What was Iran called before 1935?

Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who referred to all of Iran as Persís meaning "land of the Persians", while Persis was one of the provinces of ancient Iran.

In 1935, Reza Pahlavi requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, Iran. Opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision in 1959, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably. Today, both Iran and Persia are used in cultural contexts, while Iran remains mandatory in official state contexts.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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12 Comments

Brent Chambers

We have Persian friends.....they identify with their past history, pre 1979....

John W Shreve

Jas Newman, Could have been. I didn't kill the animal, I just bought the coat. It's a rough hairy coat.

Helga U. Williams

Persia had such a vast and great history, one would think the country would have liked to stay with that name. 🙄

Jas Newman

John W Shreve, Sounds like karakul, which is lamb rather than goat..

John W Shreve

I used to have a Persian coat made of goat skin. One side was tanned a nice gold and the other side was the hairy outside of the goat. People would ask, "What do you feed it?" It was treated with goat urine and sometimes emitted an odor.

dmarkc

I wonder what the women think about it?

Chris Baz

seane, all of Iran was once Persia, the people were once very westernised, then the “revolution “ now they are oppressed. Very sad. I believed a lot want things the way they were, but it will mean a war and lots of lives lost.

JRW

Brent Chambers, I also have some friends who identify as Persian rather than Iranian

seane

Brent Chambers, Do they live in Iran? I just picture nothing but evil in that country. Very interesting.

Deborah Koreneff

In our first apartment complex in California we met some nice gentlemen who introduced themselves as Persian, at a time when being Iran meant you were pro radical Islam and hated in the US.