Talesh County
Talesh County (), also called Tavalesh () is a county in Gilan Province in Iran. The capital of the county is Hashtpar. Geography. The county is subdivided into four districts: the Central District, Asalem District, Haviq District, and Kargan Rud District. The county has five cities: Hashtpar, Lisar, Keshli , Asalem, Chubar, and Haviq. At the 2006 census, the county's population was 200,000, in 50,000 families. Talesh is located on the southwestern coast of the Caspian Sea. Talesh County, covering an area of 2373 square kilometers, is ¼ of surface area of Gilan Province. Talesh County has inland scenic areas  in the Alborz mountain range, with intact natural habitats that are places for appreciating nature. History. The Talysh peoples are, as archaeological studies show, one of the oldest inhabitants of the western littoral Caspian Sea areas, which stretches from Dagestan in the north, to Iran in the south. The Talysh have lived in what are known as "Talysh land" for millennia, and are amongst the native inhabitants of what is today Iran and neighboring Azerbaijan. There is a belief amongst scholars, as well as by the Talysh themselves who generally identify with the Cadusii, that the ancient Cadusii are the  ancestor of the today's Talysh. The lands of the Talesh were much larger than the present day area. In olden times the geographical areas of the Talysh people was more than 10,000 km. At present the Taleshan live in Gilan Province, and some cities in Ardabil Province (Iran) and southeastern Azarbaijan. Culture. Languages. Generally speaking, the land of Talesh has been divided in three regions: Gaskarat (Masalli, Taskoh, Shanderman, Rezvashar, Hashtpar, Asalem, Astara); Foumanat (Fouman, Masoleh, and Shaft); and Azerbaijan Taloshian (Lankaran amongst others). In Gaskarat, the majority of people speak Taleshi and Farsi. In Foumanat, most speak Taleshi . Lastly, Talysh from neighboring Azerbaijan are often bilingual and trilingual, consisting of Taleshi, Azeri and Russian speakers. Gilaki and Taleshi are rapidly losing ground in many cities of Tavalesh due to heavy immigration of people from Azerbaijan. Ethnicities. Sir Arnold Wilson wrote: Religion. Talesh people at present are Sunni and Shia Muslims. Most of the southern and central Taleshian are Shia, and northern Taleshian are composed of both Shia and Sunni. Agriculture. Rice has been cultivated in this region for many years, where some indigenous cultivars (landrace) were conventionally bred by farmers.