-nationality|archive-date=11 July 2015}}</ref>
| region19 = {{flagcountry|United Kingdom}}
| pop19 = 6,220
| ref19 = <ref name=ons2011>{{cite web|title=Nationality and country of birth by age, sex and qualifications Jan – Dec 2013 (Excel sheet 60Kb)|url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/business-transparency/freedom-of-information/what-can-i-request/published-ad-hoc-data/labour/april-2014/nationality-and-country-of-birth-by-age--sex-and-qualifications-jan---dec-2013.xls|website=www.ons.gov.uk|publisher=]|access-date=11 June 2014|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924060723/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/business-transparency/freedom-of-information/what-can-i-request/published-ad-hoc-data/labour/april-2014/nationality-and-country-of-birth-by-age--sex-and-qualifications-jan---dec-2013.xls|url-status=live}}</ref>
| region20 = {{flagcountry|Belarus}}
| pop20 = 5,567
| ref20 = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://belstat.gov.by/homep/ru/perepic/2009/vihod_tables/5.8-0.pdf|title=Population Census 2009|publisher=National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus|access-date=17 April 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118175907/http://belstat.gov.by/homep/ru/perepic/2009/vihod_tables/5.8-0.pdf|archive-date=18 January 2012}}</ref>
| region21 = {{flagcountry|Sweden}}
| pop21 = 2,935
| ref21 = <ref name="Statistics Sweden">{{cite web|title=Foreign born after country of birth and immigration year|url=http://www.scb.se/sv_/Hitta-statistik/Statistik-efter-amne/Befolkning/Befolkningens-sammansattning/Befolkningsstatistik/25788/25795/Helarsstatistik---Riket/385479/}} Statistics Sweden.</ref>
| region22 = {{flagcountry|Latvia}}
| pop22 = 1,567–2,032
| ref22 = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.stat.gov.lv/pxweb/en/OSP_PUB/START__POP__IR__IRE/IRE010/table/tableViewLayout1/|title=Population by ethnicity at the beginning of year – Time period and Ethnicity &#124; National Statistical System of Latvia |website=data.stat.gov.lv}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pmlp.gov.lv/lv/media/9756/download?attachment|title=Latvijas iedzīvotāju sadalījums pēc nacionālā sastāva un valstiskās piederības, 01.01.2023. - PMLP}}</ref>
| region23 = {{flagcountry|Australia}}
| pop23 = 1,036
| ref23 = <ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618103730/https://dfat.gov.au/geo/azerbaijan/pages/azerbaijan-country-brief.aspx|date=18 June 2019}}. NB According to the 2016 census, 1,036 people living in Australia identified themselves as of Azeri ancestry. Retrieved 18 June 2019.</ref>
| region24 = {{flagcountry|Austria}}
| pop24 = 1,000
| ref24 = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://mfa.gov.az/eng/downloads/bilaterial/Austria.pdf|publisher=Republic of Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs|title=The Republic of Austria: Bilateral relations|access-date=18 January 2012}}{{dead link|date=October 2016|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>
| region25 = {{flagcountry|Estonia}}
| pop25 = 940
| ref25 = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://andmebaas.stat.ee/Index.aspx?lang=en&SubSessionId=860f7cac-3d26-4f21-be73-66fb9cbd4d52&themetreeid=7|title=Population Census of 2011|publisher=Statistics Estonia|access-date=10 November 2018|archive-date=11 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111000011/http://andmebaas.stat.ee/Index.aspx?lang=en&SubSessionId=860f7cac-3d26-4f21-be73-66fb9cbd4d52&themetreeid=7|url-status=live}} Select "Azerbaijani" under "Ethnic nationality".</ref>
| region26 = {{flagcountry|Norway}}
| pop26 = 806
| ref26 = <ref name="Statistics Canada">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ssb.no/en/befolkning/statistikker/innvbef/aar/2020-03-09|title=2020-03-09|website=ssb.no|date=9 March 2020 |access-date=3 January 2021|archive-date=17 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117201818/https://www.ssb.no/en/befolkning/statistikker/innvbef/aar/2020-03-09|url-status=live}}</ref>
| region27 = {{flagcountry|Lithuania}}
| pop27 = 648
| ref27 = <ref name=litstats>{{cite web|url=https://osp.stat.gov.lt/documents/10180/217110/Gyv_kalba_tikyba.pdf/1d9dac9a-3d45-4798-93f5-941fed00503f|title=Population by ethnicity in 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989, 2001 and 2011|publisher=Lithuanian Department of Statistics|access-date=10 March 2016|archive-date=13 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313110843/https://osp.stat.gov.lt/documents/10180/217110/Gyv_kalba_tikyba.pdf/1d9dac9a-3d45-4798-93f5-941fed00503f|url-status=live}}</ref>
| region28 = {{flagcountry|Italy}}
| pop28 = 552
| ref28 = <ref>http://demo.istat.it/str2019/index.html ] – Foreign resident population in 2019</ref>
| languages = ''']'''<br />
], ]
| religions = Mainly ] <br> (predominantly ],<ref name="Robertson, Lawrence R. 2002 210">{{cite book|title=Russia & Eurasia Facts & Figures Annual|author=Robertson, Lawrence R.|year=2002|publisher=Academic International Press|isbn=978-0-87569-199-2|page=210|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ye1oAAAAMAAJ|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=20 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320162646/http://books.google.com/books?id=ye1oAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> minority ])
| related_groups = ]<ref name="golden" /> and ]<ref>Ismail Zardabli. ''Ethnic and political history of Azerbaijan''. Rossendale Books. 2018. p.35 "... the ancestors of Azerbaijanis and Turkmens are the tribes that lived in these territories."</ref>
}}
{{Azerbaijanis}}


'''Azerbaijanis''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|æ|z|ər|b|aɪ|ˈ|dʒ|æ|n|i|,_|-|ɑː|n|i}}; {{langx|az|Azərbaycanlılar}}, {{lang|az-Arab|آذربایجانلیلار}}), '''Azeris''' ({{lang|az|Azərilər}}, {{lang|az-Arab|آذریلر}}), or '''Azerbaijani Turks''' ({{lang|az|Azərbaycan Türkləri}}, {{lang|az-Arab|آذربایجان تۆرکلری}})<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mrWRAAAAIAAJ&q=azeri+turks|title=Soviet Asian ethnic frontiers|first1=William O.|last1=MacCagg|first2=Brian D.|last2=Silver|date=10 May 1979|publisher=Pergamon Press|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0-08-024637-6|access-date=8 May 2020|archive-date=4 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204225104/https://books.google.com/books?id=mrWRAAAAIAAJ&q=azeri+turks|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ogp8AHZ3ZN4C&q=azeri+turks&pg=PA160|title=Iran: Political Development in a Changing Society|first=Leonard|last=Binder|date=10 May 1962|publisher=University of California Press|via=Google Books|access-date=8 November 2020|archive-date=4 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204225124/https://books.google.com/books?id=ogp8AHZ3ZN4C&q=azeri+turks&pg=PA160|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yAgGHnENHjoC&q=azeri+turks&pg=PA200|title=World Regional Geography|first=Joseph J.|last=Hobbs|date=13 March 2008|publisher=Cengage Learning|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0-495-38950-7|access-date=8 November 2020|archive-date=4 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204225105/https://books.google.com/books?id=yAgGHnENHjoC&q=azeri+turks&pg=PA200|url-status=live}}</ref> are a ] ethnic group living mainly in the ] region of northwestern Iran and the ]. They are predominantly ].<ref name="Robertson, Lawrence R. 2002 210"/> They comprise the largest ethnic group in the Republic of Azerbaijan and the second-largest ethnic group in neighboring ] and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geostat.ge/cms/site_images/_files/english/population/Census_release_ENG_2016.pdf|title=2014 General Population Census|publisher=]|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-date=10 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010074805/http://geostat.ge/cms/site_images/_files/english/population/Census_release_ENG_2016.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> They speak the ], belonging to the ] branch of the ].


Following the ] of ] and ], the territories of ] in the Caucasus were ceded to the ] and the ] in 1813 and ] in 1828 finalized the borders between Russia and Iran.<ref>{{cite book|author=Harcave, Sidney|year=1968|title=Russia: A History: Sixth Edition|publisher=Lippincott|page=267}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Mojtahed-Zadeh, Pirouz|year=2007|title=Boundary Politics and International Boundaries of Iran: A Study of the Origin, Evolution, and Implications of the Boundaries of Modern Iran with Its 15 Neighbors in the Middle East by a Number of Renowned Experts in the Field|publisher=Universal|isbn=978-1-58112-933-5|page=372}}</ref> After more than 80 years of being under the Russian Empire in the Caucasus, the ] was established in 1918 which defined the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Historic and national figures of Azerbaijan include ''Babek, Dede Gorgud, Muhammad Fizuli, Imadedin Nesimi, Koroglu, Shah Ismayil, Nizami Genjevi, Uzun Hesen, Sattar Khan, Memed-Emin Resulzada, Sheykh Muhammad Khiabani, Jafar Pishevari, and Ebulfezl Elchibey.


==Etymology==
Important Azerbaijani dynasties throughout history include the ''Seljuk Atabeks, Shirvanshahs, Aq Qoyonlus, Qara Qoyonlus, Safavis, Afshars and Qajars.''
Azerbaijan is believed to be named after '']'', a ]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/as-at/atropates/atropates.htm|author=Lendering, Jona|title=Atropates (Biography)|publisher=Livius.org|access-date=27 January 2012|archive-date=1 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140901014335/http://www.livius.org/as-at/atropates/atropates.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Chamoux, Francois|year=2003|title=Hellenistic Civilization|url=https://archive.org/details/hellenisticcivil00cham|url-access=limited|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|isbn=978-0-631-22241-5|page=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Bosworth, A. B. |author2=Baynham, E. J. |year=2002|title=Alexander the Great in Fact and Fiction|url=https://archive.org/details/alexandergreatfa00bosw |url-access=limited |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-815287-3|page=}}</ref> ] (governor) who ruled in '']'' (modern ]) circa 321 ].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MybbePBf9YcC&q=azeri|author=Atabaki, Touraj|year=2000|title=Azerbaijan: Ethnicity and the Struggle for Power in Iran|publisher=I. B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-86064-554-9|page=7|access-date=8 November 2020|archive-date=4 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204225105/https://books.google.com/books?id=MybbePBf9YcC&q=azeri|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=altstadt>{{cite book|author=Altstadt, Audrey L.|year=1992|title=The Azerbaijani Turks: Power and Identity under Russian Rule|publisher=Hoover Institution Press|isbn=978-0-8179-9182-1}}</ref>{{rp|2}} The name ''Atropates'' is the Hellenistic form of ] ''Aturpat'' which means 'guardian of ]'{{sfn|Chaumont|1987|pp=17–18}} itself a compound of ''ātūr'' (]) 'fire' (later ''ādur'' (آذر) in ], and is pronounced ''āzar'' today)<ref name="Pahlavi Dictionary">MacKenzie, D. (1971). A concise Pahlavi dictionary (p. 5, 8, 18). London: Oxford university press.</ref> + ''-pat'' (]) suffix for -guardian, -lord, -master<ref name="Pahlavi Dictionary"/> (''-pat'' in early ], ''-bod'' (بُد) in New Persian).


Present-day name ''Azerbaijan'' is the Arabicized form of ''Āzarpāyegān'' (]: آذرپایگان) meaning 'the guardians of ]' later becoming ''Azerbaijan'' (]: آذربایجان) due to the phonemic shift from /p/ to /b/ and /g/ to /dʒ/ which is a result of the medieval Arabic influences that followed the ], and is due to the lack of the phoneme /p/ and /g/ in the ].{{sfn|de Planhol|2004|pp=205–215}} The word ''Azarpāyegān'' itself is ultimately from Old Persian ''Āturpātakān'' (]: آتورپاتکان)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-iii |title=Azerbaijan, Pre-Islamic History |last=Schippmann |first=K. |date=15 December 1987 |website=Encyclopædia Iranica |access-date=26 December 2015 |archive-date=22 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130322101247/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-iii |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Azerbaijan&allowed_in_frame=0 |title=Azerbaijan |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=26 December 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102543/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Azerbaijan&allowed_in_frame=0 |url-status=live }}</ref> meaning 'the land associated with (satrap) Aturpat' or 'the land of fire guardians' (''-an'', here garbled into ''-kān'', is a suffix for association or forming adverbs and plurals;<ref name="Pahlavi Dictionary"/> e.g.: ] 'land associated with ]').<ref>Aliyev, Igrar. (1958). History of Atropatene (تاريخ آتورپاتكان) (p. 93).</ref>
Besides the newly-independent Republic of ] which has a population of around 8 million, the Azerbaijani people number a significant amount in Iran (in a region some reffer to as ].) They also inhabit in the Dagestan republic of the Russian Federation, where they number around 80,000 people. There are 307,000 Azerbaijanis in Georgia 500,000 in Turkey and have sizeable communities in Iraq and the United States.


===Ethnonym===
More than 90% of Azerbaijanis are Shia Muslims. They are believed to number approximately 40 million or so worldwide(the majority living in Iran) although estimates vary.
{{see also|Azerbaijan (toponym)}}
Most are farmers and urban-dwellers, while a small percentage are tribal and rural.
The modern ethnonym "Azerbaijani" or "Azeri" refers to the Turkic peoples of ]'s northwestern historic region of ] (also known as Iranian Azerbaijan) and the Republic of ].<ref>{{Encyclopaedia Iranica | title = AZERBAIJAN | last = EI. | authorlink = | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-index | volume = 3 | fascicle = 2–3 | pages = 205–257 }}</ref> They historically called themselves or were referred to by others as Muslims and/or Turks. They were also referred to as ] (meaning from Iran), using the term incorrectly to denote their Shia belief rather than ethnic identity.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/powderkeginmiddl00geof|url-access=registration|author1=Kemp, Geoffrey |author2=Stein, Janice Gross |year=1995|title=Powder Keg in the Middle East|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8476-8075-7|page=}}</ref> When the ] became part of the ] in the nineteenth century, the Russian authorities, who traditionally referred to all ] as ], defined Tatars living in the Transcaucasus region as Caucasian Tatars or more rarely<ref>Tsutsiev, Arthur. "18. 1886–1890: An Ethnolinguistic Map of the Caucasus". Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014, pp. 48–50. "''“Tatars” (or in rarer cases, “Azerbaijani Tatars”) to denote Turkic-speaking Transcaucasian populations that would later be called “Azerbaijanis”"''</ref> Aderbeijanskie (Адербейджанские) Tatars or even<ref name="Yilmaz2013">{{cite journal |last1=Yilmaz |first1=Harun |title=The Soviet Union and the Construction of Azerbaijani National Identity in the 1930s |journal=Iranian Studies |date=2013 |volume=46 |issue=4 |page=513 |doi=10.1080/00210862.2013.784521 |s2cid=144322861 |quote=The official records of the Russian Empire and various published sources from the pre-1917 period also called them “Tatar” or “Caucasian Tatars,” “Azerbaijani Tatars” and even “Persian Tatars” in order to differentiate them from the other “Tatars” of the empire and the Persian speakers of Iran.| issn = 0021-0862}}</ref> Persian Tatars in order to distinguish them from other Turkic groups and the ] speakers of Iran.<ref name="Yilmaz2013"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2005/0187/perep04.php |year=2005 |publisher=Demoscope Weekly |script-title=ru:Алфавитный список народов, обитающих в Российской Империи |language=ru |access-date=29 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205042823/http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2005/0187/perep04.php |archive-date=5 February 2012}}</ref> The Russian '']'', written in the 1890s, also referred to Tatars in Azerbaijan as Aderbeijans (адербейджаны),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gatchina3000.ru/brockhaus-and-efron-encyclopedic-dictionary/103/103729.htm|work=Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary|script-title=ru:Тюрки|language=ru|date=1890–1907|access-date=29 January 2012|archive-date=13 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113221158/http://gatchina3000.ru/brockhaus-and-efron-encyclopedic-dictionary/103/103729.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> but noted that the term had not been widely adopted.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gatchina3000.ru/brockhaus-and-efron-encyclopedic-dictionary/103/103731.htm|work=Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary|script-title=ru:Тюрко-татары|language=ru|date=1890–1907|access-date=29 January 2012|archive-date=13 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113223602/http://gatchina3000.ru/brockhaus-and-efron-encyclopedic-dictionary/103/103731.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> This ethnonym was also used by ] in 1900.<ref>{{cite book |last=Deniker |first=Joseph |date=1900 |title=Races et peuples de la terre |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rbqRt-A13P8C&pg=PA349 |language=fr |location=Paris, France |publisher=Schleicher frères |page=349 |quote=Ce groupement ne coïncide pas non-plus avec le groupement somatologique : ainsi, les Aderbaïdjani du Caucase et de la Perse, parlant une langue turque, ont le mème type physique que les Persans-Hadjemi, parlant une langue iranienne. |access-date=25 April 2016 |archive-date=21 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321183728/https://books.google.com/books?id=rbqRt-A13P8C&pg=PA349 |url-status=live }}</ref>
In Azerbaijani language publications, the expression "Azerbaijani nation" referring to those who were known as Tatars of the Caucasus first appeared in the newspaper ''Kashkul'' in 1880.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mostashari, Firouzeh|year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RBNDaEFGJrsC|title=On the Religious Frontier: Tsarist Russia and Islam in the Caucasus|publisher=I. B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-85043-771-0|page=129|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=22 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522082022/https://books.google.com/books?id=RBNDaEFGJrsC|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the early ] period, the term "Transcaucasian ]" was supplanted by "Azerbaijani Turks" and ultimately "Azerbaijanis."<ref>Tsutsiev, Arthur. "Appendix 3: Ethnic Composition of the Caucasus: Historical Population Statistics". Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014, p. 192 (note 150).</ref><ref name="Tsutsiev">Tsutsiev, Arthur. "31. 1926: An Ethnic Map Reflecting the First Soviet Census". Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014, p. 87.</ref><ref>Tsutsiev, Arthur. "26. 1920: The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and Soviet Russia". Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014, pp. 71–73.</ref> For some time afterwards, the term "Azerbaijanis" was then applied to all Turkic-speaking Muslims in Transcaucasia, from the ] in southwestern ], to the ]s of southern ], as well as assimilated ] and ].<ref name="Tsutsiev"/> The temporary designation of Meskhetian Turks as "Azerbaijanis" was most likely related to the existing administrative framework of the ], as the ] was one of its founding members.<ref>Tsutsiev, Arthur. "32. 1926: Using the Census to Identify Russians and Ukrainians". Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014, pp. 87–90</ref> After the establishment of the Azerbaijan SSR,<ref name="iranicaonline.org">{{cite encyclopedia | article = AZERBAIJAN | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-index | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. III, Fasc. 2–3 | pages = 205–257 | year = 1987 }}</ref> on the order of Soviet leader ], the "name of the formal language" of the Azerbaijan SSR was also "changed from Turkic to Azerbaijani".<ref name="iranicaonline.org"/>

