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Lors
Lori traditional attire
Total population
2,600,000
Regions with significant populations
Iran 2,600,000 [1]
Language(s)
Lori, Persian
Religion(s)
Shi'a Islam
Related ethnic groups
Other Persians, Mazandaranis, Gilakis, Kurds, and other Iranian groups.

Lors (also Lurs, Persian:لر) are an branch of Persian peoples living mostly in south-western Iran. Contrary to common belief, Lors are in fact Persian. Lori people mostly speak in Lori which is is a Persian dialect related to the Old Pahlavi (Middle Persian) language.

Lors primarily inhabit the province of Lorestan, Khuzestan, Hamadan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Isfahan and Ilam of Iran and speak Luri language.

Like most Iranians, Lors are a mixture of indigenous inhabitants of the Zagros and Iranian speaking tribes migrating from Central Asia. Their language, called Lori, is closely related to regular Persian, and there are two distinct dialects of this language. Lor-e-Bozorg (Greater Lor), which is spoken by the Bakhtiaris (mainly in Khuzestan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari), parts of Lorestan, and parts of Isfahan and Lor-e-Koochik (Lesser Lor), spoken by the Lors themselves (mainly in Lorestan. The overwhelming majority of Lors are Shia Muslims. In Khuzestan, Lor tribes are primarily concentrated in the northern part of the province, while in Ilam they are mainly in the southern region.

Prior to the 20th century the majority of Lors were nomadic herders, with an urban minority residing in the city of Khorramabad. There were several attempts by the Pahlavi governments to forcibly settle the nomadic segment of the Lor population. Under Reza Shah, these campaigns tended to be unsuccessful. The last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, used less forceful methods along with economic incentives, which met with greater, though not complete, success. By the mid-1980s the vast majority of Lors had been settled in towns and villages throughout the province, or had migrated to the major urban centres.

A number of nomadic Lor tribes continue to exist in the province. Amongst the settled urban populace the authority of tribal elders still remains a strong influence, though not as dominant as it is amongst the nomads. As in Bakhtiari and Kurdish societies, Lor women have had much greater freedoms than women in other Iranian groups.

See Lorestan Province#People and culture for details.

Traditional Luri Music (Mehrdad Hedayati)

Encyclopedia Britanica's Entry on Lurs

v • d • e Ethnic groups in Iran
Major:  Persians (53%-72%)[Lors - 2%) • Azeris (24%) • Guilaki and Mazandarani (8%) • Kurds (7%) • Arabs (3%) • Baloch (2%) • Turkmens (2%) Minor (1%):  Qashqai • Armenians • Persian Jews • Georgians • Assyrians • Circassians • Talysh • Tats • Pashtuns