Persia has been an empire, a regional cultural and military power, a nation, and a language (Persian). Iran is now the official name for the country once known as Persia. In the 1930s, Reza Shah asked the world to call Persia by its indigenous name, Iran.

In Iran, the most prominent language is Farsi, although there are many minority tongues. With all of the activity surrounding Iran and its foreign policy these days, it’s a good idea to know something about the history of the language, which in turn can help anyone involved with Farsi to English translation understand the region better.

Farsi and its related languages (Indo-Iranian languages) have been around for an awfully long time. Farsi, or Persian, is spoken in Iran, of course, as well as parts of Afghanistan and in Tajikistan. Farsi to English translation has become an important field in relation to international commerce and global diplomacy.

The Persian language (Farsi) has gone through many stages, from Old Persian and Middle Persian to Classical Persian and its modern form. When Persia officially became Iran (oddly enough, with some influence from Nazi Germany), it came as a shock to many who didn’t really see a need for a change. Farsi is the homegrown name for the language, which comes from the people who speak it — much in the same way someone speaking in English might refer to Spanish as ‘Español.’

The official changes came in 1935. People might prefer to be identified as either Persian or Iranian for a variety of reason, ranging from their political beliefs, location (inside or outside of Iran), time of emigration, ethnic background (Kurdish, Iranian Azerbaijani or something else), as well as their relationship to the cultural and political situation in modern-day Iran.

The important thing is to remember that Iran used to be Persia, and Farsi and Persian are the same language. To learn more about Farsi translation, check out our Farsi language pages.