Persia or Iran? Farsi or Persian? Which one is right?

The country of Iran used to be called Persia. Who changed its name and why? Also is the language of Iran Persian or Farsi? Is it okay to say "Persian"? Where do the words "Persian" and "Farsi" come from?

I answer all these questions in this video.

EDIT: Many Iranians are discovering this video (Welcome! Khosh amadid!), and some are upset by what I say here. I recommend they read this piece by Ehsan Yarshater, a distinguished scholar of Persian/Iranian history:

N.B.: Don't think that because some Iranians/Persians in the comments are objecting to the terms "Persia" and "Persian", that that represents all people of Iran or of Persian culture. Many Persians would prefer that Westerners use the term "Persian." Some prominent ones are named in the short article linked above, and I have also known Persians in my daily life who expressed this view. When Reza Shah issued that request to foreign governments in 1934, he created an unnecessary complication that makes it more difficult for foreigners to get to know and understand the Persian people.

Sources for my claim that Reza Shah's request was a 'marketing gimmick':

"The most visible name change came in 1934 when Reza Shah -- prompted by his legation in Berlin -- decreed that henceforth Persia was to be known to the outside world as Iran. A government circular explained that whereas "Persia" was associated with Fars and Qajar decadence, "Iran" invoked the glories and birthplace of the ancient Aryans."
Ervand Abrahamian, A History of Modern Iran (Cambridge, 2009), page 86

"In terms of foreign policy, Reza Shah was determined to maintain Iran's independence and to restore its sense of national pride by elevating its stature in the world and insisting it be treated with respect. This was the motivation behind any number of his actions, from insisting on the use of the name Iran instead of Persia to banning photographs of things that were picturesque but might give an impression of backwardness (camels, for example) to breaking off diplomatic relations with countries if its newspapers published unflattering articles about him or his country."
Elton L. Daniel, The History of Iran (Greenwood Press, 2001), pages 139-140

[patrickdegenaar]

Ah... So it is like "Holland" and "The Netherlands" - Holland is the province that united the Netherlands in its war of independence against Spain. Thus everyone calls it Holland. The language evolution explanation was also great! Excellent video!!!

[wrsmdrl]

At the end you say "I hope that cleared the confusion". I didn't even have the doubt to begin with. I just like your videos, your style, and your knowledge. Thank you very much for explaining interesting things with pragmatism and respect. ❤ 🎉

[bahramkaviyani]

Persia was a better name. Because the whole world knows that Persia is a very historical country, which the whole world knows as the Persian Empire, but unfortunately, many people in the world do not know that Iran is the same as Persia, and they consider Iran a weak and new country.

[thenearsend]

Compare "Burma" vs "Myanmar", "Thailand" vs "Siam", "Ceylon" vs "Sri Lanka". There are plenty examples of this sort of naming confusion

[siyavashebrahimian]

I as Iranian always call/introduce my native language "Persian". Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, part of Iraq, part of Pakistan, part of Uzbekistan, part of central Asia & Euro-Asia speak Persian.

[rolloxra]

This channel is criminally underrated, excellent pronunciation in Chinese, German and Spanish btw

[persianguy]

Im Iranians and I call it Persian in English and Parsi in Persian.
Furthermore, most Iranians are Persian at around 75-80%, including Luris, bakhtiaris, mazandaranis, gilakis as well as many Persianized Azeris and other groups who consider themselves Persian today and are assimilated. Both Iran and Persia can be used as they’re correct.

