What is the difference between Persia and Iran?
What is exactly the difference between Iran and Persia? This is the number one question westerners ask when they realise you are from Iran. Given to the whole lots of politics and media thing these days, Iranians living abroad have a common observation. Western people have a much better image towards Persia than Iran, but why is that? And what is the exact difference between Iran and Persia?
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The formal name of the country is Iran nowadays, but it wasn’t the same in the past
Firstly, let’s make it clear that both words actually mean the same thing. Actually both terms have been using interchangeably since the ancient time to refer to the name of the country in Asia. The main difference is Persia is a much more common world for non-local people, let’s say Europeans. Whereas Iran is more popular within the country itself. I need to add, within 20th century, during Pahlavi’s time the Iranian foreign minister formally asked the other countries to use “Iran” as the formal name of the country. For this reason, and probably unconsciously, the terms “Persia” and “Persian” reminds the glory of ancient Persia, whereas the word “Iran” does not have such connotation.
“Persian” and “Persia” refering to the start of the country
Getting back to the origins of both names, the word “Persia” is ander name for the country. When Cyrus the great set his empire 2600 years ago, -the first Persian empire or Achaemenid dynasty- people called it Persia. On those days the term “Iran” was more of a religious or cultural term using by local people to describe themselves. Iran literally means the land of Ir (Aryan )people. Aryan people were including ancient Persians, Medes and a whole lots of other tribes that been living in the area. “Ir” was the main characteristics of these people, which means being humble, brave and followers of the truth in their life.
Little by little and from Sassanid dynasty (1800 years ago), the word “Iran” became the political name of the country as well. A name that continued to date same as Persia.
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