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Azerbaijanis (; (アゼルバイジャン語:Azərbaycanlılar), آذربایجانلیلار) or Azeris are a Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Iranian region of Azerbaijan and the independent Republic of Azerbaijan. They are predominantly Shi'i Muslims, and have a mixed cultural heritage, including Iranian,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Azerbaijan )〕 Turkic〔 and Caucasian elements. They comprise the largest ethnic group in Azerbaijan and by far the second-largest ethnic group in neighbouring Iran.〔Brenda Shaffer. (''The Limits of Culture: Islam and Foreign Policy'' MIT Press, 2006 ISBN 0262195291 p 229 )〕 The world's largest number of ethnic Azerbaijanis furthermore live in Iran followed by the Azerbaijan Republic. They are also referred to as "Azerbaijani Turks" (''Azərbaycan Türkləri''). Following the Russo-Persian Wars of 1804–13 and 1826–28, the territories of the Iranian Qajar dynasty in the Caucasus were forcefully ceded to the Russian Empire and the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813 and the Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828 finalized the borders between the Russian Empire and Qajar Iran. The areas to the north of the river Aras, including the territory of the contemporary Republic of Azerbaijan, were Iranian territory until they were occupied by Russia over the course of the 19th century. The Russo-Persian Wars of the 19th century settled the modern-day boundary of Iran, stripping it of all its Caucasian territories and incorporating them into the Russian Empire. The eventual formation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918 established the territory of modern Azerbaijan. As a direct result of Qajar Iran's forced ceding to Russia, the Azerbaijanis are nowadays parted between two nations: Iran and Azerbaijan.〔Swietochowski, Tadeusz. (''Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia 2003'' ) Taylor and Francis, 2003. ISBN 1857431375 p 104〕 Despite living on two sides of an international border, the Azeris form a single ethnic group.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Azerbaijani (people) )〕 However, northerners and southerners differ due to nearly two centuries of separate social evolution of Iranian Azerbaijanis and those in the Russian/Soviet-influenced Azerbaijan SSR. The Azerbaijani language unifies Azeris and is mutually intelligible with Turkmen, Qashqai, Gagauz, Turkish, and the dialects spoken by Iraqi Turkmens, all of which are Oghuz languages belonging to the Turkic family. ==History of Azerbaijan== Azerbaijan is believed to be named after ''Atropates'', a Persian satrap (governor) who ruled in ''Atropatene'' (modern Iranian Azerbaijan). The name Atropates means "protected by fire". An alternative theory is that ''Azerbaijan'' is the combination of two Persian words, "Āzar" meaning "(holy) fire" and "pāygān" meaning "the place of".〔 Ancient residents of the area spoke the Ancient Azari language, which belonged to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. In the 11th century A.D. with Seljukid conquests, Oghuz Turkic tribes started moving across the Iranian plateau into the Caucasus and Anatolia. The influx of the Oghuz and other Turkmen tribes was further accentuated by the Mongol invasion. Here, the Oghuz tribes divided into various smaller groups, some of whom – mostly Sunni – moved to Anatolia (i.e., the later Ottomans) and became settled, while others remained in the Caucasus region and later – due to the influence of the Safaviyya – eventually converted to the Shia branch of Islam. The latter were to keep the name "Turkmen" or "Turcoman" for a long time: from the 13th century onwards they gradually Turkified the Iranian-speaking populations of Azerbaijan, both the contemporary Republic and Iranian Azerbaijan, thus creating a new identity based on Shia and the use of Oghuz Turkic. Today, this Turkic-speaking population is known as Azerbaijani. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Azerbaijanis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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