=== Exonym ===
The ] and ] names for Azerbaijanis{{efn|The ethnonyms are also used to designate ].{{sfn|Kurkiev|1979|p=190}}}} are ''Ghezloy''/''Ghoazloy'' ({{lang|ce|ГӀезлой}}/{{lang|inh|ГӀоазлой}}) and ''Ghazaroy''/''Ghazharey'' ({{lang|ce|ГӀажарой}}/{{lang|inh|ГӀажарей}}). The former goes back to the name of ] while the latter goes back to the name of ], having presumably emerged in Chechen and Ingush languages during the ] in the 18th-19th centuries.{{sfn|Akhriev|1975|p=203}}

==History==
{{Main|History of Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan (Iran)#History}}

Ancient residents of the area spoke ] from the ] branch of the ].<ref name="yarshater">{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-vii|author=Yarshater, E|date=18 August 2011|title=The Iranian Language of Azerbaijan|publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica|access-date=25 January 2012|archive-date=31 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131081642/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-vii|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 11th century AD with Seljuq conquests, ] tribes started moving across the Iranian Plateau into the Caucasus and Anatolia. The influx of the Oghuz and other ] tribes was further accentuated by the Mongol invasion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arran-a-region|author=Bosworth, C. E.|date=12 August 2011|title=Arran|publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica|access-date=25 January 2012|archive-date=27 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727092744/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arran-a-region|url-status=live}}</ref> These Turkmen tribes spread as smaller groups, a number of which settled down in the Caucasus and Iran, resulting in the ] of the local population. Over time they converted to ] and gradually absorbed ] and ].<ref name="roy">{{cite book|author=Roy, Olivier|author-link=Olivier Roy (professor)|year=2007|title=The new Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-eMcn6Ik1v0C&pg=PA7|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-84511-552-4|page=6|quote=The mass of the Oghuz who crossed the Amu Darya towards the west left the Iranian plateau, which remained Persian, and established themselves more to the west, in Anatolia. Here they divided into Ottomans, who were Sunni and settled, and Turkmens, who were nomads and in part Shiite (or, rather, Alevi). The latter was to keep the name 'Turkmen' for a long time: from the 13th century onwards they 'Turkified' the Iranian populations of Azerbaijan (who spoke west Iranian languages such as Tat, which is still found in residual forms), thus creating a new identity based on Shiism and the use of Turkish. These are the people today known as Azeris.|access-date=8 May 2020|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803141204/https://books.google.com/books?id=-eMcn6Ik1v0C&pg=PA7|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Ancient period===
] ] tribes are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of the region in the north of Aras river, where the Republic of Azerbaijan is located.<ref>{{cite book|author=Coene, Frederik|year=2010|title=The Caucasus: An Introduction|url=https://archive.org/details/caucasusintroduc00coen|url-access=limited|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-48660-6|page=}}
</ref> The region also saw ]n settlement in the ninth century BC, following which the ] came to dominate the area to the south of the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TsoJhzc426cC&q=Early+Iranian+settlements+included+the+Scythians+in+the+ninth+century+BC&pg=PA586|title=Countries and Territories of the World|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-date=4 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204225107/https://books.google.com/books?id=TsoJhzc426cC&q=Early+Iranian+settlements+included+the+Scythians+in+the+ninth+century+BC&pg=PA586|url-status=live}}</ref>

] defeated the Achaemenids in 330 BC, but allowed the Median satrap Atropates to remain in power. Following the decline of the ]s in Persia in 247 BC, an ] exercised control over parts of ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+am0014)|title=Armenia-Ancient Period|publisher=Federal Research Division Library of Congress|access-date=28 January 2012|archive-date=7 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507140626/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+am0014%29|url-status=live}}</ref>
Caucasian Albanians established a kingdom in the first century BC and largely remained independent until the ] made their kingdom a ] in 252 AD.<ref name="dictionary">{{harvtxt|Swietochowski|Collins|1999|p=165}}: Today, Iranian Azerbaijan has a solid majority of Azeris with an estimated population of at least 15 million (over twice the population of the Azerbaijani Republic). (1999)</ref>{{rp|38}}
Caucasian Albania's ruler, King ], went to Armenia and then officially adopted ] as the state religion in the fourth century AD, and Albania remained a Christian state until the 8th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/albania-iranian-aran-arm|author=Chaumont, M. L.|date=29 July 2011|title=Albania|publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica|access-date=28 January 2012|archive-date=26 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526212016/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/albania-iranian-aran-arm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai102_folder/102_photos/102_heyerdahl_alexidze.html|author=Alexidze, Zaza|date=Summer 2002|title=Voices of the Ancients: Heyerdahl Intrigued by Rare Caucasus Albanian Text|journal=Azerbaijan International|volume=10|issue=2|pages=26–27|access-date=25 January 2012|archive-date=4 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004044141/http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai102_folder/102_photos/102_heyerdahl_alexidze.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Medieval period===
Sassanid control ended with their defeat by the ] in 642 AD through the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/beginnings/sassanid.html |title=Sassanid Empire |work=The Islamic World to 1600 |publisher=University of Calgary |year=1998 |access-date=3 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213113547/http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/beginnings/sassanid.html |archive-date=13 February 2012}}</ref> The Arabs made Caucasian Albania a vassal state after the Christian resistance, led by Prince ], surrendered in 667.<ref name="dictionary"/>{{rp|71}} Between the ninth and tenth centuries, Arab authors began to refer to the region between the ] and ] rivers as '']''.<ref name="dictionary"/>{{rp|20}} During this time, Arabs from ] and ] came to Azerbaijan and seized lands that indigenous peoples had abandoned; the Arabs became a land-owning elite.<ref name="lapidus">{{cite book|author=Lapidus, Ira|year=1988|title=A History of Islamic Societies|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-77933-3}}</ref>{{rp|48}} Conversion to Islam was slow as local resistance persisted for centuries and resentment grew as small groups of Arabs began migrating to cities such as ] and ]. This influx sparked a major rebellion in ] from 816 to 837, led an Iranian ] commoner named ].<ref>{{cite book|author=Kennedy, Hugh|author-link=Hugh N. Kennedy|year=1992|title=The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates|url=https://archive.org/details/prophetagecaliph00kenn|url-access=limited|publisher=Longman|isbn=978-0-582-40525-7|page=}}</ref> However, despite pockets of continued resistance, the majority of the inhabitants of Azerbaijan converted to Islam. Later, in the 10th and 11th centuries, parts of Azerbaijan were ruled by the ] dynasty of ] and ] ].

In the middle of the eleventh century, the ] dynasty overthrew Arab rule and established an empire that encompassed most of ]. The Seljuk period marked the influx of ] nomads into the region. The emerging dominance of the Turkic language was chronicled in epic poems or ''dastans'', the oldest being the '']'', which relate ] tales about the early Turks in the Caucasus and ].<ref name="dictionary"/>{{rp|45}} Turkic dominion was interrupted by the ] in 1227, but it returned with the ] and then ] ] (Black Sheep Turkmen) and ] (White Sheep Turkmen), who dominated Azerbaijan, large parts of Iran, eastern Anatolia, and other minor parts of West Asia, until the ] ] took power in 1501.<ref name="dictionary"/>{{rp|113}}<ref name="lapidus"/>{{rp|285}}

===Early modern period===
{{See also|Treaty of Gulistan|Treaty of Turkmenchay}}
]

The ], who rose from around ] in Iranian Azerbaijan and lasted until 1722, established the foundations of the modern Iranian state.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/empires/safavid/ |title=The Safavid Empire |publisher=University of Calgary |access-date=8 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427202257/http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/empires/safavid/ |archive-date=27 April 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Safavids, alongside their ] archrivals, dominated the entire West Asian region and beyond for centuries. At its peak under ], it rivaled its political and ideological archrival the ] in military strength. Noted for achievements in state-building, architecture, and the sciences, the Safavid state crumbled due to internal decay (mostly royal intrigues), ethnic minority uprisings and external pressures from the ], and the eventually opportunistic ], who would mark the end of the dynasty. The Safavids encouraged and spread Shi'a Islam, as well as the arts and culture, and Shah ] created an intellectual atmosphere that according to some scholars was a new "golden age".<ref name="Sammis">{{cite book|author=Sammis, Kathy|year=2002|title=Focus on World History: The First Global Age and the Age of Revolution|publisher=J. Weston Walch|isbn=978-0-8251-4370-0|page=39}}</ref> He reformed the government and the military and responded to the needs of the common people.<ref name="Sammis"/>

After the Safavid state disintegrated, it was followed by the conquest by ], a Shia chieftain from ] who reduced the power of the ghulat Shi'a and empowered a moderate form of Shi'ism,<ref name="lapidus"/>{{rp|300}} and, exceptionally noted for his military genius, making Iran reach its greatest extent since the ]. The brief reign of ] came next, followed by the ], who ruled what is the present-day Azerbaijan Republic and Iran from 1779.<ref name="dictionary"/>{{rp|106}} Russia loomed as a threat to Persian and Turkish holdings in the Caucasus in this period. The ], despite already having had minor military conflicts in the 17th century, officially began in the eighteenth century and ended in the early nineteenth century with the ] of 1813 and the ] in 1828, which ceded the Caucasian portion of Qajar Iran to the ].<ref name="altstadt"/>{{rp|17}} While Azerbaijanis in Iran integrated into Iranian society, Azerbaijanis who used to live in Aran, were incorporated into the Russian Empire.

Despite the Russian conquest, throughout the entire 19th century, preoccupation with ], ], and language remained widespread amongst Shia and Sunni intellectuals in the Russian-held cities of ], ] and Tiflis (], now Georgia).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gasimov |first1=Zaur |title=Observing Iran from Baku: Iranian Studies in Soviet and Post-Soviet Azerbaijan |journal=Iranian Studies |date=2022|volume=55|issue=1|page=38|doi=10.1080/00210862.2020.1865136|s2cid=233889871 |quote=The preoccupation with Iranian culture, literature, and language was widespread among Baku-, Ganja-, and Tiflis-based Shia as well as Sunni intellectuals, and it never ceased throughout the nineteenth century. }}</ref> Within the same century, in post-Iranian Russian-held East Caucasia, an ] emerged at the end of the 19th century.<ref name="Gasimov1">{{cite journal |last1=Gasimov |first1=Zaur |title=Observing Iran from Baku: Iranian Studies in Soviet and Post-Soviet Azerbaijan |journal=Iranian Studies |date=2022|volume=55|issue=1|page=37|doi=10.1080/00210862.2020.1865136|s2cid=233889871 |quote=Azerbaijani national identity emerged in post-Persian Russian-ruled East Caucasia at the end of the nineteenth century, and was finally forged during the early Soviet period.}}</ref> In 1891, the idea of recognizing oneself as an "Azerbaijani Turk" was first popularized amongst the Caucasus Tatars in the periodical ''Kashkül''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bishku |first1=Michael B. |title=The Status and Limits to Aspirations of Minorities in the South Caucasus States |journal=Contemporary Review of the Middle East |date=2022 |volume=9 |issue=4 |page=414 |doi=10.1177/23477989221115917|s2cid=251777404 }}</ref> The articles printed in ''Kaspiy'' and ''Kashkül'' in 1891 are typically credited as being the earliest expressions of a cultural Azerbaijani identity.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Broers |first1=Laurence |title=Armenia and Azerbaijan: Anatomy of a Rivalry |date=2019 |page= 326 (note 9)|publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-1-4744-5052-2}}</ref>

Modernisation—compared to the neighboring ] and ]—was slow to develop amongst the Tatars of the Russian Caucasus. According to the 1897 ], less than five percent of the Tatars were able to read or write. The intellectual and newspaper editor ] (1864-1940) led a campaign to ‘Turkify, Islamise, modernise’ the Caucasian Tatars, whereas ] (1872-1950), another journalist and activist, criticized superstition amongst Muslims.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pourjavady |first1=R. |editor1-last=Thomas |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Chesworth |editor2-first=John A. |title=Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History Volume 20. Iran, Afghanistan and the Caucasus (1800-1914) |date=2023 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden, The Netherlands |page=20 |chapter=Introduction: Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in the 19th century}}</ref>

===Modern period in Republic of Azerbaijan===
] presented by the Azerbaijani delegation ] in 1919]]
]
] in 1918]]
After the collapse of the Russian Empire during ], the short-lived ] was declared, constituting what are the present-day republics of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. This was followed by ] massacres<ref name="Swietochowski Borderland">Russia and a Divided Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition, by Tadeusz Świętochowski, Columbia University Press, 1995, p. 66</ref><ref name="smithmusavat">{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Michael |date=April 2001 |title=Anatomy of Rumor: Murder Scandal, the Musavat Party and Narrative of the Russian Revolution in Baku, 1917–1920 |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |volume=36 |issue=2 |page=228 |doi= 10.1177/002200940103600202|s2cid=159744435 |quote=The results of the March events were immediate and total for the Musavat. Several hundreds of its members were killed in the fighting; up to 12,000 Muslim civilians perished; thousands of others fled Baku in a mass exodus}}</ref> that took place between 30 March and 2 April 1918 in the city of Baku and adjacent areas of the ] of the ].<ref name="Smith">{{cite web |url=http://old.sakharov-center.ru/publications/azrus/az_004.htm |title=Pamiat' ob utratakh i Azerbaidzhanskoe obshchestvo/Traumatic Loss and Azerbaijani. National Memory |author=Michael Smith |work=Azerbaidzhan i Rossiia: obshchestva i gosudarstva (Azerbaijan and Russia: Societies and States) |publisher=Sakharov Center |access-date=21 August 2011 |language=ru |archive-date=1 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401031542/http://old.sakharov-center.ru/publications/azrus/az_004.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> When the republic dissolved in May 1918, the leading ] adopted the name "Azerbaijan" for the newly established ], which was proclaimed on 27 May 1918,<ref>{{cite book |first=Touraj |last=Atabaki |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M3adD9kNH1gC&pg=PA132 |title=Iran and the First World War: Battleground of the Great Powers' |publisher=I.B.Tauris |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-86064-964-6 |page=132 |access-date=6 December 2016 |archive-date=21 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321184000/https://books.google.com/books?id=M3adD9kNH1gC&pg=PA132 |url-status=live }}</ref> for political reasons,<ref name="Routledgeb">{{cite book|last1=Yilmaz|first1=Harun|title=National Identities in Soviet Historiography: The Rise of Nations Under Stalin|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-59664-6|page=21|quote=On May 27, the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (DRA) was declared with Ottoman military support. The rulers of the DRA refused to identify themselves as Tatar, which they rightfully considered to be a Russian colonial definition. (...) Neighboring Iran did not welcome the DRA's adoption of the name of "Azerbaijan" for the country because it could also refer to Iranian Azerbaijan and implied a territorial claim.}}</ref><ref name="Sochineniya, vol II/1b">{{cite book|last1=Barthold|first1=Vasily|title=Sochineniya, vol II/1|date=1963|location=Moscow|page=706|quote=(...) whenever it is necessary to choose a name that will encompass all regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan, name ] can be chosen. But the term Azerbaijan was chosen because when the Azerbaijan republic was created, it was assumed that this and the ] will be one entity because the population of both has a big similarity. On this basis, the word Azerbaijan was chosen. Of course right now when the word Azerbaijan is used, it has two meanings as Persian Azerbaijan and as a republic, its confusing and a question arises as to which Azerbaijan is talked about.}}</ref> even though the name of "Azerbaijan" had been used to refer to the ].<ref name="I.B.Tauris">{{cite book |last1=Atabaki |first1=Touraj |title=Azerbaijan: Ethnicity and the Struggle for Power in Iran |date=2000 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=978-1-86064-554-9 |page=25}}</ref><ref name="Amsterdam University Pressb">{{cite book|last1=Rezvani|first1=Babak|title=Ethno-territorial conflict and coexistence in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Fereydan: academisch proefschrift|date=2014|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|location=Amsterdam|isbn=978-90-485-1928-6|page=356|quote=The region to the north of the river Araxes was not called Azerbaijan prior to 1918, unlike the region in northwestern Iran that has been called since so long ago.}}</ref> The ADR was the first modern ] in the Turkic world and ].<ref name="Swietochowski Borderland"/><ref name="kazemzadeh"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Schulze |first=Reinhard |title=A Modern History of the Islamic World |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-86064-822-9}}</ref> Among the important accomplishments of the Parliament was the extension of suffrage to women, making Azerbaijan the first Muslim nation to grant women equal political rights with men.<ref name="kazemzadeh"/> Another important accomplishment of ADR was the establishment of ], which was the first modern-type university founded in Muslim East.<ref name="kazemzadeh">{{Cite book| last = Kazemzadeh | first = Firuz |author-link=Firuz Kazemzadeh | title = The Struggle for Transcaucasia: 1917–1921 | publisher = The New York Philosophical Library | year= 1951 |isbn=978-0-8305-0076-5 | pages = 124, 222, 229, 269–270 }}</ref>

