page_title: Talysh people
section_title: Location
hierarchical_section_title: Talysh people / Location
caption_attribution_description: English: Ethnicities and religions in Iran Etnias y religiones en Irán Ethnies et religions en Iran İranda etnik və din İran Etnisite ve dinler الأعراق والأديان في إيران Narodowości i religii w Iranie اقوام و مذاهب در ایران Этносы и религии в Иране ეთნოსები და რელიგიები ირანში Ազգություն եւ կրոնական Իրանում Sources: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html http://www.worldchristiandatabase.org/wcd/
context_page_description: Talysh are an Iranian ethnic group indigenous to a region shared between Azerbaijan and Iran which spans the South Caucasus and the southwestern shore of the Caspian Sea. They speak the Talysh language, one of the Northwestern Iranian languages. It is spoken in the northern regions of the Iranian provinces of Gilan and Ardabil and the southern parts of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Northern Talysh was historically known as Talish-i Gushtasbi. In Iran there is a Talesh County in Gilan Province.
context_section_description: There are no statistical data on the numbers of Talysh-speakers in Iran, but estimates show their number to be around 1 million. Talysh nationalists claim that the number of Talysh in Azerbaijan is around 835,000. The number of Talysh speakers in 2003 was estimated to be at least 400,000 in the Republic of Azerbaijan. According to the official 1999 census of the Republic of Azerbaijan, whose figures are in dispute by Talysh nationalists, the number of Talysh people in the Republic of Azerbaijan was 76,000. According to some sources, the Azerbaijani government has also implemented a policy of forceful integration of all minorities, including Talysh, Tat, and Lezgins. However, in a view of Hema Kotecha "the attitude towards any separatist tendencies seems predominantly negative" among Talyshs. According to Swedish scholar on Eurasia Svante E. Cornell:
  Whereas officially the number of Lezgins registered as such is around 180,000, the Lezgins claim that the number of Lezgins registered as Azerbaijani is many times higher than this figure, some accounts showing over 700,000 Lezgins in Azerbaijan. These figures are denied by the Azerbaijani government but in private many Azeris acknowledge the fact that Lezgins – for that matter Talysh or the Tat population of Azerbaijan is far higher than the official figure. The unofficial census of the Netherlands is 1.
caption: Talysh in Iran