Gilaks (Gilaki: گيلٚکٚاٚٓن) are an Iranian people native to south of Caspian sea. They form one of the main ethnic groups residing in the northern parts of Iran. Gilak people, along with the closely related Mazandarani people, make up part of the Caspian people, who inhabit the southern and southwestern coastal regions of the Caspian Sea.
They all speak the Gilaki language as their first language, part of the Caspian languages, one that is closely related to Mazandarani.
Ethnic groups in the Middle East are ethnolinguistic groupings in the "transcontinental" region that is commonly a geopolitical term designating the intercontinental region comprising West Asia (including Cyprus) without the South Caucasus, and also comprising Egypt in North Africa. The Middle East has historically been a crossroad of different cultures and languages. Since the 1960s, the changes in political and economic factors (especially the enormous oil wealth in the region and conflicts) have significantly altered the ethnic composition of groups in the region. While some ethnic groups have been present in the region for millennia, others have arrived fairly recently through immigration. The largest ethnic groups in the region are Arabs, Turks, Persians, Kurds, and Azerbaijanis but there are dozens of other ethnic groups that have hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions of members.
Other indigenous, religious, or minority ethnic groups include: Antiochians, Armenians, Assyrians, Arameans in the Qalamoun Mountains, Baloch, Copts, Druze, Gilaks, Greeks (including Cypriots and Pontians), Jews, Kawliya, Laz, Lurs, Mandaeans, Maronites, Mazanderanis, Mhallami, Nawar, Samaritans, Shabaks, Talysh, Tats, Yazidis and Zazas.
View the full Wikipedia page for Ethnic groups in the Middle EastGilaki (گیلٚکي زٚوؤن romanized: Gilɵki Zɵvon) is an Iranian language belonging to the Caspian subgroup of the Northwestern branch, spoken in south of Caspian Sea by Gilak people. Gilaki is closely related to Mazandarani. The two languages of Gilaki and Mazandarani have similar vocabularies. The Gilaki and Mazandarani languages (but not other Iranian languages) share certain typological features with Caucasian languages (specifically Kartvelian languages), reflecting the history, ethnic identity, and close relatedness to the Caucasus region and Caucasian peoples of the Gilak people and Mazandarani people.
View the full Wikipedia page for Gilaki languageAsfar ibn Shiruya (Gilaki/Persian: اسفار بن شیرویه: died 931) was an Iranian military leader of Gilaki origin, active in northern Iran (esp. Tabaristan and Jibal) in the early 10th century. He played a major role in the succession disputes of the Alids of Tabaristan, and managed to establish himself as the ruler of Tabaristan and northern Jibal briefly from 928 to 930.
View the full Wikipedia page for Asfar ibn Shiruya