16 May 2017

The CIA World Fact Book mentions the Talysh as an ethnic group comprising 1.3 per cent of the population in Azerbaijan (CIA, last updated 12 January 2017). The Jamestown Foundation describes the Talysh in a February 2015 article as speakers of an Iranian dialect who follow Shiism and number approximately 100,000 in Azerbaijan (Jamestown Foundation, 3 February 2015). The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) writes in its Alternative Report to CEDAW in 2015 that “the Talysh community is predominantly located in the South of Azerbaijan, as well as the Northwest of Iran” and puts the total number of Talysh in Azerbaijan and Iran at approximately 540,000 (according to an official census). UNPO adds that the minority group itself claims the total number to be 1 million persons (UNPO, 2015, p. 4). According to an April 2017 article published by Meydan TV, the 2009 population census indicates that around 112,000 Talysh live in Azerbaijan, “though many Talysh do not agree with the numbers and assert that there are many more of them”. The same article notes that the Talysh in Azerbaijan are “largely concentrated in Lankaran, Astara, Masally, Lerik, and Bilasuvar Districts” (Meydan TV, 18 April 2017).