By March 1920, it was obvious that Soviet Russia would attack the much-needed Baku. ] said that the invasion was justified as ] could not survive without Baku's ].<ref>{{cite web|last=Горянин |first=Александр |script-title=ru:Очень черное золото |publisher=GlobalRus |date=28 August 2003 |url=http://www.globalrus.ru/print_this/134413/ |access-date=28 August 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030906163920/http://www.globalrus.ru/print_this/134413/ |archive-date=6 September 2003 |url-status=live |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| last = Горянин| first = Александр| script-title = ru:История города Баку. Часть 3.| publisher = Window2Baku| url = http://www.window2baku.com/001history_3.htm| language = ru| access-date = 22 July 2014| archive-date = 21 March 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170321183819/http://www.window2baku.com/001history_3.htm| url-status = live}}</ref> Independent Azerbaijan lasted only 23 months until the ] ] invaded it, establishing the ] on 28 April 1920. Although the bulk of the newly formed Azerbaijani army was engaged in putting down an Armenian revolt that had just broken out in ], Azeris did not surrender their brief independence of 1918–20 quickly or easily. As many as 20,000 Azerbaijani soldiers died resisting what was effectively a Russian reconquest.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pope|first=Hugh |year=2006|title=Sons of the conquerors: the rise of the Turkic world|page= 116 |publisher=New York: The Overlook Press |isbn=978-1-58567-804-4}}</ref>

The brief independence gained by the short-lived Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918–1920 was followed by over 70 years of ].<ref name=nichol/>{{rp|91}} Neverthelesss, it was in the early Soviet period that the Azerbaijani national identity was finally forged.<ref name="Gasimov1"/> After the restoration of independence in October 1991, the Republic of Azerbaijan became embroiled in a war with neighboring Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.<ref name=nichol/>{{rp|97}}

The ] resulted in the displacement of approximately 725,000 Azerbaijanis and 300,000–500,000 Armenians from both Azerbaijan and Armenia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Haider|first=Hans|title=Gefährliche Töne im "Frozen War"|url=https://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/welt-europa/weltpolitik/513109_Gefaehrliche-Toene-im-Frozen-War.html|access-date=18 November 2020|work=Wiener Zeitung|date=2 January 2013|language=de}}</ref> As a result of ], Azerbaijan took back 5 cities, 4 towns, 286 villages in the region.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://azertag.az/xeber/Isgaldan_azad_edilmis_seher_ve_kendlerimiz-1622227|title=İşğaldan azad edilmiş şəhər və kəndlərimiz|work=]|date=1 December 2020|access-date=1 December 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201201185921/https://azertag.az/xeber/Isgaldan_azad_edilmis_seher_ve_kendlerimiz-1622227|archive-date=1 December 2020|language=az}}</ref> According to ], internally displaced persons and refugees shall return to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas under the supervision of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/64384|title=Statement by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and President of the Russian Federation|website=]|date=10 November 2020 }}</ref>

===Modern period in Iran===
In Iran, Azerbaijanis such as ] sought constitutional reform.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sattar-khan-one-of-the-most-popular-heroes-from-tabriz-who-defended-the-town-during-the-lesser-autocracy-in-1908-09|author=Pistor-Hatam, Anja|title=Sattār Khan|publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica|date=20 July 2009|access-date=6 February 2012|archive-date=17 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117091146/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sattar-khan-one-of-the-most-popular-heroes-from-tabriz-who-defended-the-town-during-the-lesser-autocracy-in-1908-09|url-status=live}}</ref> The ] of 1906–11 shook the Qajar dynasty. A parliament (''Majlis'') was founded on the efforts of the constitutionalists, and pro-democracy newspapers appeared. The last Shah of the Qajar dynasty was soon removed in a military coup led by ]. In the quest to impose national homogeneity on a country where half of the population were ethnic minorities, Reza Shah banned in quick succession the use of the Azerbaijani language in schools, theatrical performances, religious ceremonies, and books.<ref>{{cite book|author=Swietochowski, Tadeusz|year=1995|title=Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-07068-3}}</ref>

] (1868–1914) was a major ] figure in the late ] period in Iran.]]
Upon the dethronement of Reza Shah in September 1941, Soviet forces ] of ] and helped to set up the ], a ] under the leadership of ] backed by ]. The Soviet military presence in Iranian Azerbaijan was mainly aimed at securing the ] supply route during ]. Concerned with the continued Soviet presence after ], the United States and Britain pressured the Soviets to withdraw by ]. Immediately thereafter, the Iranian government regained control of ]. According to Professor Gary R. Hess, local Azerbaijanis favored the Iranian rule, while the Soviets forewent the Iranian Azerbaijan due to the exaggerated sentiment for autonomy and oil being their top priority.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.azargoshnasp.net/recent_history/atoor/theiraniancriris194546.pdf|title=The Iranian Crisis of 1945–46 and the Cold War|author=Hess, Gary. R.|journal=Political Science Quarterly|volume=89|issue=1|date=March 1974|pages=117–146|doi=10.2307/2148118|jstor=2148118|access-date=28 January 2012|archive-date=25 March 2009|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090325231811/http://www.azargoshnasp.net/recent_history/atoor/theiraniancriris194546.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Origins==
{{Main|Origin of the Azerbaijanis}}
{{multiple issues|
{{POV section|date=January 2021}}
{{Original research|section|date=January 2021}}
}}

In many references, Azerbaijanis are designated as a ],<ref name="golden">{{cite book|author=Golden, Peter B.|year=1992|title=An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontohi00gold|url-access=limited|publisher=Otto Harrasowitz|isbn=978-3-447-03274-2|pages=–386}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Turkic Peoples|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Americana| volume=27|page=276|publisher=Grolier|year=1998|isbn=978-0-7172-0130-3}}</ref> while some sources describe the origin of Azerbaijanis as "unclear",<ref name="Matveeva_2002">{{cite report |author=Anna Matveeva |date=2002 |title=The South Caucasus:Nationalism, Conflict and Minorities |url=https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/469cbfd90.pdf |publisher=Minority Rights Group International |access-date=11 March 2021 |quote=The ethnic origins of the Azeris are unclear. The prevailing view is that Azeris are a Turkic people, but there is also a claim that Azeris are Turkicized Caucasians or, as the Iranian official history claims, Turkicized Aryans.}}</ref> mainly Caucasian,<ref>{{cite book|author=]|year=1979|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K4RyAAAAMAAJ&q=azerbaidjanians|title=Axum|publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press|isbn=978-0-271-00531-7|page=89|access-date=8 May 2020|archive-date=4 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204225202/https://books.google.com/books?id=K4RyAAAAMAAJ&q=azerbaidjanians|url-status=live}}</ref> mainly Iranian,<ref>Roy, Olivier (2007). The new Central Asia. I.B. Tauris. p. 6. {{ISBN|978-1-84511-552-4}}. "The mass of the Oghuz who crossed the Amu Darya towards the west left the Iranian plateaux, which remained Persian, and established themselves more to the west, in Anatolia. Here they divided into Ottomans, who were Sunni and settled, and Turkmens, who were nomads and in part Shiite (or, rather, Alevi). The latter was to keep the name 'Turkmen' for a long time: from the 13th century onwards they 'Turkified' the Iranian populations of Azerbaijan (who spoke west Iranian languages such as Tat, which is still found in residual forms), thus creating a new identity based on Shiism and the use of Turkish. These are the people today known as Azeris."</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=IRAN v. PEOPLES OF IRAN (1) A General Survey |encyclopedia=] |date=15 December 2004 |last=Frye |first=R. N. |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-v1-peoples-survey |access-date=11 March 2021}}</ref> mixed ]n and Turkish,<ref name="Suny">{{cite journal |author=Suny, Ronald G. |author-link=Ronald Grigor Suny |date=July–August 1988 |title=What Happened in Soviet Armenia? |journal=Middle East Report |issue=153, Islam and the State |pages=37–40 |doi=10.2307/3012134 |jstor=3012134}} "The Albanians in the eastern plain leading down to the Caspian Sea mixed with the Turkish population and eventually became Muslims." "...while the eastern Transcaucasian countryside was home to a very large Turkic-speaking Muslim population. The Russians referred to them as Tartars, but we now consider them Azerbaijanis, a distinct people with their own language and culture."</ref> and mixed with Caucasian, Iranian, and Turkic elements.<ref name="Cornell_2015">{{cite book|author=Svante E. Cornell|title=Azerbaijan Since Independence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TaZzCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA7|date=20 May 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-47621-4|pages=5–7|access-date=15 December 2015|archive-date=17 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517094253/https://books.google.com/books?id=TaZzCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA7|url-status=live}} "If native Caucasian, Iranian, and Turkic populations – among others – dominated Azerbaijan from the fourth century CE onwards, the Turkic element would grow increasingly dominant in linguistic terms,5 while the Persian element retained strong cultural and religious influence." "Following the Seljuk great power period, the Turkic element in Azerbaijan was further strengthened by migrations during the Mongol onslaught of the thirteenth century and the subsequent domination by the Turkmen Qaraqoyunlu and Aq-qoyunlu dynasties."</ref> Russian historian and orientalist ] writes that largely Iranian and Caucasian populations became Turkic-speaking following the Oghuz occupation of the region, though the characteristic features of the local Turkic language, such as Persian intonations and disregard of the vocalic harmony, were a remnant of the non-Turkic population.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Minorsky, V.|title=Azarbaijan|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam|editor1=Bearman, P. |editor2=Bianquis, Th. |editor3=Bosworth, C. E. |editor4=van Donzel, E. |editor5=Heinrichs, W. P. |publisher=Brill|edition=2nd}}</ref>

Historical research suggests that the ], belonging to the Northwestern branch of the Iranian languages and believed to have descended from the language of the Medes,<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Iranian languages|date=2009|publisher=Routledge|others=Windfuhr, Gernot.|isbn=978-0-7007-1131-4|location=London|oclc=312730458 |page=15}}</ref> gradually gained currency and was widely spoken in said region for many centuries.<ref name="LANDS OF IRAN">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-i-lands-of-iran|title=IRAN i. LANDS OF IRAN|first=Xavier de|last=Planhol|volume=XIII|pages=204–212|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|access-date=30 December 2012|date=|archive-date=17 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517050350/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-i-lands-of-iran|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="peoples survey">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-v1-peoples-survey|title=IRAN v. PEOPLES OF IRAN (1) A General Survey|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|first=R. N.|last=Frye|pages=321–326|volume=XIII|access-date=30 December 2012|date=|archive-date=17 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517075943/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-v1-peoples-survey|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Minorsky|first=V|title=Azerbaijan|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam|editor=Bearman, P.|editor2=Bianquis, Th.|editor3=Bosworth, C.E.|editor4=Donzel, E. van|editor5=Heinrichs, W.P.|publisher=Brill}}</ref><ref name="roy2">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-eMcn6Ik1v0C&pg=PA7|title=The new Central Asia|author=Roy, Olivier|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2007|isbn=978-1-84511-552-4|page=6|quote=The mass of the Oghuz who crossed the Amu Darya towards the west left the ], which remained Persian, and established themselves more to the west, in Anatolia. Here they divided into Ottomans, who were Sunni and settled, and Turkmens, who were nomads and in part Shiite (or, rather, Alevi). The latter were to keep the name 'Turkmen' for a long time: from the 13th century onwards they 'Turkised' the Iranian populations of Azerbaijan (who spoke west Iranian languages such as Tat, which is still found in residual forms), thus creating a new identity based on Shiism and the use of Turkish. These are the people today known as Azeris.|author-link=Olivier Roy (professor)|access-date=8 May 2020|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803141204/https://books.google.com/books?id=-eMcn6Ik1v0C&pg=PA7|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-vii|title=AZERBAIJAN vii. The Iranian Language of Azerbaijan|last=Yarshater|first=Ehsan|date=15 December 1988|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|access-date=3 May 2015|archive-date=31 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131081642/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-vii|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some Azerbaijanis of the Republic of Azerbaijan are believed to be descended from the inhabitants of ], an ancient country located in the eastern ] region, and various Iranian peoples which settled the region.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sourdel|first=D.|date=1959|title=V. MINORSKY, A History of Sharvan and Darband in the 10th–11th centuries, 1 vol. in-8°, 187 p. et 32 p. (texte arabe), Cambridge (Heffer and Sons), 1958|journal=Arabica|volume=6|issue=3|pages=326–327|doi=10.1163/157005859x00208|issn=0570-5398}}</ref> They claim there is evidence that, due to repeated invasions and migrations, the aboriginal Caucasian population may have gradually been culturally and linguistically assimilated, first by Iranian peoples, such as the ],<ref>{{Cite book|title=Istorii︠a︡ Vostoka : v shesti tomakh|date=1995–2008|publisher=Izdatelʹskai︠a︡ firma "Vostochnai︠a︡ lit-ra" RAN|others=Rybakov, R. B., Kapit︠s︡a, Mikhail Stepanovich., Рыбаков, Р. Б., Капица, Михаил Степанович., Institut vostokovedenii︠a︡ (Rossiĭskai︠a︡ akademii︠a︡ nauk), Институт востоковедения (Rossiĭskai︠a︡ akademii︠a︡ nauk)|isbn=5-02-018102-1|location=Moskva|oclc=38520460}}</ref> and later by the ]. Considerable information has been learned about the Caucasian Albanians, including ], history, early conversion to ], and relations with the ] and ], under whose strong religious and cultural influence the Caucasian Albanians came in the coming centuries.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Weitenberg|first=J.J.S.|date=1984|title=Thomas J. SAMUELIAN (ed.), Classical Armenian Culture. Influences and Creativity. Proceedings of the first Dr. H. Markarian Conference on Armenian culture (University of Pennsylvania Armenian Texts and Studies 4), Scholars Press, Chico, CA 1982, xii and 233 pp., paper $ 15,75 (members $ 10,50), cloth $ 23,50 (members $ 15,75)|journal=Journal for the Study of Judaism|volume=15|issue=1–2|pages=198–199|doi=10.1163/157006384x00411|issn=0047-2212}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Suny|first1=Ronald G.|last2=Stork|first2=Joe|date=July 1988|title=Ronald G. Suny: What Happened in Soviet Armenia?|journal=Middle East Report|issue=153|pages=37–40|doi=10.2307/3012134|issn=0899-2851|jstor=3012134}}</ref>

===Turkic origin and Turkification===
{{see also|Turkification}}

Turkification of the non-Turkic population derives from the Turkic settlements in the area now known as Azerbaijan, which began and accelerated during the ] period.<ref name= golden/> The migration of Oghuz Turks from present-day ], which is attested by linguistic similarity, remained high through the Mongol period, as many troops under the ] were Turkic. By the ] period, the Turkic nature of Azerbaijan increased with the influence of the ], an association of the ]<ref>David Blow.&nbsp;''Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who Became an Iranian Legend.''&nbsp;p.&nbsp;165. "The primary court language remained Turkish. But it was not the Turkish of Istambul. It was a Turkish dialect, the dialect of the '''Qizilbash Turkomans'''..."</ref> nomadic tribes that was the backbone of the Safavid Empire.

According to Soviet scholars, the Turkicization of Azerbaijan was largely completed during the Ilkhanid period. Faruk Sümer posits three periods in which Turkicization took place: Seljuk, Mongol and Post-Mongol (Qara Qoyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu and Safavid). In the first two, Oghuz Turkic tribes advanced or were driven to Anatolia and Arran. In the last period, the Turkic elements in Iran (Oghuz, with lesser admixtures of Uyghur, Qipchaq, Qarluq as well as Turkicized Mongols) were joined now by Anatolian Turks migrating back to Iran. This marked the final stage of Turkicization.<ref name="golden" />

===Iranian origin===
{{Main|Iranian peoples|Persian peoples|Tat people (Iran)|Tat people (Caucasus)}}

10th-century Arab historian ] attested the ] language and described that the region of ] was inhabited by ].<ref>{{cite book|author=Al Mas'udi|year=1894|title=Kitab al-Tanbih wa-l-Ishraf|editor=De Goeje, M.J.|publisher=Brill|pages=77–78|language=ar}} Arabic text: "قد قدمنا فيما سلف من كتبنا ما قاله الناس في بدء النسل، وتفرقهم على وجه الأرض، وما ذهب إليه كل فريق منهم في ذلك من الشرعيين وغيرهم ممن قال بحدوث العالم وأبى الانقياد إلى الشرائع من البراهمة وغيرهم، وما قاله أصحاب القدم في ذلك من الهند والفلاسفة وأصحاب الاثنين من المانوية وغيرهم على تباينهم في ذلك، فلنذكر الآن الأمم السبع ذهب من عني بأخبار سوالف الأمم ومساكنهم إلى أن أجل الأمم وعظماءهم كانوا في سوالف الدهر سبعاً يتميزون بثلاثة أشياء: بشيمهم الطبيعية، وخلقهم الطبيعية، وألسنتهم فالفرس أمة حد بلادها الجبال من الماهات وغيرها وآذربيجان إلى ما يلي بلاد أرمينية وأران والبيلقان إلى دربند وهو الباب والأبواب والري وطبرستن والمسقط والشابران وجرجان وابرشهر، وهي نيسابور، وهراة ومرو وغير ذلك من بلاد خراسان وسجستان وكرمان وفارس والأهواز، وما اتصل بذلك من أرض الأعاجم في هذا الوقت وكل هذه البلاد كانت مملكة واحدة ملكها ملك واحد ولسانها واحد، إلا أنهم كانوا يتباينون في شيء يسير من اللغات."</ref> Archaeological evidence indicates that the Iranian religion of ] was prominent throughout the Caucasus before Christianity and Islam.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iras.ucalgary.ca/~volk/sylvia/FireTemple.htm |title=Various Zoroastrian Fire-Temples |publisher=University of Calgary |date=1 February 2000 |access-date=8 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060430091558/http://www.iras.ucalgary.ca/~volk/sylvia/FireTemple.htm |archive-date=30 April 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ZLxt6LsgKUC&q=Zoroastrianism+in+Azerbaijan&pg=PA26|title=Ethnicity, Nationalism and Conflict in the South Caucasus|access-date=18 March 2015|isbn=978-1-4094-3630-0|last1=Geukjian|first1=Ohannes|year=2012|publisher=Ashgate Publishing |archive-date=4 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204225106/https://books.google.com/books?id=4ZLxt6LsgKUC&q=Zoroastrianism+in+Azerbaijan&pg=PA26|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_B2W1YOG3N10C|page=|title=Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia|publisher=DIANE Publishing|access-date=18 March 2015|isbn=978-0-7881-2813-4|last1=Suny|first1=Ronald G.|date=April 1996}}</ref> According to ], Azerbaijanis mainly originate from the earlier Iranian speakers, who still exist to this day in smaller numbers, and a massive migration of Oghuz Turks in the 11th and 12th centuries gradually Turkified Azerbaijan as well as Anatolia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-v1-peoples-survey|title=Peoples of Iran|author=Frye, R. N.|publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica|date=15 December 2004|access-date=29 January 2012|archive-date=17 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517075943/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-v1-peoples-survey|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Caucasian origin===
] in silk national garments]]
{{Main|Peoples of the Caucasus|Caucasian Albania}}

