What is the difference between Persia/Persian and Iran/Iranian? A thread 1/7

Persia derives from "Pars," the name of a region in southwestern Iran bordering the Persian Gulf & the site of the ancient Persian capital. Persia was a Greek misattribution (Pars-ia -> Persia) that replaced one part of Iran for the entire country/empire. 2/7

Iran is derived from the Old Persian ariyanam (ariya, “noble, lordly"; nam, "name") & is the name that has always been used to refer to the country by those native to Iran. IOW, *when speaking Farsi* no Iranian has ever referred to themselves as Persian or Iran as Persia. 3/7

This is emphasized in the Behsitun, an inscription by King Darius I (522 BCE) etched into Mt Behsitun in Kermanshah; he identifies himself as an Iranian who comes specifically from Pars (Parsa). Greek historians later called it Persis, which, over time, turned into Persia 4/7

In 1934, Reza Shah Pahlavi, 1st shah of the Pahlavi dynasty, instituted a decree asking all foreign nations to refer to his country by its original assignation, Iran. The unintended consequence was creating a line of separation between "modern" Iran & its ancient empire 5/7

About 45 years later in 1979, Iran would undergo a revolution that replaces its monarchic system with what is now known as the Islamic Republic of Iran, thus distinguishing it further from its ancient past. 6/7

Some expatriates choose to be called Persian as a way to distinguish themselves from the current regime. I suspect there are some who do the same w Iranian to align w the current regime, though I haven't met anyone from this camp personally. Most use them interchangeably. 7/7

Some folks are asking about "Farsi" v "Persian" re: language. The language was Parsi. After the Arab invasion of 7th C, it became known as Farsi bc there is no "P" sound in the Arabic language, & Iranians were forced to change language/alphabet, religion, etc. 8/

Persian became method of designating the language within the academic circuit (so one can sign up for Persian 101, for example) as well as some who wanted to resist the Arabic imposition of F sound. 9/