Editing Demographics of Iran (section)

==== Autosomal DNA ====
A large-scale genetic analyses on various [[ethnic groups of Iran]], published in 2019, found that genetically speaking different Iranian ethnic groups, such as [[Persians]], [[Kurds]], [[Azerbaijanis]], [[Lurs]], [[Mazanderanis]], [[Gilaks]] and [[Arabs]], cluster tightly together, forming a single cluster known as the "CIC" (Central Iranian cluster). Compared with worldwide populations, Iranians (CIC) cluster in the center of the wider West Eurasian cluster, close to Europeans, Middle Easterners, and South-Central Asians. Iranian Arabs and [[Turkic languages|Turkic-speaking]] Azeris genetically overlap with [[Iranian languages|Iranian-speaking]] peoples such as Persians. The genetic substructure of Iranians was found to be low, compared with other "1000G" populations. Iranians display their highest genetic affinity with other Southwest and West Asian populations, followed by Europeans and Central Asian groups. Certain South Asians (specifically the [[Parsis|Parsi]] minority) showed the highest affinity with Iranians, inline with their ethnic history. Overall, the study results suggest that the genetic makeup of the Iranian gene pool formed already about 5,000 years ago and shows high continuity since then, suggesting that they were largely unaffected by migration events from outside groups. On a global scale, Iranians display their highest affinity with other "West Eurasian" populations (such as Europeans or South Asians, but also [[Latin Americans]]), while Sub-Saharan Africans and East Asians showed large degrees of differentiation with Iranians.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mehrjoo |first1=Zohreh |last2=Fattahi |first2=Zohreh |last3=Beheshtian |first3=Maryam |last4=Mohseni |first4=Marzieh |last5=Poustchi |first5=Hossein |last6=Ardalani |first6=Fariba |last7=Jalalvand |first7=Khadijeh |last8=Arzhangi |first8=Sanaz |last9=Mohammadi |first9=Zahra |last10=Khoshbakht |first10=Shahrouz |last11=Najafi |first11=Farid |date=24 September 2019 |title=Distinct genetic variation and heterogeneity of the Iranian population |journal=PLOS Genetics |volume=15 |issue=9 |pages=e1008385 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1008385 |pmc=6759149 |pmid=31550250 |quote=Seven groups (Iranian Arabs, Azeris, Gilaks, Kurds, Mazanderanis, Lurs and Persians) strongly overlapped in their overall autosomal diversity in an MDS analysis (Fig 1B), suggesting the existence of a Central Iranian Cluster (CIC), notably also including Iranian Arabs and Azeris. On a global scale (Fig 2 including 'Old World' populations only; see S2 Fig for all 1000G populations), CIC Iranians closely clustered with Europeans, while Iranian Turkmen showed similar yet distinct degrees of admixture compared to other South Asians. A local comparison corroborated the distinct genetic diversity of CIC Iranians relative to other geographically close populations [2, 6, 44] (Fig 3 and S3 Fig). Still, genetic substructure was much smaller among Iranian groups than in relation to any of the 1000G populations, supporting the view that the CIC groups form a distinct genetic entity, despite internal heterogeneity. European (FST~0.0105–0.0294), South Asians (FST~0.0141–0.0338), but also some Latin American populations (Puerto Ricans: FST~0.0153–0.0228; Colombians: FST~0.0170–0.0261) were closest to Iranians, whereas Sub-Saharan Africans and admixed Afro-Americans (FST~0.0764–0.1424) as well as East Asians (FST ~ 0.0645–0.1055) showed large degrees of differentiation with Iranians. |doi-access=free}}</ref>