Words R Us
- Persian Farsi (fas)

Persian is an important language of the Middle East and Central Asia. It is known as Farsi in Iran, Dari in Afghanistan and Tajik in Tajikistan. It has about 62 million native speakers, ranking it among the world's 20 most widely spoken first languages; another 50 million or more speak it as a second language.

Apart from a few basics of vocabulary, there is little difference between formal written Persian of Afghanistan and Iran; the languages are mutually intelligible. Persian is not related to Arabic, though it is written in a variety of the same alphabet. Its relatives are the languages of northern India and, more distantly, the major European languages including English.

Studying Persian provides an entry into a rich and diverse culture that produced major epic and Sufi poets such as Ferdowsi, Rumi and Hafez, exquisite miniature painting, fine carpets and world-class films. Since Persian has not changed significantly in over a millennium, the basic grammar for the classical and modern forms of the language is virtually the same and is relatively easy to learn.

The Joshua Project lists the Persian speakers as almost entirely Islamic with about 2% Christians. About 85% of the Persian speakers are literate with 10% listed as absolutely illiterate by World Literacy Foundation.

Sources:
Brittanica Encyclopedia
Omniglot
The Joshua Project