According to Encyclopædia Britannica, the Azerbaijanis are of mixed descent, originating in the indigenous population of eastern Transcaucasia and possibly the Medians from northern Iran.<ref name="eb">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/46833/Azerbaijani|title=Azerbaijani (people)|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=24 January 2012|date=|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006093258/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/46833/Azerbaijani|url-status=live}}</ref> There is evidence that, due to repeated invasions and migrations, aboriginal ] may have been culturally assimilated, first by ] and later by the Oghuz. Considerable information has been learned about the Caucasian Albanians including their language, history, early conversion to ]. The ], still spoken in Azerbaijan, may be a remnant of the Albanians' language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrz.de/~wschulze/Udigen1.htm |title=The Udi Language |publisher=University of Munich |author=Schulze, Wolfgang |date=2001–2002 |access-date=29 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205043611/http://www.lrz.de/~wschulze/Udigen1.htm |archive-date=5 February 2012}}</ref>

===Genetics===
{{See also|Genetic history of the Middle East|Genetic history of Europe}}
{{primary sources|section|date=January 2021}}

Contemporary Western Asian genomes, a region that includes Azerbaijan, have been greatly influenced by early agricultural populations in the area; later population movements, such as those of Turkic speakers, also contributed.<ref name="Taskent_et_al_2017">{{cite journal| author=Taskent RO, Gokcumen O| title=The Multiple Histories of Western Asia: Perspectives from Ancient and Modern Genomes. | journal=Hum Biol | year= 2017 | volume= 89 | issue= 2 | pages= 107–117 | pmid=29299965 | doi=10.13110/humanbiology.89.2.01 | pmc= | s2cid=6871226 | url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29299965 }}</ref> However, as of 2017, there is no ] study for Azerbaijan; sampling limitations such as these prevent forming a "finer-scale picture of the genetic history of the region".<ref name="Taskent_et_al_2017"/>

A 2014 study comparing the genetics of the populations from Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, (which were grouped as "Western ]") Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan (grouped as "Eastern Silk Road") found that the samples from Azerbaijan were the only group from the Western Silk Road to show significant contribution from the Eastern Silk Road, despite the overall clustering with the other samples from the Western Silk Road. The eastern input into the Azerbaijani genetics was estimated to be roughly 25 generations ago, corresponding to the time of the ].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mezzavilla |first1=Massimo |last2=Vozzi |first2=Diego |last3=Pirastu |first3=Nicola |last4=Girotto |first4=Giorgia |last5=d’Adamo |first5=Pio |last6=Gasparini |first6=Paolo |last7=Colonna |first7=Vincenza |title=Genetic landscape of populations along the Silk Road: admixture and migration patterns |journal=BMC Genetics |date=5 December 2014 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=131 |doi=10.1186/s12863-014-0131-6 |pmid=25476266 |pmc=4267745 |issn=1471-2156|doi-access=free }}</ref>

A 2002 study focusing on eleven Y-chromosome markers suggested that Azerbaijanis are genetically more related to their Caucasian geographic neighbors than to their linguistic neighbors.<ref name="nasidze">{{cite journal|url=http://www.eva.mpg.de/genetics/pdf/Y-paper.pdf |author1=Nasidze, Ivan |author2=Sarkisian, Tamara |author3=Kerimov, Azer |author4=Stoneking, Mark |year=2003 |title=Testing hypotheses of language replacement in the Caucasus |journal=Human Genetics |volume=112 |pages=255–261 |doi=10.1007/s00439-002-0874-4 |pmid=12596050 |issue=3 |s2cid=13232436 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070315195125/http://www.eva.mpg.de/genetics/pdf/Y-paper.pdf |archive-date=15 March 2007}}</ref> Iranian Azerbaijanis are genetically more similar to northern Azerbaijanis and the neighboring Turkic population than they are to geographically distant Turkmen populations.<ref name="andonian">{{cite journal|author=Andonian l. |year=2011 |title=Iranian Azeri's Y-Chromosomal Diversity in the Context of Turkish-Speaking Populations of the Middle East |journal=Iranian J Publ Health |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=119–123 |pmid=23113065 |pmc=3481719 |url=http://www.ijph.ir/pdfs/17.%20Dr_Laris_1st_edit_Re_3_.pdf |display-authors=etal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127222342/http://www.ijph.ir/pdfs/17.%20Dr_Laris_1st_edit_Re_3_.pdf |archive-date=27 November 2011}}</ref> Iranian-speaking populations from Azerbaijan (the ] and ]) are genetically closer to Azerbaijanis of the Republic than to other Iranian-speaking populations (] and ] from Iran, ], and ]).<ref>{{cite journal|author=Asadova, P. S.|year=2003|title=Genetic Structure of Iranian-Speaking Populations from Azerbaijan Inferred from the Frequencies of Immunological and Biochemical Gene Markers|journal=Russian Journal of Genetics|volume=39|issue=11|pages=1334–1342|doi=10.1023/B:RUGE.0000004149.62114.92|s2cid=40679768|display-authors=etal}}</ref> Several genetic studies suggested that the Azerbaijanis originate from a native population long resident in the area who adopted a Turkic language through ], including possibility of elite dominance scenario.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Yunusbayev|first1=Bayazit|last2=Metspalu|first2=Mait|last3=Metspalu|first3=Ene|last4=Valeev|first4=Albert|last5=Litvinov|first5=Sergei|last6=Valiev|first6=Ruslan|last7=Akhmetova|first7=Vita|last8=Balanovska|first8=Elena|last9=Balanovsky|first9=Oleg|last10=Turdikulova|first10=Shahlo|last11=Dalimova|first11=Dilbar|date=2015-04-21|title=The Genetic Legacy of the Expansion of Turkic-Speaking Nomads across Eurasia|journal=PLOS Genetics|language=en|volume=11|issue=4|pages=e1005068|doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1005068|issn=1553-7404|pmc=4405460|pmid=25898006|quote=Our ADMIXTURE analysis (Fig 2) revealed that Turkic-speaking populations scattered across Eurasia tend to share most of their genetic ancestry with their current geographic non-Turkic neighbors. This is particularly obvious for Turkic peoples in Anatolia, Iran, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe, but more difficult to determine for northeastern Siberian Turkic speakers, Yakuts and Dolgans, for which non-Turkic reference populations are absent. We also found that a higher proportion of Asian genetic components distinguishes the Turkic speakers all over West Eurasia from their immediate non-Turkic neighbors. These results support the model that expansion of the Turkic language family outside its presumed East Eurasian core area occurred primarily through language replacement, perhaps by the elite dominance scenario, that is, intrusive Turkic nomads imposed their language on indigenous peoples due to advantages in military and/or social organization. |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="yepiskoposian">{{cite journal|author=Yepiskoposian, L.|year=2011|title=The Location of Azaris on the Patrilineal Genetic Landscape of the Middle East (A Preliminary Report)|journal=Iran and the Caucasus|volume=15|issue=1|pages=73–78|doi=10.1163/157338411X12870596615395|display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref name="nasidze"/> However, the language replacement in Azerbaijan (and in Turkey) might not have been in accordance with the elite dominance model, with estimated Central Asian contribution to Azerbaijan being 18% for females and 32% for males.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Berkman |first=Ceren Caner |date=September 2006 |title=Comparative Analyses For The Central Asian Contribution To Anatolian Gene Pool With Reference To Balkans |type=PhD |url=http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12607764/index.pdf |access-date=24 January 2021 |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112020146/http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12607764/index.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> A subsequent study also suggested 33% Central Asian contribution to Azerbaijan.<ref name="Berkman_et_al_2008">{{cite journal| author=Berkman CC, Dinc H, Sekeryapan C, Togan I| title=Alu insertion polymorphisms and an assessment of the genetic contribution of Central Asia to Anatolia with respect to the Balkans. | journal=Am J Phys Anthropol | year= 2008 | volume= 136 | issue= 1 | pages= 11–8 | pmid=18161848 | doi=10.1002/ajpa.20772 | pmc= | url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18161848 }}</ref>

A 2001 study which looked into the first ] of the ] suggested that "genetic relationships among Caucasus populations reflect geographical rather than linguistic relationships", with Armenians and Azerbaijanians being "most closely related to their nearest geographical neighbours".<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Nasidze, S |author2=Stoneking, M. |year=2001|title=Mitochondrial DNA variation and language replacements in the Caucasus|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B|volume=268|issue=1472|pages=1197–1206|doi=10.1098/rspb.2001.1610|pmid=11375109|pmc=1088727}}</ref> Another 2004 study that looked into 910 ]s from 23 populations in the Iranian plateau, the Indus Valley, and Central Asia suggested that populations "west of the Indus basin, including those from Iran, Anatolia and the Caucasus, exhibit a common mtDNA lineage composition, consisting mainly of western Eurasian lineages, with a very limited contribution from South Asia and eastern Eurasia".<ref>{{cite journal|author=Quintana-Murci, L.|year=2004|title=Where West Meets East: The Complex mtDNA Landscape of the Southwest and Central Asian Corridor|journal=American Journal of Human Genetics|volume=74|pages=827–845|doi=10.1086/383236|issue=5|pmid=15077202|pmc=1181978|display-authors=etal}}</ref> While genetic analysis of mtDNA indicates that Caucasian populations are genetically closer to Europeans than to Near Easterners, Y-chromosome results indicate closer affinity to Near Eastern groups.<ref name="nasidze"/>

The range of haplogroups across the region may reflect historical genetic admixture,<ref>{{cite journal|author=Zerjal, T.|year=2002|title=A Genetic Landscape Reshaped by Recent Events: Y-Chromosomal Insights into Central Asia|journal=American Journal of Human Genetics|volume=71|pages=466–482|doi=10.1086/342096|issue=3|pmid=12145751|pmc=419996|display-authors=etal}}</ref> perhaps as a result of invasive male migrations.<ref name="nasidze"/>

In a comparative study (2013) on the complete mitochondrial DNA diversity in Iranians has indicated that Iranian Azeris are more related to the people of ], than they are to other ], as well as to ]. However the same ] plot shows that Azeris from the Caucasus, despite their supposed common origin with Iranian Azeris, "occupy an intermediate position between the Azeris/Georgians and Turks/Iranians grouping".<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Derenko | first1 = M. | last2 = Malyarchuk | first2 = B. | last3 = Bahmanimehr | first3 = A. | last4 = Denisova | first4 = G. | last5 = Perkova | first5 = M. | last6 = Farjadian | first6 = S. | last7 = Yepiskoposyan | first7 = L. | year = 2013 | title = Complete Mitochondrial DNA Diversity in Iranians | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 8 | issue = 11| page = e80673 | doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0080673 | pmid=24244704 | pmc=3828245| bibcode = 2013PLoSO...880673D | doi-access = free }}</ref>

A 2007 study which looked into class two ] suggested that there were "no close genetic relationship was observed between Azeris of Iran and the people of Turkey or Central Asians".<ref name="Farjadian_et_al_2007">{{Cite journal |pmid = 18001303|year = 2007|last1 = Farjadian|first1 = S.|title = HLA class II similarities in Iranian Kurds and Azeris|journal = International Journal of Immunogenetics|volume = 34|issue = 6|pages = 457–63|last2 = Ghaderi|first2 = A.|doi = 10.1111/j.1744-313X.2007.00723.x|s2cid = 22709345}}</ref> A 2017 study which looked into ] ]s put the samples from Azeris in Northwest Iran "in the Mediterranean cluster close to Kurds, Gorgan, Chuvash (South Russia, towards North Caucasus), Iranians and Caucasus populations (Svan and Georgians)". This Mediterranean stock includes "Turkish and Caucasian populations". Azeri samples were also in a "position between Mediterranean and Central Asian" samples, suggesting Turkification "process caused by Oghuz Turkic tribes could also contribute to the genetic background of Azeri people".<ref name="Arnaiz-Villena_et_al_2017">{{cite journal | last1=Arnaiz-Villena | first1=Antonio | last2=Palacio-Gruber | first2=Jose | last3=Muñiz | first3=Ester | last4=Rey | first4=Diego | last5=Nikbin | first5=Behrouz | last6=Nickman | first6=Hosein | last7=Campos | first7=Cristina | last8=Martín-Villa | first8=José Manuel | last9=Amirzargar | first9=Ali | title=Origin of Azeris (Iran) according to HLA genes | journal=International Journal of Modern Anthropology | publisher=African Journals Online (AJOL) | volume=1 | issue=10 | date=2017-10-31 | issn=1737-8176 | doi=10.4314/ijma.v1i10.5 | page=115| doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Demographics and society==
{{See also|Demographics of Azerbaijan|Demographics of Iran|List of Azerbaijanis}}
]
]
The vast majority of Azerbaijanis live in the Republic of Azerbaijan and ]. Between 12 and 23 million Azerbaijanis live in Iran,<ref name="dictionary" /><ref name="16.7mil"/><ref name="18mil"/><ref name = "Gheissari"/><ref name = "Bani-Shoraka"/><ref name = "Potter"/><ref name = "Crane"/><ref name = "Moaddel"/><ref name = "Eschment"/> mainly in the northwestern provinces. Approximately 9.1 million Azerbaijanis are found in the Republic of Azerbaijan. A diaspora of over a million is spread throughout the rest of the world. According to ], there are over 1 million speakers of the northern Azerbaijani dialect in southern ], Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian proper, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=azj|title=Azerbaijani, North|author=Lewis, M. Paul|year=2009|work=Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition|publisher=SIL International|access-date=29 January 2012|archive-date=9 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209033458/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=azj|url-status=live}}</ref> No Azerbaijanis were recorded in the 2001 census in Armenia,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://docs.armstat.am/census/pdfs/51.pdf|title=Table 5.1 De Jure Population (Urban, Rural) by Age and Ethnicity|work=Census 2001|publisher=National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia|access-date=29 January 2012|archive-date=2 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602023627/http://docs.armstat.am/census/pdfs/51.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> where the ] resulted in population shifts. Other sources, such as national censuses, confirm the presence of Azerbaijanis throughout the other states of the former ].

===In the Republic of Azerbaijan===
{{see also|Wedding tradition in Azerbaijan}}
Azerbaijanis are by far the largest ethnic group in The Republic of Azerbaijan (over 90%), holding the second-largest community of ethnic Azerbaijanis after neighboring Iran. The literacy rate is very high, and is estimated at 99.5%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/AZE.html |title=Azerbaijan |work=International Human Development Indicators |publisher=United Nations |access-date=29 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121093046/http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/AZE.html |archive-date=21 January 2012 }}</ref> Azerbaijan began the twentieth century with institutions based upon those of Russia and the Soviet Union, with an official policy of atheism and strict state control over most aspects of society. Since independence, there is a secular system.

