page_title: Iranian languages
hierarchical_section_title: Iranian languages
caption_attribution_description: English: Map showing countries, autonomous subdivisions, and other regions where an Iranian language has official status and/or is spoken by a majority. &#160; Countries with an official Iranian language. &#160; Autonomous subdivisions with an official Iranian language. &#160; Regions where an Iranian language is spoken by a majority.
context_page_description: The Iranian or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples.
  The Iranian languages are grouped in three stages: Old Iranian, Middle Iranian, and New Iranian. The two directly attested Old Iranian languages are Old Persian and Old Avestan. Of the Middle Iranian languages, the better understood and recorded ones are Middle Persian, Parthian, and Bactrian.
  As of 2008, there were an estimated 150–200 million native speakers of the Iranian languages. Ethnologue estimates that there are 86 Iranian languages, the largest among them being Persian, Pashto, Kurdish, and the Balochi languages.
context_section_description: The Iranian or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples.
  The Iranian languages are grouped in three stages: Old Iranian (until 400 BC), Middle Iranian (400 BC – 900 AD), and New Iranian (since 900 AD). The two directly attested Old Iranian languages are Old Persian (from the Achaemenid Empire) and Old Avestan (the language of the Avesta). Of the Middle Iranian languages, the better understood and recorded ones are Middle Persian (from the Sasanian Empire), Parthian (from the Parthian Empire), and Bactrian (from the Kushan and Hephthalite empires).
  As of 2008, there were an estimated 150–200 million native speakers of the Iranian languages. Ethnologue estimates that there are 86 Iranian languages, the largest among them being Persian, Pashto, Kurdish, and the Balochi languages.
caption: Countries and areas where an Iranian language has official status or is spoken by a majority
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