[amirsahaf]

As an Iranian I approve this video. Very accurate description and on point 👌

[farvahar_]

The reason Reza Shah changed the name of Iran from Persia to Iran. It was NOT a "marketing gimmick"! One of his reasons was, since there are different none Persian people, such as Azari, baloch, Kurds, etc., who they might speak a different language or a different Persian dialects, they would not feel included. Calling a country only based part of her ethnic group, is exclusive and would seem to be discriminatorily to none-Persian. Secondly, and maybe more important, the name Iran and Iranian people in general has a broader meaning which defines a much larger and extensive borders, people and territories. Iran in the native Iranian language(Persian) means Land Of Aryan. We in terms of Iranian history, refer to "Iran" as the current country, and "Iran Bozorg", meaning the great Iran, which covers much more territories and people who belong to "Iranian" family. Who share "Iranian" civilization, culture, language, history, traditions. In other words, Iranian civilization, culture, language, history, traditions are not limited only to current country of Iran.

Darius inscription in Naqsh e Rostam
I am Darius the great king, king of kings, king of countries containing all kinds of men, king in this great earth far and wide, son of Hystaspes, an Achaemenid, a Persian, son of a Persian, an Aryan, having Aryan lineage.

See Xerxes inscription in Persepolis:
2. I am Xerxes, the great king, king of kings, king of countries containing many kinds of men, king in this great earth far and wide, son of king Darius, an Achaemenian, a Persian, son of a Persian, an Aryan, of Aryan stock.

PS. Fars/Farsi, is Arabized version of Pars/Parsi which has entered into Persian language. That's since Arabs can not pronounce the letter "P". For instance they say "Bebsi" instead of "Pepsi". Some example of Arabized Persian words in which P becomes either F or B, Horse=Asp=>Asb, Pirooz=>Firooz, Elephant=Pil=>Fil, Papak=>Babak

[pouya]

Nice Video :) Thank you for showcasing my country.

[ehsanmousawi]

Actually during the sassanid dynasty they called iran eranshahr so the name has historical routs all the way back to the ancient times

[the_realtajgames]

I am tajik and from what I have observed, mostly the reason for calling the language Farsi is to differentiate it from the other dialects of Persian.
So for example,
Iran's dialect of Persian is called Farsi.
Tajikistan's dialect of Persian is called Tajik [Tojiki]
and Afghanistan's is called Dari.

So we usually use Parsi to mean ALL the dialects of the language.
We even tend to say Afghani when we mean Dari (in the sense of Afghani-Persian).
And sometimes, even say Irani when we mean Iranian Persian [Farsi] .

[Seekthetruth]

When Arab Muslims invaded Persia, they pronounced Parsi " Farsi " because there is no letter P in the Arabic alphabet. Good video.

[mortache]

Persia was an exonym, Greeks named the states after the capitals (like Athens etc) and they did the same with their neighbor. But they have always called themselves Eranshahr i.e land of the Aryans

[Spahbed]

Nice video, one thing I would say though is that Pars / Parsi is still used in Modern Persian too. But Fars / Farsi is more commonly used.

[NDanesh]

Good points.
There is no P in arabic language. Instead they use either F or B.
In general, there is no arabic letter for the following 4 persian letters
گ چ پ ژ
read from right to left.
Where they sound like G, Ch, P, and for ژ something between G and J.

[just.a_random_dude]

5:53 yeah we don't really care which one you say as long as you know we don't speak Arabic you're all good

[jahanshahjavid]

This is the best explanation of the Iran/Persia thing I've heard. By the way, you could have added another interesting point that the reason the language is called "Farsi" in Iran today is because after the Arab conquest in the 7th century, Ps in many Persian words turned to Fs because there is no P in the Arabic alphabet. So Parsi became... Farsi. I enjoy your programs very much and learn a lot. Thank you.

[yjkind]

I’m Iranian and Persian. My partner is Iranian, but not Persian. She is Iranian and Kurdish. We both speak Persian to each other, the official language of our country, Iran. Really not that complicated …

[-haclong]

My view is that it's like calling the U.K. (Iran) as England (Persia). English isn't called the "British language".

Though I've seen Iranians hate the term "Farsi" because the F-sound was brought in by Arabs and that a lot of people use the term "Parsi" and want to continue using the term Persian in English.