Azerbaijan has benefited from the oil industry, but high levels of corruption have prevented greater prosperity for the population.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bicusa.org/bicusa/issues/BTC_corruption_claim_COIWRP.pdf |title=Report on corruption in Azerbaijan oil industry prepared for EBRD & IFC investigation arms |publisher=The Committee of Oil Industry Workers' Rights Protection |date=October 2003 |access-date=10 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060724165553/http://www.bicusa.org/bicusa/issues/BTC_corruption_claim_COIWRP.pdf |archive-date=24 July 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Despite these problems, there is a financial rebirth in Azerbaijan as positive economic predictions and an active political opposition appear determined to improve the lives of average Azerbaijanis.<ref name="Library of Congress Azerbaijan">{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/aztoc.html|title=Country Study: Azerbaijan|publisher=Federal Research Division Library of Congress|access-date=28 January 2012|archive-date=8 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108212410/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/aztoc.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/eav032805.shtml|title=Azerbaijan: Opposition Parties Prepare to Vigorously Contest Parliamentary Election|publisher=Eurasia.net|author1=Abbasov, Shahin|author2=Arifoglu, Farid|date=27 March 2005|access-date=29 January 2012|archive-date=2 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402074330/http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/eav032805.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>

===In Iran===
{{Main|Iranian Azerbaijanis}}
]s performance in ]]]
] ], is Iranian Azeri on his father's side.]]
The exact number of Azerbaijanis in Iran is heavily disputed. Since the early twentieth century, successive Iranian governments have avoided publishing statistics on ethnic groups.<ref name="state">{{cite book|editor1=Banuazizi, Ali |editor2=Weiner, Myron |year=1988|title=The State, Religion, and Ethnic Politics: Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan Part II: Iran|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0-8156-2448-6}}</ref> Unofficial population estimates of Azerbaijanis in Iran are around the 16% area put forth by the CIA and Library of Congress.<ref name="CIA Iran">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/iran/ |title=Iran |work=CIA: The World Factbook |publisher=CIA |date=14 November 2011 |access-date=4 October 2012 |quote=16% of 77,891,220 |archive-date=10 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110162554/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/iran |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Library of Congress Iran">{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Iran.pdf|title=Country Profile: Iran|publisher=Federal Research Division Library of Congress|date=May 2008|access-date=1 September 2012|quote=16% of 70 million |archive-date=5 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505023445/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Iran.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> An independent poll in 2009 placed the figure at around 20–22%.<ref name="tft"/> According to the ] Victoria Arakelova in peer-reviewed journal '']'', estimating the number of Azeris in Iran has been hampered for years since the ], when the "once invented theory of the so called separated nation (i.e. the citizens of the Azerbaijan Republic, the so-called Azerbaijanis, and the Azaris in Iran), was actualised again (see in detail Reza 1993)". Arakelova adds that the number of Azeris in Iran, featuring in the politically biased publications as "Azerbaijani minority of Iran", is considered to be the "highly speculative part of this theory". Even though all Iranian censuses of population distinguish exclusively religious minorities, numerous sources have presented different figures regarding Iran's Turkic-speaking communities, without "any justification or concrete references".<ref name="Arakelova">{{Cite journal|url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/43899203|jstor = 43899203|last1 = Arakelova|first1 = Victoria|title = On the Number of Iranian Turkophones|journal = Iran & the Caucasus|year = 2015|volume = 19|issue = 3|pages = 279–282|doi = 10.1163/1573384X-20150306|access-date = 18 September 2020|archive-date = 4 February 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210204225107/https://www.jstor.org/stable/43899203|url-status = live}}</ref>

In the early 1990s, right after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the most popular figure depicting the number of "Azerbaijanis" in Iran was thirty-three million, at a time when the entire population of Iran was barely sixty million. Therefore, at the time, half of Iran's citizens were considered "Azerbaijanis". Shortly after, this figure was replaced by thirty million, which became "almost a normative account on the demographic situation in Iran, widely circulating not only among academics and political analysts, but also in the official circles of Russia and the West". Then, in the 2000s, the figure decreased to 20 million; this time, at least within the Russian political establishment, the figure became "firmly fixed". This figure, Arakelova adds, has been widely used and kept up to date, only with a few minor adjustments. A cursory look at Iran's demographic situation however, shows that all these figures have been manipulated and were "definitely invented on political purpose". Arakelova estimates the number of Azeris i.e. "Azerbaijanis" in Iran based on Iran's population demographics at 6 to 6.5 million.<ref name="Arakelova"/>

Azerbaijanis in Iran are mainly found in the northwest provinces: ], ], ], ], parts of ], ], and ].<ref name="Library of Congress Iran"/> Azerbaijani minorities live in the ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ghorveh.gov.ir/Default.aspx?TabID%3D62 |title=فرمانداری قروه |access-date=2013-08-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808090412/http://ghorveh.gov.ir/Default.aspx?TabID=62 |archive-date=8 August 2013 }}</ref> and ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopaediaislamica.com/madkhal2.php?sid=2396 |title=بیجار |access-date=18 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014040836/http://www.encyclopaediaislamica.com/madkhal2.php?sid=2396 |archive-date=14 October 2013 }}</ref> counties of ], in ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://library.tebyan.net/newindex.aspx?pid=102834&ParentID=0&BookID=97560&MetaDataID=27846&Volume=1&PageIndex=196&PersonalID=0&NavigateMode=CommonLibrary&Content=Tebyan|title=کتابخانه|date=18 March 2015|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402172301/http://library.tebyan.net/newindex.aspx?pid=102834&ParentID=0&BookID=97560&MetaDataID=27846&Volume=1&PageIndex=196&PersonalID=0&NavigateMode=CommonLibrary&Content=Tebyan|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Encyclopædia Iranica: {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517044508/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/manjil |date=17 May 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tatha.fagig.com/tati%20talesh2.htm|title=ی ی /|access-date=18 March 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320035425/http://www.tatha.fagig.com/tati%20talesh2.htm|archive-date=20 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://guilan.irib.ir/home|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203110906/http://guilan.irib.ir/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=913%3A-&catid=291%3Ashahr|url-status=dead|title=صفحه اصلی – صدا و سیمای گیلان|archive-date=3 December 2013|website=guilan.irib.ir}}</ref> as ]s in ] in ], around ] and ] in ],<ref>{{cite book|author1=Keith Brown|author2=Sarah Ogilvie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F2SRqDzB50wC|title=Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world|publisher=Elsevier|year=2008|access-date=30 January 2012|isbn=978-0-08-087775-4|archive-date=26 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111226082343/http://books.google.com/books?id=F2SRqDzB50wC|url-status=live}}; p. 112-113</ref> and in the town of ] in ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/gonbad-e-qabus|title=GONBAD-E QĀBUS|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402113848/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/gonbad-e-qabus|url-status=live}}</ref> Large Azerbaijani populations can also be found in central Iran (] # ]) due to internal migration. Azerbaijanis make up 25%<ref name="The Council of Public Culture">{{cite news|title=The Council of Public Culture |publisher=The Council of Public Culture |date=19 January 2013 }}</ref> of ]'s population and 30.3%<ref>National Bibliography Number: 2887141 / plan review and assess the country's culture indicators (indicators Ghyrsbty) {report}: ] / General Council of the Order of the Executive Director is responsible for planning and policy: Mansoor Vaezi; run company experienced researchers Us – {{ISBN|978-600-6627-42-7}} * Publication Status: Tehran – Institute Press book, published in 1391 * appearance: 296 p: table (the color), diagrams (colored part)</ref> – 33%<ref name="Library of Congress Country Studies">"Chapter ۲ – The Society and Its Environment: People and Languages: Turkic-speaking Groups: Azarbaijanis" in ''A Country Study: Iran'' ] Country Studies, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313185348/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/irtoc.html#ir0052 |date=13 March 2007 }}, last accessed 19 November 2008</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0KOSUrLPC6IC&pg=PA152 |title=Country Study Guide-Azerbaijanis |year=2005 |publisher=STRATEGIC INFORMATION AND DEVELOPMENTS-USA |isbn=978-0-7397-1476-8 |access-date=13 August 2013 |archive-date=4 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904062040/https://books.google.com/books?id=0KOSUrLPC6IC&pg=PA152 |url-status=live }}</ref> of the population of the ], where Azerbaijanis are found in every city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/469f3a9821.html |title=Assessment for Azerbaijanis in Iran |publisher=] |date=31 December 2003 |access-date=2013-07-05 |archive-date=2 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202094256/http://www.refworld.org/docid/469f3a9821.html |url-status=live }}</ref> They are the largest ethnic groups after ] in Tehran and the Tehran Province.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.minorityrights.org/?lid=5096|title=Azeris|publisher=World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous People|access-date=2013-07-05|archive-date=21 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053530/http://www.minorityrights.org/?lid=5096|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.tehran.ir/Default.aspx?tabid=98|title=Tehran, Political situation|publisher=]|access-date=2013-08-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921094245/http://en.tehran.ir/Default.aspx?tabid=98|archive-date=21 September 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Arakelova notes that the widespread "cliché" among residents of Tehran on the number of Azerbaijanis in the city ("half of Tehran consists of Azerbaijanis"), cannot be taken "seriously into consideration". Arakelova adds that the number of Tehran's inhabitants who have migrated from northwestern areas of Iran, who are currently Persian-speakers "for the most part", is not more than "several hundred thousands", with the maximum being one million.<ref name="Arakelova"/> Azerbaijanis have also emigrated and resettled in large numbers in ],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-vi |title=AZERBAIJAN vi. Population and its Occupations and Culture |publisher=] |date=18 August 2011 |access-date=13 August 2013 |archive-date=22 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130322101157/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-vi |url-status=live }}</ref> especially in ].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://khabarfarsi.com/ext/3881782 |title=Mourning Azerbaijanis residing in Mashhad |publisher=] |date=18 August 2011 |access-date=23 August 2013 |archive-date=4 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004231306/http://khabarfarsi.com/ext/3881782 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Generally, Azerbaijanis in Iran were regarded as "a well integrated linguistic minority" by academics prior to ].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Higgins, Patricia J.|year=1984|title=Minority-State Relations in Contemporary Iran|journal=Iranian Studies|volume=17|issue=1|pages=37–71|doi=10.1080/00210868408701621}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Binder, Leonard|year=1962|title=Iran: Political Development in a Changing Society|publisher=University of California Press|pages=160–161|oclc=408909}}</ref> Despite friction, Azerbaijanis in Iran came to be well represented at all levels of "political, military, and intellectual hierarchies, as well as the religious hierarchy".<ref name="state"/>

Resentment came with Pahlavi policies that suppressed the use of the ] in local government, schools, and the press.<ref>{{cite book|author=Abrahamian, Ervand|year=1982|title=Iran between Two Revolutions|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-10134-7|url=https://archive.org/details/iranbetweentwore00abra_0}}</ref> However, with the advent of the ] in 1979, emphasis shifted away from nationalism as the new government highlighted religion as the main unifying factor. Islamic ] institutions dominate nearly all aspects of society. The Azerbaijani language and its literature are banned in Iranian schools.<ref name="bbc"/><ref>{{Cite web|title = Iran's Persian Language Academy against teaching of ethnic groups' mother language in country|url = http://en.trend.az/iran/2235038.html|website = Trend|access-date = 2016-02-11|date = 2014-01-28|archive-date = 3 March 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303204726/http://en.trend.az/iran/2235038.html|url-status = live}}</ref> There are signs of civil unrest due to the policies of the Iranian government in Iranian Azerbaijan and increased interaction with fellow Azerbaijanis in Azerbaijan and satellite broadcasts from Turkey and other Turkic countries have revived Azerbaijani nationalism.<ref>{{cite web|author=Koknar, Ali M.|date=6 June 2006|url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2476|title=Iranian Azeris: A Giant Minority|publisher=The Washington Institute for Near East Policy|access-date=1 February 2012|archive-date=12 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112144722/http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2476|url-status=live}}</ref> In May 2006, Iranian Azerbaijan witnessed riots over publication of a ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranian.com/Satire/Cartoon/2006/June/soosks.html|title=Cartoon|publisher=Iranian Archives 1995–2007|date=2 June 2006|access-date=29 January 2012|archive-date=19 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119041036/http://www.iranian.com/Satire/Cartoon/2006/June/soosks.html|url-status=live}}</ref> that many Azerbaijanis found offensive.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70910FE345A0C7A8EDDAC0894DE404482|author=Fathi, Nazila|date=29 May 2006|title=Ethnic Tensions Over Cartoon Set Off Riots in Northwest Iran|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=12 June 2006|archive-date=12 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312180800/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70910FE345A0C7A8EDDAC0894DE404482|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5024550.stm|author=Collin, Matthew|date=28 May 2006|title=Iran Azeris protest over cartoon|work=BBC News|access-date=29 January 2012|archive-date=31 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231233324/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5024550.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> The cartoon was drawn by ], an Azeri, who was fired along with his editor as a result of the controversy.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/cockroach_cartoonist_jailed_in_iran/ |title=Cockroach Cartoonist Jailed in Iran |newspaper=The Comics Reporter |date=24 May 2006 |access-date=15 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060602155849/http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/cockroach_cartoonist_jailed_in_iran/ |archive-date=2 June 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5008420.stm |title=Iranian paper banned over cartoon |publisher=BBC |date=23 May 2006 |access-date=15 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625225210/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5008420.stm |archive-date=25 June 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> One of the major incidents that happened recently was ] started in November 2015, after children's television programme ''Fitileha a''ired on 6 November on state TV that ridiculed and mocked the accent and language of Azeris and included offensive jokes.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Iran's Azeris protest over offensive TV show – BBC News|url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34770537|website = BBC News|access-date = 2016-02-11|date = 2015-11-09|archive-date = 4 November 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201104195001/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34770537|url-status = live}}</ref> As a result, hundreds of ethnic Azeris have protested a program on state TV that contained what they consider an ethnic slur. Demonstrations were held in ], ], ], and ], as well as Tehran and ]. Police in Iran have clashed with protesting people, fired tear gas to disperse crowds, and many demonstrators were arrested. One of the protesters, Ali Akbar Murtaza, reportedly "died of injuries" in Urmia.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Civil protests erupt in Iranian Azerbaijan: EADaily|url = https://en.eadaily.com/news/2015/11/10/civil-protests-erupt-in-iranian-azerbaijan|website = EADaily|access-date = 2016-02-11|archive-date = 4 March 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081316/https://en.eadaily.com/news/2015/11/10/civil-protests-erupt-in-iranian-azerbaijan|url-status = live}}</ref> There were also protests held in front of Iranian embassies in ] and ].<ref>{{Cite web|title = Rage against Iran over 'inherent racism toward Azeris|url = http://www.dailysabah.com/nation/2015/11/14/rage-against-iran-over-inherent-racism-toward-azeris|website = DailySabah|access-date = 2016-02-11|archive-date = 3 March 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303210120/http://www.dailysabah.com/nation/2015/11/14/rage-against-iran-over-inherent-racism-toward-azeris|url-status = live}}</ref> The head of the country's state broadcaster ] Mohammad Sarafraz has apologized for airing the program, whose broadcast was later discontinued.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Iran's ethnic Azeris protest slur on TV program|url = http://www.sltrib.com/home/3156636-155/irans-ethnic-azeris-protest-slur-on|website = The Salt Lake Tribune|access-date = 2016-02-11|agency = Associated Press|archive-date = 3 March 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303155233/http://www.sltrib.com/home/3156636-155/irans-ethnic-azeris-protest-slur-on|url-status = live}}</ref>

Azerbaijanis are an intrinsic community of Iran, and their style of living closely resemble those of ]:

{{blockquote|The lifestyles of urban Azerbaijanis do not differ from those of Persians, and there is considerable intermarriage among the upper classes in cities of mixed populations. Similarly, customs among Azerbaijani villagers do not appear to differ markedly from those of Persian villagers.<ref name="Library of Congress Iran"/>}}
{{blockquote|Azeris are famously active in commerce and in bazaars all over Iran their voluble voices can be heard. Older Azeri men wear the traditional wool hat, and their music & dances have become part of the mainstream culture. Azeris are well integrated, and many Azeri-Iranians are prominent in ], politics, and clerical world.<ref>{{cite book|author=Burke, Andrew|year=2004|title=Iran|publisher=Lonely Planet|pages=|isbn=978-1-74059-425-7|url=https://archive.org/details/iran00burk_0/page/42}}</ref>}}

There is significant cross-border trade between Azerbaijan and Iran, and Azerbaijanis from Azerbaijan go into Iran to buy goods that are cheaper, but the relationship was tense until recently.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8515588.stm |title=Azerbaijan-Iran tensions increasing |work=BBC News |date=14 February 2010 |access-date=2010-05-29 |archive-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204225125/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8515588.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> However, ] have significantly improved since the ] administration took office.

===Subgroups===
There are at least ten Azerbaijani ethnic groups, each of which has particularities in the economy, culture, and everyday life. Some Azerbaijani ethnic groups continued in the last quarter of the 19th century.
{{multiple image
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| image1 = Ayrum from village of Gedamish of Ganja Uyezd.jpg
| width1 = 170
| image3 = Shahsevan girls from a rich family.jpg
| width3 = 170
| footer = Ayrum from Azerbaijan (left); Shahsevan girls from a rich family. End of the 19th century, Iran (right).
}}

Major Azerbaijani ethnic groups:
{{div col|colwidth=20em|content=
* ]{{sfn|Swietochowski|Collins|1999|p=28}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]{{sfn|Swietochowski|Collins|1999|p=28}}
* ]
* ]{{sfn|Swietochowski|Collins|1999|p=28}}
* ]
}}

===Diaspora===
{{main|Azerbaijani diaspora}}

===Women===
{{See also|Women in Azerbaijan|Women in Iran}}
]
In Azerbaijan, women were granted the right to vote in 1917.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rochester.edu/SBA/suffragetimeline.html |title=US Suffrage Movement Timeline, 1792 to present |publisher=Susan B. Anthony Center for Women's Leadership |year=2006 |access-date=1 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723040530/http://www.rochester.edu/SBA/suffragetimeline.html |archive-date=23 July 2013 }}</ref> Women have attained Western-style equality in major cities such as ], although in rural areas more reactionary views remain.<ref name="Library of Congress Azerbaijan"/> Violence against women, including rape, is rarely reported, especially in rural areas, not unlike other parts of the former Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org/womensit/az-w-sit.pdf |title=Women's rights in Azerbaijan |publisher=OneWomen |access-date=1 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118153642/http://www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org/womensit/az-w-sit.pdf |archive-date=18 January 2012 }}</ref> In Azerbaijan, the veil was abandoned during the Soviet period.<ref>{{cite book|author=Heyat, Farideh|year=2002|title=Azeri Women in Transition: Women in Soviet and Post-Soviet Azerbaijan|publisher=RoutledgeCurzon|isbn=978-0-7007-1662-3|pages=80–113}}</ref> Women are under-represented in elective office but have attained high positions in parliament. An Azerbaijani woman is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Azerbaijan, and two others are Justices of the Constitutional Court. In the 2010 election, women constituted 16% of all MPs (twenty seats in total) in the ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.day.az/politics/237289.html |title=2010 Parliamentary Election Results |publisher=Day.az |date=7 November 2010 |access-date=8 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101110054208/http://news.day.az/politics/237289.html |archive-date=10 November 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> ] is available on demand in the Republic of Azerbaijan.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3LALpdV0DPoC&pg=PA41|title=Abortion Policies: a Global Review|publisher=United Nations|year=2001|isbn=978-92-1-151351-6|volume=1|page=41|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723002946/https://books.google.com/books?id=3LALpdV0DPoC&pg=PA41|url-status=live}}</ref> The human rights ] since 2002, ], is a woman.

