Zaza people

Zazas

Geographic distribution of Zaza speakers (darker green) among Iranian speakers[1]
Total population
2 to 3 million[2]
Regions with significant populations
Turkey Diaspora: Approx. 300,000[3] Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States[4][5]
Languages
Zaza, Kurmanji Kurdish,[4] and Turkish
Religion
Predominantly Alevism and minority Sunni Islam[6] and Hanafism

The Zazas (also known as Kird, Kirmanc or Dimili)^[7] are an Iranian people in eastern Turkey who traditionally speak the Zaza language, a western Iranian language written in the Latin script. Their heartland consists of Tunceli and Bingöl provinces and parts of Elazığ, Erzincan and Diyarbakır provinces.^[3]

Following the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, many intellectual minorities, including Zazas, emigrated from Turkey towards Europe, Australia and the United States. The largest part of the Zaza diaspora is in Europe, predominantly in Germany.^[5]

1. ↑ Gippert 1999.
2. ↑ Endangered Language Alliance.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Asatrian (1995).
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Ziflioğlu (2011).
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Arakelova (1999), p. 400.
6. ↑ Kehl-Bodrogi, Otter-Beaujean & Kellner-Heikele (1997), p. 13.
7. ↑ Malmîsanij (1996), p. 1.