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The Iranian peoples (sometimes also Iranic peoples) are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples. Their historical areas of settlement were on the Iranian plateau mainly in Iran, certain areas of Central Asia such as Tajikistan, most of Afghanistan, parts of Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan and scattered parts of the Caucasus Mountains. Their current distribution is spread across the Iranian plateau, stretching from the Indus in the east to central Anatolia in the west, and from Central Asia and the Caucasus to the Persian Gulf - a region that is sometimes termed the Iranian cultural continent, or Greater Persia by scholars, representing the extent of the Iranian languages and influence of the Persian People, through the geopolitical reach of the Persian empire. The Iranian group emerges from an earlier Indo-Iranian unity during the Late Bronze Age, and they enter the historical record during the Early Iron Age. The Persians formed the Achaemenid Empire by the 6th century BC, while the Scythians dominated the Eurasian steppe. With numerous artistic, scientific, architectural and philosophical achievements and numerous kingdoms and empires that bridged much of the civilized world in antiquity, the Iranian peoples were often in close contact with the Greeks, Romans, Indians, and Chinese. In addition, the various religions of the Iranian peoples, including Zoroastrianism, Mithraism and Manichaeism, are believed by some scholars to be important early philosophical influences on Christianity and Judaism. Early Iranian tribes are the ancestors of many modern Iranian peoples. |