In Iran, a groundswell of grassroots movements have sought gender equality since the 1980s.<ref name="Library of Congress Iran"/> Protests in defiance of government bans are dispersed through violence, as on 12 June 2006 when female demonstrators in Haft Tir Square in Tehran were beaten.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5073328.stm|title=Iran police beat women activists|author=Harrison, Frances|publisher=BBC|date=12 June 2006|access-date=1 February 2012|archive-date=10 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010145051/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5073328.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Past Iranian leaders, such as the reformer ex-president ] promised women greater rights, but the ] of Iran opposes changes that they interpret as contrary to Islamic doctrine. In the 2004 legislative elections, nine women were elected to parliament (]), eight of whom were conservatives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org/archives/04_0608_iran_wip.htm |title=Women's Gains at Risk in Iran's New Parliament |publisher=] |author=Sadr, Shadi |date=9 June 2004 |access-date=1 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119031658/http://www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org/archives/04_0608_iran_wip.htm |archive-date=19 January 2012 }}</ref> The social fate of Azerbaijani women largely mirrors that of other women in Iran.{{Citation needed|date=April 2016}}

== Culture ==
{{Main|Culture of Azerbaijan|Culture of Iran}}

===Language and literature===
{{Main|Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani literature}}
] by ] (1914). Fuzûlî is considered one of the greatest ].<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118163318/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9035730 |date=18 January 2008 }} in Encyclopædia Britannica</ref>]]
The Azerbaijanis speak the ], a ] descended from the branches of Oghuz Turkic language that became established in Azerbaijan in the 11th and 12th centuries CE. The ] is closely related to ], ], ], ] and ], sharing varying degrees of ] with each of those languages.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vn-xZ3O1G-cC&pg=PA71|title=Aspects of Altaic Civilization III: Proceedings of the Thirtieth Meeting of the Permanent International Altaistic Conference, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, June 19–25, 1987|date=1996-12-13|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-7007-0380-7|access-date=8 May 2020|archive-date=21 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121045243/https://books.google.com/books?id=vn-xZ3O1G-cC&pg=PA71|url-status=live}}</ref> Certain lexical and grammatical differences formed within the Azerbaijani language as spoken in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran, after nearly two centuries of separation between the communities speaking the language; ], however, has been preserved.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_B2W1YOG3N10C|page=|title=Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia|last=Suny|first=Ronald G.|date=April 1996|publisher=DIANE Publishing|isbn=978-0-7881-2813-4}}</ref> Additionally, the Turkish and Azerbaijani languages are mutually intelligible to a high enough degree that their speakers can have simple conversations without prior knowledge of the other.<ref name="nichol">{{cite book |title=Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia |editor=Curtis, Glenn E. |author=Nichol, James |contribution=Azerbaijan |year=1995 |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |isbn=978-0-8444-0848-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B2W1YOG3N10C&pg=PA105 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-date=20 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320164609/http://books.google.com/books?id=B2W1YOG3N10C&pg=PA105 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Early literature was mainly based on oral tradition, and the later compiled epics and heroic stories of ] probably derive from it. The first written, classical Azerbaijani literature arose after the Mongol invasion, while the first accepted Oghuz Turkic text goes back to the 15th century.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Javadi, H.|author2=Burill, K.|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-x|title=Azeri Literature in Iran|publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica|date=18 August 2011|access-date=30 January 2012|archive-date=1 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201033259/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-x|url-status=live}}</ref> Some of the earliest Azerbaijani writings trace back to the poet ] (died 1417) and then decades later ] (1483–1556). ], Shah of ] wrote Azerbaijani poetry under the pen name ''Khatâ'i''.

Modern Azerbaijani literature continued with a traditional emphasis upon ], as conveyed in the writings of ], ], and many others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/41_folder/41_articles/41_editorial.html |title=Contemporary Literature |work=Azerbaijan International |author=Blair, Betty |date=Spring 1996 |access-date=10 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060616054608/http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/41_folder/41_articles/41_editorial.html |archive-date=16 June 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Azerbaijanis are generally bilingual, often fluent in either Russian (in Azerbaijan) or ] (in Iran) in addition to their native Azerbaijani. As of 1996, around 38% of Azerbaijan's roughly 8,000,000 population spoke Russian fluently.<ref>{{cite book|author=Suny, Ronald G.|year=1996|title=Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_B2W1YOG3N10C|publisher=DIANE Publishing|isbn=978-0-7881-2813-4|page=}}</ref> An independent telephone survey in Iran in 2009 reported that 20% of respondents could understand Azerbaijani, the most spoken minority language in Iran, and all respondents could understand Persian.<ref name="tft">{{cite web|url=http://www.terrorfreetomorrow.org/upimagestft/TFT%20Iran%20Survey%20Report%200609.pdf |author=Terror Free Tomorrow |title=Results of a New Nationwide Public Opinion Survey of Iran before the June 12, 2009 Presidential Elections |date=May 2009 |publisher=] |quote=21.6% of 70,495,782 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723044939/http://www.terrorfreetomorrow.org/upimagestft/TFT%20Iran%20Survey%20Report%200609.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2013}}</ref>

===Religion===
{{Main|Religion in Azerbaijan|Islam in Azerbaijan|Islam in Iran}}
The majority of Azerbaijanis are ] ]. Religious minorities include ] (mainly ] just like other Muslims in the surrounding North Caucasus),<ref>{{in lang|ru}} ]. ''Radicalisation of Islamic Movements in Central Asia and the North Caucasus: A Comparative Political Analysis''. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316050837/http://do.gendocs.ru/docs/index-36795.html |date=16 March 2013 }}. СКНЦ ВШ ЮФУ: Moscow, 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=] |author2=Sheen, Juliet |year=1997|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MFUZkWWgOtMC|title=Freedom of Religion and Belief|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-15978-4|page=273|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=17 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517173620/https://books.google.com/books?id=MFUZkWWgOtMC|url-status=live}}</ref> and ]. An unknown number of Azerbaijanis in the Republic of Azerbaijan have no religious affiliation. Many describe themselves as Shia Muslims.<ref name="Library of Congress Azerbaijan"/> There is a small number of ] ] among Muslim Azerbaijanis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.riadagestan.ru/news/2007/06/06/28600/|title=External factors of radicalization of Islam in the Caucasus|publisher=RIA Dagestan|language=ru|date=6 June 2007|access-date=30 January 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218044618/http://www.riadagestan.ru/news/2007/06/06/28600/|archive-date=18 February 2012}}</ref> Christian Azerbaijanis number around 5,000 people in the Republic of Azerbaijan and consist mostly of recent converts.<ref name="Day.az">{{cite web|url=http://news.day.az/society/85160.html|title=5,000 Azerbaijanis adopted Christianity|publisher=Day.az|date=7 July 2007|language=ru|access-date=30 January 2012|archive-date=12 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112173129/https://news.day.az/society/85160.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Tehran Radio">{{cite web|url=http://azeri.irib.ir/tehliller/item/148029-xristian-missioner-t%C9%99riq%C9%99tl%C9%99r-ar-da-aktivl%C9%99sir?tmpl=component&print=1|title=Christian Missionaries Becoming Active in Azerbaijan|publisher=Tehran Radio|date=19 June 2011|language=az|access-date=12 August 2012|archive-date=25 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025134350/http://azeri.irib.ir/tehliller/item/148029-xristian-missioner-t%C9%99riq%C9%99tl%C9%99r-ar-da-aktivl%C9%99sir?tmpl=component&print=1|url-status=live}}</ref> Some Azerbaijanis from rural regions retain pre-Islamic ] or ]-influenced<ref>Barbara West. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522022409/https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=PA72 |date=22 May 2016 }}. Infobase Publishing, 2009, {{ISBN|1-4381-1913-5}}; p. 72.</ref> beliefs, such as the sanctity of certain sites and the veneration of fire, certain trees and rocks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.azerbembassy.org.cn/eng/culture.html |title=Azerbaijan: Culture and Art |publisher=Embassy of the Azerbaijan Republic in the People's Republic of China |access-date=30 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216124122/http://www.azerbembassy.org.cn/eng/culture.html |archive-date=16 February 2012}}</ref> In Azerbaijan, traditions from other religions are often celebrated in addition to ], including ] and ].

===Performing arts===
{{See also|Music of Azerbaijan|Music of Iran}}
]]]

In the group dance the performers come together in a semi-circular or circular formation as, "The leader of these dances often executes special figures as well as signaling and changes in the foot patterns, movements, or direction in which the group is moving, often by gesturing with his or her hand, in which a kerchief is held."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stanford.edu/group/psa/events/1998-99/avaz/about.utf8.html|title=Avaz|publisher=Stanford University Persian Student Association|access-date=11 June 2006|archive-date=4 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204225131/https://web.stanford.edu/group/psa/events/1998-99/avaz/about.utf8.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Azerbaijani musical tradition can be traced back to singing ]s called '']s'', a vocation that survives. Modern Ashiqs play the ] (]) and sing ''dastans'' (historical ]s).<ref>{{cite book|author=Perry, John R.|year=2011|contribution=Cultural currents in the Turco-Persian world of Safavid and post-Safavid times|editor=Mitchell, Colin P.|title=New Perspectives on Safavid Iran: Empire and Society|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-203-85463-1|page=90}}</ref> Other musical instruments include the '']'' (another type of lute), '']'' (a wind instrument), '']'' (fiddle), and the '']'' (drums). Azerbaijani classical music, called '']'', is often an emotional singing performance. Composers ], ] and ] created a hybrid style that combines Western ] with ''mugham''. Other Azerbaijanis, notably ] and ], mixed ] with ''mugham''. Some Azerbaijani musicians have received international acclaim, including ] (who could sing in over eight languages), ] (a pop star from the Soviet era), ], and more recently ].{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

After the ] in Iran due to the clerical opposition to music in general, Azerbaijani music took a different course. According to Iranian singer ], "Historically in Iran, music faced strong opposition from the religious establishment, forcing it to go underground."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/54_folder/54_articles/54_alizadeh.html|title=Hossein Alizadeh Personal Reflections on Playing Tar|work=Azerbaijan International|date=Winter 1997|access-date=30 January 2012|archive-date=3 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303162351/http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/54_folder/54_articles/54_alizadeh.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some Azerbaijanis have been film-makers, such as ], who wrote '']'', winner of the Grand Prize at the ] and an ] in 1994.

===Sports===
{{See also|Azerbaijan at the Olympics|List of Azerbaijani Olympic medalists}}
]]]
] champion (2004, 2008) ]]]

Sports have historically been an important part of Azerbaijani life. Horseback competitions were praised in the ] and by poets and writers such as ].<ref name="sport">{{cite web|url=http://azerbaijan.az/portal/Society/Sport/sport_e.html|title=Sport History in Azerbaijan|publisher=Heydar Aliyev Foundation|access-date=3 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110625053745/http://www.azerbaijan.az/portal/Society/Sport/sport_e.html|archive-date=25 June 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Other ancient sports include ], ] and ].

The Soviet legacy has in modern times propelled some Azerbaijanis to become accomplished athletes at the Olympic level.<ref name="sport"/> The Azerbaijani government supports the country's athletic legacy and encourages youth participation. <!-- There are many prominent Iranian football players such as ], the world's ] in international matches, and the former captain of the ]remark: there are no reliable sources that this person is an ethnic Azerbaijani.--> Iranian athletes have particularly excelled in ], ], ], javelin throwing, ], ], and wrestling.<ref name="MinistrySports">{{cite web|author=Deck, Laurel |url=http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/44_folder/44_articles/44_sports.html |title=The Ministry of Youth and Sports |work=Azerbaijan International |date=Winter 1996 |access-date=11 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060508022556/http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/44_folder/44_articles/44_sports.html |archive-date=8 May 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> Weight lifters, such as Iran's ], world super heavyweight-lifting record holder and two-time Olympic champion in 2000 and 2004, or ] is a former Iranian<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.farsnews.ir/newstext.php?nn=8706021402|title=هادي ساعي مدال خود را تقديم به مردم آذربايجان كرد|access-date=18 March 2015|date=2008-08-23|archive-date=30 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230134745/http://www.farsnews.ir/newstext.php?nn=8706021402|url-status=live}}</ref> ] athlete who became the most successful Iranian athlete in Olympic history and ], who won the European heavyweight title in 2006, have excelled at the international level. ], an ethnic Azerbaijani who plays for Turkey, became the first ].

] is another popular pastime in the Republic of Azerbaijan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.azembassy.it/browse.php?lang=eng&page=0005 |title=Tourism and sport |publisher=Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Italy |access-date=3 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217104040/http://www.azembassy.it/browse.php?lang=eng&page=0005 |archive-date=17 February 2012}}</ref> The country has produced many notable players, such as ], ] and ], all three highly ranked internationally. Karate is also popular, where ] achieved particular success, becoming a five-time world champion and eleven-time European champion.
{{clear}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Azerbaijan|Iran}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Cited sources===
* {{Cite book|last=Akhriev|first=N. G.|author-link=Nureddin Akhriev|year=1975|chapter=Исконные имена чеченцев и ингушей|trans-chapter=Original names of Chechens and Ingush|url=https://www.twirpx.com/file/3327379/grant/|url-access=registration|title=Сборник статей и материалов по вопросам нахского языкознания. Известия ЧИНИИИЯЛ|trans-title=Collection of articles and materials on questions of Nakh linguistics. Izvestia CHINIIIYAL|language=ru|volume=10|edition=2nd|location=]|publisher=ChI kn. izd-vo|pages=199–212}}
* {{cite book|last=Chaumont|first=M. L.|date=December 15, 1987|url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/atropates-aturpat-lit|title=Atropates|publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica|volume=III|issue=1|pages=17–18}}
* {{cite book|last=de Planhol|first=Xavier |date=December 15, 2004|url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-i-lands-of-iran|title=Iran i. Lands of Iran|publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica|volume=XIII|issue=2|pages=204–212}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kurkiev|first=A. S.|year=1979 |url=https://dzurdzuki.com/download/kurkiev-a-s-osnovnye-voprosy-leksikologii-ingushskogo-yazyka-1979g/ |title=Основные вопросы лексикологии ингушского языка |trans-title=The main questions of the lexicology of the Ingush language |language=ru|location=] |publisher=ChI kn. izd-vo|pages=1–254}}
* {{cite book |last1=Swietochowski |first1=Tadeusz |last2=Collins |first2=Brian C. |title=Historical Dictionary of Azerbaijan |date=1999 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-3550-4 |language=en}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Azerbaijani people}}

{{Azerbaijani diaspora}}
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{{Azerbaijan topics}}
{{Turkic peoples}}
{{European Muslims}}
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Revision as of 06:29, 27 December 2024

Turkic ethnic group

Ethnic group
Azerbaijanis
Azərbaycanlılar
آذربایجانلیلار
Azerbaijani girls in traditional dresses
Total population
30–35 million (2002)
Regions with significant populations
 Iran12–23 million
 Azerbaijan8,172,800
 Russia603,070
 Turkey530,000–2 million
 Georgia233,178
 Kazakhstan114,586
 Ukraine45,176
 Uzbekistan44,400
 Turkmenistan33,365
 United States24,377
 Germany20,000–30,000
 Netherlands18,000
 Kyrgyzstan17,823
 France70,000
 Canada9,915
 Portugal8,000
 United Arab Emirates7,000
 United Kingdom6,220
 Belarus5,567
 Sweden2,935
 Latvia1,567–2,032
 Australia1,036
 Austria1,000
 Estonia940
 Norway806
 Lithuania648
 Italy552
Languages
Azerbaijani
Persian, Turkish
Religion
Mainly Islam
(predominantly Shia Islam, minority Sunni Islam)
Related ethnic groups
Turkish people and Turkmen people
Part of a series on
Azerbaijanis
Culture
Traditional areas of settlement
Diaspora
Religion
Language
Persecution

Azerbaijanis (/ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒæni, -ɑːni/; Azerbaijani: Azərbaycanlılar, آذربایجانلیلار), Azeris (Azərilər, آذریلر), or Azerbaijani Turks (Azərbaycan Türkləri, آذربایجان تۆرکلری) are a Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan region of northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are predominantly Shia Muslims. They comprise the largest ethnic group in the Republic of Azerbaijan and the second-largest ethnic group in neighboring Iran and Georgia. They speak the Azerbaijani language, belonging to the Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages.

Following the Russo-Persian Wars of 1813 and 1828, the territories of Qajar Iran in the Caucasus were ceded to the Russian Empire and the treaties of Gulistan in 1813 and Turkmenchay in 1828 finalized the borders between Russia and Iran. After more than 80 years of being under the Russian Empire in the Caucasus, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was established in 1918 which defined the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Etymology

Azerbaijan is believed to be named after Atropates, a Persian satrap (governor) who ruled in Atropatene (modern Iranian Azerbaijan) circa 321 BC. The name Atropates is the Hellenistic form of Old Persian Aturpat which means 'guardian of fire' itself a compound of ātūr () 'fire' (later ādur (آذر) in (early) New Persian, and is pronounced āzar today) + -pat () suffix for -guardian, -lord, -master (-pat in early Middle Persian, -bod (بُد) in New Persian).

Present-day name Azerbaijan is the Arabicized form of Āzarpāyegān (Persian: آذرپایگان) meaning 'the guardians of fire' later becoming Azerbaijan (Persian: آذربایجان) due to the phonemic shift from /p/ to /b/ and /g/ to /dʒ/ which is a result of the medieval Arabic influences that followed the Arab invasion of Iran, and is due to the lack of the phoneme /p/ and /g/ in the Arabic language. The word Azarpāyegān itself is ultimately from Old Persian Āturpātakān (Persian: آتورپاتکان) meaning 'the land associated with (satrap) Aturpat' or 'the land of fire guardians' (-an, here garbled into -kān, is a suffix for association or forming adverbs and plurals; e.g.: Gilan 'land associated with Gil people').

