ABSTRACT
Various authors give different numbers of ethnic groups in Iran. None of the authors include every group. The reason for particular inclusions and exclusions is the availability of material in a European language, not the existence or nonexistence of populations. Here I will mention two such documents. The first is by Orywal (1986), which mentions forty-one different ethnic groups. There is only one entry for the Kurds, although there are four distinct Kurdish dialects in Iran. The Komanchi group is mentioned because research exists on this very small pastoral nomadic group. If there is reference to this group, then the Fars or Persian-speaking language population should be divided into dozens of groups across the various provinces of Khorassan, Golestan, Tehran, Hamadan, Esfahan, Shiraz, Yazd, Kerman and Bandar Abas. A second source is the Atlas d’Iran (Hourcade et al. 1998: 61), which mentions thirty-four ethnic groups in Iran.
