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The name "Iran" is first attested in the Avesta as airyānąm (the text of which is composed in Avestan, an old Iranian language spoken in the northeastern part of Greater Iran, or in what are now Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan).
A 1636 map of the Kingdom of Persia. The region that is now the country of Iran has been known by many different names, and has had varying boundaries and borders over the past 5000 years. The name Iran comes from the Avestan word airyānąm, appearing in the time of Cyrus the Great (4th century BC).
ancient capital of Persia, founded 6c. B.C.E. by Darius the Great; from Greek, literally "city of the Persians," from Perses "Persians" (see Persian) + -polis "city" (see polis). The modern Iranian name for the place is Takht-e-jamshid, literally "throne of Jamshid," a legendary.
Since 1935, the name "Iran" has replaced other names of Iran in the western world. Jean Chardin, who travelled in the region between 1673 and 1677, observed that "the Persians, in naming their country, make use of one word, which they indifferently pronounce Iroun, and Iran. [...]
The journey from Persia to Iran is more than a simple name change – it‘s a story of evolving identities, cultural pride, national aspirations, and geopolitical tensions. While Persia may no longer be the official name, its legacy lives on in the rich tapestry of Iranian history and culture.
Given its location in the Middle East, Muslim majority, and language which resembles Arabic, Iran is often mislabeled as an Arab nation. A cognate of “aryan,” Iran means “land of the Aryans” and is excluded from the list of Arab League nations in the Middle East/North Africa region.
Iran, a mountainous, arid, and ethnically diverse country of southwestern Asia. The country maintains a rich and distinctive cultural and social continuity dating back to the Achaemenian period, which began in 550 bce. Since 1979 it has become known for its unique brand of Islamic republic.
iran *Aryānām “of the Aryans” [see ARYANS ]), name of the modern political state, also used, as noun or adjective (e.g., “Iranian plateau”), as a geographical term. The adjective is applied, independently of political boundaries, as an ethnolinguistic descriptor (“Iranian languages”) and a cultural descriptor (see GEOGRAPHY ).
The name Iran comes from the word Aryanam, meaning "Land of the Aryans." Sited on the hinge between the Mediterranean world, Central Asia, and the Middle East, Iran has taken several turns as a superpower empire and been overrun in turn by any number of invaders.
Iran, officially Islamic Republic of Iran, formerly Persia, Country, Middle East, southwestern Asia. Area: 629,670 sq mi (1,630,848 sq km). Population: (2024 est.) 87,529,000. Capital: Tehrān. Persians constitute the largest ethnic group; other ethnic groups include Azerbaijanians, Kurds, Lurs, Bakhtyārī, and Baloch.