Ethnonym

See also: Azerbaijan (toponym)

The modern ethnonym "Azerbaijani" or "Azeri" refers to the Turkic peoples of Iran's northwestern historic region of Azerbaijan (also known as Iranian Azerbaijan) and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They historically called themselves or were referred to by others as Muslims and/or Turks. They were also referred to as Ajam (meaning from Iran), using the term incorrectly to denote their Shia belief rather than ethnic identity. When the Southern Caucasus became part of the Russian Empire in the nineteenth century, the Russian authorities, who traditionally referred to all Turkic people as Tatars, defined Tatars living in the Transcaucasus region as Caucasian Tatars or more rarely Aderbeijanskie (Адербейджанские) Tatars or even Persian Tatars in order to distinguish them from other Turkic groups and the Persian speakers of Iran. The Russian Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, written in the 1890s, also referred to Tatars in Azerbaijan as Aderbeijans (адербейджаны), but noted that the term had not been widely adopted. This ethnonym was also used by Joseph Deniker in 1900. In Azerbaijani language publications, the expression "Azerbaijani nation" referring to those who were known as Tatars of the Caucasus first appeared in the newspaper Kashkul in 1880.

During the early Soviet period, the term "Transcaucasian Tatars" was supplanted by "Azerbaijani Turks" and ultimately "Azerbaijanis." For some time afterwards, the term "Azerbaijanis" was then applied to all Turkic-speaking Muslims in Transcaucasia, from the Meskhetian Turks in southwestern Georgia, to the Terekemes of southern Dagestan, as well as assimilated Tats and Talysh. The temporary designation of Meskhetian Turks as "Azerbaijanis" was most likely related to the existing administrative framework of the Transcaucasian SFSR, as the Azerbaijan SSR was one of its founding members. After the establishment of the Azerbaijan SSR, on the order of Soviet leader Stalin, the "name of the formal language" of the Azerbaijan SSR was also "changed from Turkic to Azerbaijani".

Exonym

The Chechen and Ingush names for Azerbaijanis are Ghezloy/Ghoazloy (ГӀезлой/ГӀоазлой) and Ghazaroy/Ghazharey (ГӀажарой/ГӀажарей). The former goes back to the name of Qizilbash while the latter goes back to the name of Qajars, having presumably emerged in Chechen and Ingush languages during the reign of Qajars in Iran in the 18th-19th centuries.

History

Main articles: History of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan (Iran) § History

Ancient residents of the area spoke Old Azeri from the Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. In the 11th century AD with Seljuq conquests, Oghuz Turkic tribes started moving across the Iranian Plateau into the Caucasus and Anatolia. The influx of the Oghuz and other Turkmen tribes was further accentuated by the Mongol invasion. These Turkmen tribes spread as smaller groups, a number of which settled down in the Caucasus and Iran, resulting in the Turkification of the local population. Over time they converted to Shia Islam and gradually absorbed Azerbaijan and Shirvan.

Ancient period

Caucasian-speaking Albanian tribes are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of the region in the north of Aras river, where the Republic of Azerbaijan is located. The region also saw Scythian settlement in the ninth century BC, following which the Medes came to dominate the area to the south of the Aras River.

Alexander the Great defeated the Achaemenids in 330 BC, but allowed the Median satrap Atropates to remain in power. Following the decline of the Seleucids in Persia in 247 BC, an Armenian Kingdom exercised control over parts of Caucasian Albania. Caucasian Albanians established a kingdom in the first century BC and largely remained independent until the Persian Sassanids made their kingdom a vassal state in 252 AD. Caucasian Albania's ruler, King Urnayr, went to Armenia and then officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the fourth century AD, and Albania remained a Christian state until the 8th century.

Medieval period

Sassanid control ended with their defeat by the Rashidun Caliphate in 642 AD through the Muslim conquest of Persia. The Arabs made Caucasian Albania a vassal state after the Christian resistance, led by Prince Javanshir, surrendered in 667. Between the ninth and tenth centuries, Arab authors began to refer to the region between the Kura and Aras rivers as Arran. During this time, Arabs from Basra and Kufa came to Azerbaijan and seized lands that indigenous peoples had abandoned; the Arabs became a land-owning elite. Conversion to Islam was slow as local resistance persisted for centuries and resentment grew as small groups of Arabs began migrating to cities such as Tabriz and Maraghah. This influx sparked a major rebellion in Iranian Azerbaijan from 816 to 837, led an Iranian Zoroastrian commoner named Babak Khorramdin. However, despite pockets of continued resistance, the majority of the inhabitants of Azerbaijan converted to Islam. Later, in the 10th and 11th centuries, parts of Azerbaijan were ruled by the Kurdish dynasty of Shaddadid and Arab Radawids.

In the middle of the eleventh century, the Seljuq dynasty overthrew Arab rule and established an empire that encompassed most of Southwest Asia. The Seljuk period marked the influx of Oghuz nomads into the region. The emerging dominance of the Turkic language was chronicled in epic poems or dastans, the oldest being the Book of Dede Korkut, which relate allegorical tales about the early Turks in the Caucasus and Asia Minor. Turkic dominion was interrupted by the Mongols in 1227, but it returned with the Timurids and then Sunni Qara Qoyunlū (Black Sheep Turkmen) and Aq Qoyunlū (White Sheep Turkmen), who dominated Azerbaijan, large parts of Iran, eastern Anatolia, and other minor parts of West Asia, until the Shi'a Safavids took power in 1501.

Early modern period

See also: Treaty of Gulistan and Treaty of Turkmenchay
Shirvan Tatar (i.e. Azerbaijani). Engraving from book of Jean Baptiste Benoît Eyriès. Voyage pittoresque en Asie et en Afrique: résumé général des voyages anciens et modernes... T. I, 1839

The Safavids, who rose from around Ardabil in Iranian Azerbaijan and lasted until 1722, established the foundations of the modern Iranian state. The Safavids, alongside their Ottoman archrivals, dominated the entire West Asian region and beyond for centuries. At its peak under Shah Abbas the Great, it rivaled its political and ideological archrival the Ottoman empire in military strength. Noted for achievements in state-building, architecture, and the sciences, the Safavid state crumbled due to internal decay (mostly royal intrigues), ethnic minority uprisings and external pressures from the Russians, and the eventually opportunistic Afghans, who would mark the end of the dynasty. The Safavids encouraged and spread Shi'a Islam, as well as the arts and culture, and Shah Abbas the Great created an intellectual atmosphere that according to some scholars was a new "golden age". He reformed the government and the military and responded to the needs of the common people.

After the Safavid state disintegrated, it was followed by the conquest by Nader Shah Afshar, a Shia chieftain from Khorasan who reduced the power of the ghulat Shi'a and empowered a moderate form of Shi'ism, and, exceptionally noted for his military genius, making Iran reach its greatest extent since the Sassanid Empire. The brief reign of Karim Khan came next, followed by the Qajars, who ruled what is the present-day Azerbaijan Republic and Iran from 1779. Russia loomed as a threat to Persian and Turkish holdings in the Caucasus in this period. The Russo-Persian Wars, despite already having had minor military conflicts in the 17th century, officially began in the eighteenth century and ended in the early nineteenth century with the Treaty of Gulistan of 1813 and the Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828, which ceded the Caucasian portion of Qajar Iran to the Russian Empire. While Azerbaijanis in Iran integrated into Iranian society, Azerbaijanis who used to live in Aran, were incorporated into the Russian Empire.

Despite the Russian conquest, throughout the entire 19th century, preoccupation with Iranian culture, literature, and language remained widespread amongst Shia and Sunni intellectuals in the Russian-held cities of Baku, Ganja and Tiflis (Tbilisi, now Georgia). Within the same century, in post-Iranian Russian-held East Caucasia, an Azerbaijani national identity emerged at the end of the 19th century. In 1891, the idea of recognizing oneself as an "Azerbaijani Turk" was first popularized amongst the Caucasus Tatars in the periodical Kashkül. The articles printed in Kaspiy and Kashkül in 1891 are typically credited as being the earliest expressions of a cultural Azerbaijani identity.

Modernisation—compared to the neighboring Armenians and Georgians—was slow to develop amongst the Tatars of the Russian Caucasus. According to the 1897 Russian Empire census, less than five percent of the Tatars were able to read or write. The intellectual and newspaper editor Ali bey Huseynzade (1864-1940) led a campaign to ‘Turkify, Islamise, modernise’ the Caucasian Tatars, whereas Mammed Said Ordubadi (1872-1950), another journalist and activist, criticized superstition amongst Muslims.

Modern period in Republic of Azerbaijan

Map of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic presented by the Azerbaijani delegation Paris Peace Conference in 1919
First flag of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (till 9 November 1918)
Soldiers and officers of the army of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918

After the collapse of the Russian Empire during World War I, the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic was declared, constituting what are the present-day republics of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. This was followed by March Days massacres that took place between 30 March and 2 April 1918 in the city of Baku and adjacent areas of the Baku Governorate of the Russian Empire. When the republic dissolved in May 1918, the leading Musavat party adopted the name "Azerbaijan" for the newly established Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which was proclaimed on 27 May 1918, for political reasons, even though the name of "Azerbaijan" had been used to refer to the adjacent region of contemporary northwestern Iran. The ADR was the first modern parliamentary republic in the Turkic world and Muslim world. Among the important accomplishments of the Parliament was the extension of suffrage to women, making Azerbaijan the first Muslim nation to grant women equal political rights with men. Another important accomplishment of ADR was the establishment of Baku State University, which was the first modern-type university founded in Muslim East.

By March 1920, it was obvious that Soviet Russia would attack the much-needed Baku. Vladimir Lenin said that the invasion was justified as Soviet Russia could not survive without Baku's oil. Independent Azerbaijan lasted only 23 months until the Bolshevik 11th Soviet Red Army invaded it, establishing the Azerbaijan SSR on 28 April 1920. Although the bulk of the newly formed Azerbaijani army was engaged in putting down an Armenian revolt that had just broken out in Karabakh, Azeris did not surrender their brief independence of 1918–20 quickly or easily. As many as 20,000 Azerbaijani soldiers died resisting what was effectively a Russian reconquest.

The brief independence gained by the short-lived Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918–1920 was followed by over 70 years of Soviet rule. Neverthelesss, it was in the early Soviet period that the Azerbaijani national identity was finally forged. After the restoration of independence in October 1991, the Republic of Azerbaijan became embroiled in a war with neighboring Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The First Nagorno-Karabakh War resulted in the displacement of approximately 725,000 Azerbaijanis and 300,000–500,000 Armenians from both Azerbaijan and Armenia. As a result of 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, Azerbaijan took back 5 cities, 4 towns, 286 villages in the region. According to 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, internally displaced persons and refugees shall return to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas under the supervision of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Modern period in Iran

In Iran, Azerbaijanis such as Sattar Khan sought constitutional reform. The Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906–11 shook the Qajar dynasty. A parliament (Majlis) was founded on the efforts of the constitutionalists, and pro-democracy newspapers appeared. The last Shah of the Qajar dynasty was soon removed in a military coup led by Reza Khan. In the quest to impose national homogeneity on a country where half of the population were ethnic minorities, Reza Shah banned in quick succession the use of the Azerbaijani language in schools, theatrical performances, religious ceremonies, and books.

Sattar Khan (1868–1914) was a major revolutionary figure in the late Qajar period in Iran.

Upon the dethronement of Reza Shah in September 1941, Soviet forces took control of Iranian Azerbaijan and helped to set up the Azerbaijan People's Government, a client state under the leadership of Sayyid Jafar Pishevari backed by Soviet Azerbaijan. The Soviet military presence in Iranian Azerbaijan was mainly aimed at securing the Allied supply route during World War II. Concerned with the continued Soviet presence after World War II, the United States and Britain pressured the Soviets to withdraw by late 1946. Immediately thereafter, the Iranian government regained control of Iranian Azerbaijan. According to Professor Gary R. Hess, local Azerbaijanis favored the Iranian rule, while the Soviets forewent the Iranian Azerbaijan due to the exaggerated sentiment for autonomy and oil being their top priority.

Origins

Main article: Origin of the Azerbaijanis
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In many references, Azerbaijanis are designated as a Turkic people, while some sources describe the origin of Azerbaijanis as "unclear", mainly Caucasian, mainly Iranian, mixed Caucasian Albanian and Turkish, and mixed with Caucasian, Iranian, and Turkic elements. Russian historian and orientalist Vladimir Minorsky writes that largely Iranian and Caucasian populations became Turkic-speaking following the Oghuz occupation of the region, though the characteristic features of the local Turkic language, such as Persian intonations and disregard of the vocalic harmony, were a remnant of the non-Turkic population.

Historical research suggests that the Old Azeri language, belonging to the Northwestern branch of the Iranian languages and believed to have descended from the language of the Medes, gradually gained currency and was widely spoken in said region for many centuries.

Some Azerbaijanis of the Republic of Azerbaijan are believed to be descended from the inhabitants of Caucasian Albania, an ancient country located in the eastern Caucasus region, and various Iranian peoples which settled the region. They claim there is evidence that, due to repeated invasions and migrations, the aboriginal Caucasian population may have gradually been culturally and linguistically assimilated, first by Iranian peoples, such as the Persians, and later by the Oghuz Turks. Considerable information has been learned about the Caucasian Albanians, including their language, history, early conversion to Christianity, and relations with the Armenians and Georgians, under whose strong religious and cultural influence the Caucasian Albanians came in the coming centuries.

Turkic origin and Turkification

See also: Turkification

Turkification of the non-Turkic population derives from the Turkic settlements in the area now known as Azerbaijan, which began and accelerated during the Seljuk period. The migration of Oghuz Turks from present-day Turkmenistan, which is attested by linguistic similarity, remained high through the Mongol period, as many troops under the Ilkhanids were Turkic. By the Safavid period, the Turkic nature of Azerbaijan increased with the influence of the Qizilbash, an association of the Turkoman nomadic tribes that was the backbone of the Safavid Empire.

According to Soviet scholars, the Turkicization of Azerbaijan was largely completed during the Ilkhanid period. Faruk Sümer posits three periods in which Turkicization took place: Seljuk, Mongol and Post-Mongol (Qara Qoyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu and Safavid). In the first two, Oghuz Turkic tribes advanced or were driven to Anatolia and Arran. In the last period, the Turkic elements in Iran (Oghuz, with lesser admixtures of Uyghur, Qipchaq, Qarluq as well as Turkicized Mongols) were joined now by Anatolian Turks migrating back to Iran. This marked the final stage of Turkicization.

Iranian origin

Main articles: Iranian peoples, Persian peoples, Tat people (Iran), and Tat people (Caucasus)

10th-century Arab historian Al-Masudi attested the Old Azeri language and described that the region of Azerbaijan was inhabited by Persians. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism was prominent throughout the Caucasus before Christianity and Islam. According to Encyclopaedia Iranica, Azerbaijanis mainly originate from the earlier Iranian speakers, who still exist to this day in smaller numbers, and a massive migration of Oghuz Turks in the 11th and 12th centuries gradually Turkified Azerbaijan as well as Anatolia.

Caucasian origin

Azerbaijani girl from Shusha in silk national garments
Main articles: Peoples of the Caucasus and Caucasian Albania

According to Encyclopædia Britannica, the Azerbaijanis are of mixed descent, originating in the indigenous population of eastern Transcaucasia and possibly the Medians from northern Iran. There is evidence that, due to repeated invasions and migrations, aboriginal Caucasians may have been culturally assimilated, first by Ancient Iranian peoples and later by the Oghuz. Considerable information has been learned about the Caucasian Albanians including their language, history, early conversion to Christianity. The Udi language, still spoken in Azerbaijan, may be a remnant of the Albanians' language.

Genetics

See also: Genetic history of the Middle East and Genetic history of Europe
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Contemporary Western Asian genomes, a region that includes Azerbaijan, have been greatly influenced by early agricultural populations in the area; later population movements, such as those of Turkic speakers, also contributed. However, as of 2017, there is no whole genome sequencing study for Azerbaijan; sampling limitations such as these prevent forming a "finer-scale picture of the genetic history of the region".

A 2014 study comparing the genetics of the populations from Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, (which were grouped as "Western Silk Road") Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan (grouped as "Eastern Silk Road") found that the samples from Azerbaijan were the only group from the Western Silk Road to show significant contribution from the Eastern Silk Road, despite the overall clustering with the other samples from the Western Silk Road. The eastern input into the Azerbaijani genetics was estimated to be roughly 25 generations ago, corresponding to the time of the Mongolian expansion.

A 2002 study focusing on eleven Y-chromosome markers suggested that Azerbaijanis are genetically more related to their Caucasian geographic neighbors than to their linguistic neighbors. Iranian Azerbaijanis are genetically more similar to northern Azerbaijanis and the neighboring Turkic population than they are to geographically distant Turkmen populations. Iranian-speaking populations from Azerbaijan (the Talysh and Tats) are genetically closer to Azerbaijanis of the Republic than to other Iranian-speaking populations (Persian people and Kurds from Iran, Ossetians, and Tajiks). Several genetic studies suggested that the Azerbaijanis originate from a native population long resident in the area who adopted a Turkic language through language replacement, including possibility of elite dominance scenario. However, the language replacement in Azerbaijan (and in Turkey) might not have been in accordance with the elite dominance model, with estimated Central Asian contribution to Azerbaijan being 18% for females and 32% for males. A subsequent study also suggested 33% Central Asian contribution to Azerbaijan.

A 2001 study which looked into the first hypervariable segment of the MtDNA suggested that "genetic relationships among Caucasus populations reflect geographical rather than linguistic relationships", with Armenians and Azerbaijanians being "most closely related to their nearest geographical neighbours". Another 2004 study that looked into 910 MtDNAs from 23 populations in the Iranian plateau, the Indus Valley, and Central Asia suggested that populations "west of the Indus basin, including those from Iran, Anatolia and the Caucasus, exhibit a common mtDNA lineage composition, consisting mainly of western Eurasian lineages, with a very limited contribution from South Asia and eastern Eurasia". While genetic analysis of mtDNA indicates that Caucasian populations are genetically closer to Europeans than to Near Easterners, Y-chromosome results indicate closer affinity to Near Eastern groups.

