Chapter 3: Religion and Ethnicity in Tehran

In the previous post (chapter 2), we presented Tehran's population age and sex structure, and development over time. Chapter 3 will now turn to the subject of the Iranian capital's ethnic and religious composition and the different groups' distribution over the city.


Figure 1: Religious and ethnic composition of Tehran
(own illustr. source: Tehran statistical yearbook  2011-2012)

As the capital of an Islamic country, 99% of Tehran population is composed of Muslims. However, one should take into account that if you have Muslim parents, you born as Muslim andthe Government does not ensure the right of citizens to change or renounce their religious faith. The other 1% of the population consisted of Christians, Jews and zarathustrianism. These religious groups are tend to live in clusters around the churches, fire temples and synagogues. They are mostly well-off parts of the society living in upper-middle class neighbourhoods of the city.

With its cosmopolitan atmosphere, Tehran is home to diverse ethnic and linguistic groups from all over the country. The native language of the city is the Tehrani accent of Persian and the majority of people in Tehran identify themselves as Persian. Minority groups include Azeri, Kurds, Arabs, Baluch, Armenians, Bakhtiari, Assyrians, Talysh, and more.
 




Figue 2: Diversity in Tehran (own illustration)
(source: Tehran statistical yearbook 2011-2012)

 According to a 2010 census conducted by the Sociology Department of Tehran University in many districts of Tehran across various socio-economic classes in proportion to population sizes of each district and socio-economic class, 63% of people in Tehran were born in Tehran, 98% know Persian, 75% identify themselves as ethnic Persian, and 13% have some degree of proficiency in a European language.

 

Figure 3: Religious and ethnic spatial distribution in Tehran
(source: Tehran statistical yearbook 2011-2012)

Source:
- Statistical centre of Iran
- Tehran statistical yearbook 2011-2012

>> Go to Chapter 4 on Population Density and Polarization in Tehran !