Persians in North America

Some may be familiar with the name Cyrus the Great. He was the first leader of the people who would come to be called Persians when he led a revolt against the Medes to create their own empire. They eventually came to settle in what is Iran. Their country was known as Persia until 1979, when the Pahlavi dynasty fell and the Islamic Republic of Iran was established. Persians have strong family ties extending beyond the nuclear family unit. They have traditions that cover their worship behaviors, their social behaviors, and their decision-making behaviors. Farsi, also known as Persian, is the language of the people. There have been two main waves of immigration to North America. The first was in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution, and the second was during the war with Iraq in the 1980s. Although many in the diaspora have left Iran because of the political situation, the economic instability due to international sanctions and domestic corruption has also motivated the desire to leave the country. Rising inflation and a lack of hope for improvement have led tens of thousands of Iranians to emigrate yearly.
There are nearly 600,000 Persians in North America today, with Los Angeles having the largest population. Los Angeles and Toronto have neighborhoods with high concentrations of Persians that are known as “Tehrangeles” or “Tehranto” respectively. Other significant populations live in Washington, DC, New York, and San Francisco. Persian immigrants typically have good English language skills allowing them to adapt and integrate more quickly into life in North America than some other immigrant populations.

Religious Life
The state religion in Iran is Shi’ite and influences the government, social life, and family life in Iran. They believe that the dominant Sunni stream of Islam disregarded the Prophet’s desire that Ali, the Prophet’s son-in-law, and His son Hussein, who was martyred, were the rightful inheritors of the Prophet’s mantle of leadership. Hussein’s descendants continued to lead the small Shi’ite community for the next two centuries through a successive series of Imams, culminating in the Twelfth Imam. This Twelfth Imam mysteriously disappeared. According to Shi’ite doctrine, this enigmatic Twelfth Imam is the Mahdi (“the messianic guided one”), who is not really dead but is hidden. Hussein’s “martyrdom” and the doctrine of an imminent return of a messianic Mahdi who will restore a righteous world order has become ingrained into the national consciousness of Shi’ite Iranians.
In North America, the Persians are more diverse in religion and practice than in Iran. Persian Muslims in North America are not as involved in mosques and other practices of the faith. Of the minority religions in Iran, Zoroastrian, Baha’i, and Jewish each have a larger population in North America than in Iran.
These are the Persian communities in North America most in need of gospel witness
People Group | Metropolitan Area | Population Size | Concentrated Area | Priority Score |
---|---|---|---|---|
Persian | Los Angeles | 127,713 | Tehrangeles | 43 |
Persian | Toronto | 88,195 | North York | 40 |
Persian | New York | 30,520 | Great Neck (Long Island) | 33 |
Persian | Miami | 6,085 | Doral | 32 |
Persian | Ottawa | 8,185 | Bayshore | 32 |
Persian | Boston | 7,746 | Malden | 29 |
Persian | Washington D.C. | 30,426 | Tysons Corner | 26 |
Persian | San Francisco | 50,170 | San Mateo | 25 |
Persian | Montreal | 23,705 | Notre Dame de Grâce | 24 |
Persian | Chicago | 10,193 | Lincolnwood | 23 |
Persian | Vancouver | 45,815 | West Vancouver | 23 |
Persian | Calgary | 6,385 | Sunalta | 22 |
Persian | Portland | 6,672 | Pearl District | 22 |
Persian | Dallas Fort Worth | 13,939 | Plano | 21 |
Persian | Houston | 14,742 | Woodlake/Briar Meadow | 21 |
Persian | San Diego | 19,882 | La Jolla | 21 |
Persian | Philadelphia | 5,760 | Gladwyne | 20 |
Persian | Phoenix | 5,479 | Scottsdale | 20 |
Persian | Sacramento | 8,100 | El Dorado Hills | 17 |
Persian | Seattle | 12,287 | Bellevue | 16 |
Persian | Atlanta | 9,429 | Cobb | 10 |