The range of haplogroups across the region may reflect historical genetic admixture, perhaps as a result of invasive male migrations.

In a comparative study (2013) on the complete mitochondrial DNA diversity in Iranians has indicated that Iranian Azeris are more related to the people of Georgia, than they are to other Iranians, as well as to Armenians. However the same multidimensional scaling plot shows that Azeris from the Caucasus, despite their supposed common origin with Iranian Azeris, "occupy an intermediate position between the Azeris/Georgians and Turks/Iranians grouping".

A 2007 study which looked into class two Human leukocyte antigen suggested that there were "no close genetic relationship was observed between Azeris of Iran and the people of Turkey or Central Asians". A 2017 study which looked into HLA alleles put the samples from Azeris in Northwest Iran "in the Mediterranean cluster close to Kurds, Gorgan, Chuvash (South Russia, towards North Caucasus), Iranians and Caucasus populations (Svan and Georgians)". This Mediterranean stock includes "Turkish and Caucasian populations". Azeri samples were also in a "position between Mediterranean and Central Asian" samples, suggesting Turkification "process caused by Oghuz Turkic tribes could also contribute to the genetic background of Azeri people".

Demographics and society

See also: Demographics of Azerbaijan, Demographics of Iran, and List of Azerbaijanis
Azerbaijani-speaking regions
Russian Empire postcard depicting Tatars (i.e. Azerbaijanis) from Alexandropol (Gyumri)

The vast majority of Azerbaijanis live in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iranian Azerbaijan. Between 12 and 23 million Azerbaijanis live in Iran, mainly in the northwestern provinces. Approximately 9.1 million Azerbaijanis are found in the Republic of Azerbaijan. A diaspora of over a million is spread throughout the rest of the world. According to Ethnologue, there are over 1 million speakers of the northern Azerbaijani dialect in southern Dagestan, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian proper, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. No Azerbaijanis were recorded in the 2001 census in Armenia, where the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resulted in population shifts. Other sources, such as national censuses, confirm the presence of Azerbaijanis throughout the other states of the former Soviet Union.

In the Republic of Azerbaijan

See also: Wedding tradition in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijanis are by far the largest ethnic group in The Republic of Azerbaijan (over 90%), holding the second-largest community of ethnic Azerbaijanis after neighboring Iran. The literacy rate is very high, and is estimated at 99.5%. Azerbaijan began the twentieth century with institutions based upon those of Russia and the Soviet Union, with an official policy of atheism and strict state control over most aspects of society. Since independence, there is a secular system.

Azerbaijan has benefited from the oil industry, but high levels of corruption have prevented greater prosperity for the population. Despite these problems, there is a financial rebirth in Azerbaijan as positive economic predictions and an active political opposition appear determined to improve the lives of average Azerbaijanis.

In Iran

Main article: Iranian Azerbaijanis
Ashiks performance in Tabriz
Iran's highest-ranking official, the supreme leader Ali Khamenei, is Iranian Azeri on his father's side.

The exact number of Azerbaijanis in Iran is heavily disputed. Since the early twentieth century, successive Iranian governments have avoided publishing statistics on ethnic groups. Unofficial population estimates of Azerbaijanis in Iran are around the 16% area put forth by the CIA and Library of Congress. An independent poll in 2009 placed the figure at around 20–22%. According to the Iranologist Victoria Arakelova in peer-reviewed journal Iran and the Caucasus, estimating the number of Azeris in Iran has been hampered for years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when the "once invented theory of the so called separated nation (i.e. the citizens of the Azerbaijan Republic, the so-called Azerbaijanis, and the Azaris in Iran), was actualised again (see in detail Reza 1993)". Arakelova adds that the number of Azeris in Iran, featuring in the politically biased publications as "Azerbaijani minority of Iran", is considered to be the "highly speculative part of this theory". Even though all Iranian censuses of population distinguish exclusively religious minorities, numerous sources have presented different figures regarding Iran's Turkic-speaking communities, without "any justification or concrete references".

In the early 1990s, right after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the most popular figure depicting the number of "Azerbaijanis" in Iran was thirty-three million, at a time when the entire population of Iran was barely sixty million. Therefore, at the time, half of Iran's citizens were considered "Azerbaijanis". Shortly after, this figure was replaced by thirty million, which became "almost a normative account on the demographic situation in Iran, widely circulating not only among academics and political analysts, but also in the official circles of Russia and the West". Then, in the 2000s, the figure decreased to 20 million; this time, at least within the Russian political establishment, the figure became "firmly fixed". This figure, Arakelova adds, has been widely used and kept up to date, only with a few minor adjustments. A cursory look at Iran's demographic situation however, shows that all these figures have been manipulated and were "definitely invented on political purpose". Arakelova estimates the number of Azeris i.e. "Azerbaijanis" in Iran based on Iran's population demographics at 6 to 6.5 million.

Azerbaijanis in Iran are mainly found in the northwest provinces: West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, Ardabil, Zanjan, parts of Hamadan, Qazvin, and Markazi. Azerbaijani minorities live in the Qorveh and Bijar counties of Kurdistan, in Gilan, as ethnic enclaves in Galugah in Mazandaran, around Lotfabad and Dargaz in Razavi Khorasan, and in the town of Gonbad-e Qabus in Golestan. Large Azerbaijani populations can also be found in central Iran (Tehran # Alborz) due to internal migration. Azerbaijanis make up 25% of Tehran's population and 30.3% – 33% of the population of the Tehran Province, where Azerbaijanis are found in every city. They are the largest ethnic groups after Persians in Tehran and the Tehran Province. Arakelova notes that the widespread "cliché" among residents of Tehran on the number of Azerbaijanis in the city ("half of Tehran consists of Azerbaijanis"), cannot be taken "seriously into consideration". Arakelova adds that the number of Tehran's inhabitants who have migrated from northwestern areas of Iran, who are currently Persian-speakers "for the most part", is not more than "several hundred thousands", with the maximum being one million. Azerbaijanis have also emigrated and resettled in large numbers in Khorasan, especially in Mashhad.

Generally, Azerbaijanis in Iran were regarded as "a well integrated linguistic minority" by academics prior to Iran's Islamic Revolution. Despite friction, Azerbaijanis in Iran came to be well represented at all levels of "political, military, and intellectual hierarchies, as well as the religious hierarchy".

Resentment came with Pahlavi policies that suppressed the use of the Azerbaijani language in local government, schools, and the press. However, with the advent of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, emphasis shifted away from nationalism as the new government highlighted religion as the main unifying factor. Islamic theocratic institutions dominate nearly all aspects of society. The Azerbaijani language and its literature are banned in Iranian schools. There are signs of civil unrest due to the policies of the Iranian government in Iranian Azerbaijan and increased interaction with fellow Azerbaijanis in Azerbaijan and satellite broadcasts from Turkey and other Turkic countries have revived Azerbaijani nationalism. In May 2006, Iranian Azerbaijan witnessed riots over publication of a cartoon depicting a cockroach speaking Azerbaijani that many Azerbaijanis found offensive. The cartoon was drawn by Mana Neyestani, an Azeri, who was fired along with his editor as a result of the controversy. One of the major incidents that happened recently was Azeris protests in Iran (2015) started in November 2015, after children's television programme Fitileha aired on 6 November on state TV that ridiculed and mocked the accent and language of Azeris and included offensive jokes. As a result, hundreds of ethnic Azeris have protested a program on state TV that contained what they consider an ethnic slur. Demonstrations were held in Tabriz, Urmia, Ardabil, and Zanjan, as well as Tehran and Karaj. Police in Iran have clashed with protesting people, fired tear gas to disperse crowds, and many demonstrators were arrested. One of the protesters, Ali Akbar Murtaza, reportedly "died of injuries" in Urmia. There were also protests held in front of Iranian embassies in Istanbul and Baku. The head of the country's state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Mohammad Sarafraz has apologized for airing the program, whose broadcast was later discontinued.

Azerbaijanis are an intrinsic community of Iran, and their style of living closely resemble those of Persians:

The lifestyles of urban Azerbaijanis do not differ from those of Persians, and there is considerable intermarriage among the upper classes in cities of mixed populations. Similarly, customs among Azerbaijani villagers do not appear to differ markedly from those of Persian villagers.

Azeris are famously active in commerce and in bazaars all over Iran their voluble voices can be heard. Older Azeri men wear the traditional wool hat, and their music & dances have become part of the mainstream culture. Azeris are well integrated, and many Azeri-Iranians are prominent in Persian literature, politics, and clerical world.

There is significant cross-border trade between Azerbaijan and Iran, and Azerbaijanis from Azerbaijan go into Iran to buy goods that are cheaper, but the relationship was tense until recently. However, relations have significantly improved since the Rouhani administration took office.

Subgroups

There are at least ten Azerbaijani ethnic groups, each of which has particularities in the economy, culture, and everyday life. Some Azerbaijani ethnic groups continued in the last quarter of the 19th century.

Ayrum from Azerbaijan (left); Shahsevan girls from a rich family. End of the 19th century, Iran (right).

Major Azerbaijani ethnic groups:

Diaspora

Main article: Azerbaijani diaspora

Women

See also: Women in Azerbaijan and Women in Iran
Azeri woman from Baku (1900 postcard)

In Azerbaijan, women were granted the right to vote in 1917. Women have attained Western-style equality in major cities such as Baku, although in rural areas more reactionary views remain. Violence against women, including rape, is rarely reported, especially in rural areas, not unlike other parts of the former Soviet Union. In Azerbaijan, the veil was abandoned during the Soviet period. Women are under-represented in elective office but have attained high positions in parliament. An Azerbaijani woman is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Azerbaijan, and two others are Justices of the Constitutional Court. In the 2010 election, women constituted 16% of all MPs (twenty seats in total) in the National Assembly of Azerbaijan. Abortion is available on demand in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The human rights ombudsman since 2002, Elmira Süleymanova, is a woman.

In Iran, a groundswell of grassroots movements have sought gender equality since the 1980s. Protests in defiance of government bans are dispersed through violence, as on 12 June 2006 when female demonstrators in Haft Tir Square in Tehran were beaten. Past Iranian leaders, such as the reformer ex-president Mohammad Khatami promised women greater rights, but the Guardian Council of Iran opposes changes that they interpret as contrary to Islamic doctrine. In the 2004 legislative elections, nine women were elected to parliament (Majlis), eight of whom were conservatives. The social fate of Azerbaijani women largely mirrors that of other women in Iran.

Culture

Main articles: Culture of Azerbaijan and Culture of Iran

Language and literature

Main articles: Azerbaijani language and Azerbaijani literature
Portrait of Muhammad Fuzûlî by Azim Azimzade (1914). Fuzûlî is considered one of the greatest Azerbaijani poets.

The Azerbaijanis speak the Azerbaijani language, a Turkic language descended from the branches of Oghuz Turkic language that became established in Azerbaijan in the 11th and 12th centuries CE. The Azerbaijani language is closely related to Qashqai, Gagauz, Turkish, Turkmen and Crimean Tatar, sharing varying degrees of mutual intelligibility with each of those languages. Certain lexical and grammatical differences formed within the Azerbaijani language as spoken in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran, after nearly two centuries of separation between the communities speaking the language; mutual intelligibility, however, has been preserved. Additionally, the Turkish and Azerbaijani languages are mutually intelligible to a high enough degree that their speakers can have simple conversations without prior knowledge of the other.

Early literature was mainly based on oral tradition, and the later compiled epics and heroic stories of Dede Korkut probably derive from it. The first written, classical Azerbaijani literature arose after the Mongol invasion, while the first accepted Oghuz Turkic text goes back to the 15th century. Some of the earliest Azerbaijani writings trace back to the poet Nasimi (died 1417) and then decades later Fuzûlî (1483–1556). Ismail I, Shah of Safavid Iran wrote Azerbaijani poetry under the pen name Khatâ'i.

Modern Azerbaijani literature continued with a traditional emphasis upon humanism, as conveyed in the writings of Samad Vurgun, Shahriar, and many others.

Azerbaijanis are generally bilingual, often fluent in either Russian (in Azerbaijan) or Persian (in Iran) in addition to their native Azerbaijani. As of 1996, around 38% of Azerbaijan's roughly 8,000,000 population spoke Russian fluently. An independent telephone survey in Iran in 2009 reported that 20% of respondents could understand Azerbaijani, the most spoken minority language in Iran, and all respondents could understand Persian.

Religion

Main articles: Religion in Azerbaijan, Islam in Azerbaijan, and Islam in Iran

The majority of Azerbaijanis are Twelver Shi'a Muslims. Religious minorities include Sunni Muslims (mainly Shafi'i just like other Muslims in the surrounding North Caucasus), and Baháʼís. An unknown number of Azerbaijanis in the Republic of Azerbaijan have no religious affiliation. Many describe themselves as Shia Muslims. There is a small number of Naqshbandi Sufis among Muslim Azerbaijanis. Christian Azerbaijanis number around 5,000 people in the Republic of Azerbaijan and consist mostly of recent converts. Some Azerbaijanis from rural regions retain pre-Islamic animist or Zoroastrian-influenced beliefs, such as the sanctity of certain sites and the veneration of fire, certain trees and rocks. In Azerbaijan, traditions from other religions are often celebrated in addition to Islamic holidays, including Nowruz and Christmas.

Performing arts

See also: Music of Azerbaijan and Music of Iran
Mugham triads

In the group dance the performers come together in a semi-circular or circular formation as, "The leader of these dances often executes special figures as well as signaling and changes in the foot patterns, movements, or direction in which the group is moving, often by gesturing with his or her hand, in which a kerchief is held."

Azerbaijani musical tradition can be traced back to singing bards called Ashiqs, a vocation that survives. Modern Ashiqs play the saz (lute) and sing dastans (historical ballads). Other musical instruments include the tar (another type of lute), balaban (a wind instrument), kamancha (fiddle), and the dhol (drums). Azerbaijani classical music, called mugham, is often an emotional singing performance. Composers Uzeyir Hajibeyov, Gara Garayev and Fikret Amirov created a hybrid style that combines Western classical music with mugham. Other Azerbaijanis, notably Vagif and Aziza Mustafa Zadeh, mixed jazz with mugham. Some Azerbaijani musicians have received international acclaim, including Rashid Behbudov (who could sing in over eight languages), Muslim Magomayev (a pop star from the Soviet era), Googoosh, and more recently Sami Yusuf.

After the 1979 revolution in Iran due to the clerical opposition to music in general, Azerbaijani music took a different course. According to Iranian singer Hossein Alizadeh, "Historically in Iran, music faced strong opposition from the religious establishment, forcing it to go underground."

Some Azerbaijanis have been film-makers, such as Rustam Ibragimbekov, who wrote Burnt by the Sun, winner of the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1994.

Sports

See also: Azerbaijan at the Olympics and List of Azerbaijani Olympic medalists
Chess player Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Two-time Paralympic judo champion (2004, 2008) Ilham Zakiyev

Sports have historically been an important part of Azerbaijani life. Horseback competitions were praised in the Book of Dede Korkut and by poets and writers such as Khaqani. Other ancient sports include wrestling, javelin throwing and fencing.

The Soviet legacy has in modern times propelled some Azerbaijanis to become accomplished athletes at the Olympic level. The Azerbaijani government supports the country's athletic legacy and encourages youth participation. Iranian athletes have particularly excelled in weight lifting, gymnastics, shooting, javelin throwing, karate, boxing, and wrestling. Weight lifters, such as Iran's Hossein Reza Zadeh, world super heavyweight-lifting record holder and two-time Olympic champion in 2000 and 2004, or Hadi Saei is a former Iranian Taekwondo athlete who became the most successful Iranian athlete in Olympic history and Nizami Pashayev, who won the European heavyweight title in 2006, have excelled at the international level. Ramil Guliyev, an ethnic Azerbaijani who plays for Turkey, became the first world champion in athletics in the history of Turkey.

Chess is another popular pastime in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The country has produced many notable players, such as Teimour Radjabov, Vugar Gashimov and Shahriyar Mammadyarov, all three highly ranked internationally. Karate is also popular, where Rafael Aghayev achieved particular success, becoming a five-time world champion and eleven-time European champion.

See also

Notes

  1. The ethnonyms are also used to designate Persians.

References

Citations

  1. ^ Sela, Avraham (2002). The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East. Continuum. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-8264-1413-7. They number 30-35 million and live primarily in Iran (approximately 20 million), the Republic of Azerbaijan (8 million), Turkey (1-2 million), Russia (1 million), and Georgia (300,000).
  2. ^ Swietochowski & Collins (1999, p. 165): Today, Iranian Azerbaijan has a solid majority of Azeris with an estimated population of at least 15 million (over twice the population of the Azerbaijani Republic). (1999)
  3. ^ "Iran". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2018. Ethnic population: 16,700,000 (2019)
  4. ^ Elling, Rasmus Christian (18 February 2013). Minorities in Iran: Nationalism and Ethnicity after Khomeini. Springer. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-137-04780-9. CIA and Library of Congress estimates range from 16 percent to 24 percent—that is, 12–18 million people if we employ the latest total figure for Iran's population (77.8 million).
  5. ^ Gheissari, Ali (2 April 2009). Contemporary Iran: Economy, Society, Politics. Oxford University Press. p. 300. ISBN 978-0-19-988860-3. As of 2003, the ethnic classifications are estimated as: Azeri (24 percent)
  6. ^ Bani-Shoraka, Helena (1 July 2009). "Cross-generational bilingual strategies among Azerbaijanis in Tehran". International Journal of the Sociology of Language (198): 106. doi:10.1515/IJSL.2009.029. ISSN 1613-3668. S2CID 144993160. The latest figures estimate the Azerbaijani population at 24% of Iran's 70 million inhabitants (NVI 2003/2004: 301). This means that there are between 15 and 20 million Azerbaijanis in Iran.
  7. ^ Potter, Lawrence G. (2014). Sectarian Politics in the Persian Gulf. Oxford University Press. p. 290. ISBN 978-0-19-937726-8. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
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