Norwegian-Iranians (also known as Iranian Norwegians; fa, ایرانیان نروژی, no, Norsk-iranere) are
Norwegians
Norwegians ( no, nordmenn) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians are descended from the N ...
of
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
ian
descent
Descent may refer to:
As a noun Genealogy and inheritance
* Common descent, concept in evolutionary biology
* Kinship, one of the major concepts of cultural anthropology
**Pedigree chart or family tree
**Ancestry
**Lineal descendant
**Heritage (d ...
. The first wave of Norwegian-Iranians migrated to Norway as a direct consequence of the political instability that followed the
Islamic revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
in 1979. The political climate has since forced many others to seek refuge in Norway.
The majority of Norwegian-Iranians are ethnic Persians, with sizeable ethnic minorities being Iranian Azerbaijanis, Kurd-Iranians, Arab-Iranians, Northern Iranians (Gilak & Mazandarani) and Kermanshahi Kurds and Lurs.
Background
The history of Norwegian-Iranians began in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution. During the 1950s and '60s, Iran had been experiencing a process of Westernization due to a Western-influenced
monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...
led by the Pahlavi dynasty. This led to public discontent, and along with the increasingly authoritarian regime, massive protests erupted which, in the end, resulted in the overthrow of the
shah
Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
and the establishment of the
Islamic Republic
The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a theoretical form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been u ...
.
Immediately after the revolution, the new regime completely shut down the higher educational system in order to overhaul and Islamicize it. During this process, many students and faculty were purged, initiating the first wave of the brain drain. Many of these fled to the USA and, partially, to Europe, including Norway. Generally, the years toward the end of the 8-yearlasting post Islamic revolution war between Iraq and Iran around 1985–1987 some Persians refugees started settling in Norway.
According to at least one source, Iran had no significant emigration or brain drain to wealthier countries before the
Islamic Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
.Ebadi, Shirin, ''Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope'' by Shirin Ebadi with Azadeh Moaveni, Random House, 2006, p.78–79 Emigration from Iran is said by one source to have started in earnest with conscription for the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...
. The Islamic government's need for fresh troops and the high mortality rate of those troops led to the flight of draft-age Iranian men to other countries, including Scandinavia.
Politics
Many Norwegian-Iranians have experienced successful political careers, in many different political parties, across the political spectrum. Reza Rezaee was a member of the
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
City Council for the far-left party
Red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
. until his death in 2022.
Mazyar Keshvari
Mazyar Keshvari ( fa, مازیار کشوری; born 5 March 1981) is an Norwegians with Iranian background, Iranian-born Norway, Norwegian former politician for the Progress Party (Norway), Progress Party and a convicted felon who is serving two ...
was a deputy member of parliament for the Progress Party and also sat on the Oslo City Council; he is an outspoken activist for human rights in Iran.
Masud Gharahkhani
Masud Gharahkhani ( fa, مسعود قرهخانی; born 22 September 1982) is a Norwegian politician who has served as the President of the Storting since 2021, and as an Member of the Storting for Buskerud since 2017 for the Labour Party.
E ...
is a key politician for the Labour Party, and was candidate for becoming the first non-Western mayor of a Norwegian town in 2011 but lost in the election. Gharahkani became a member of the Norwegian parliament,
Storting
The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...
, in 2017 and served as its president (speaker) from november 2021. His father Bijan is a notable Labour Union activist. Another Labour party politician, Farahnaz Bahrami, who fled Iran in 1990, became a Norwegian citizen in 1997 and was elected deputy member of parliament for
Hedmark
Hedmark () was a county in Norway before 1 January 2020, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar.
Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged i ...
county in the period 2009-2013.
Media and entertainment
During the
2012 Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song " Running Scared" by the duo Ell & Nikki. It was the first time Azer ...
, Norway voted singer Touraj "Tooji" Keshktar all the way to the European finals. Model and actress
Negar Khan
Negar Khan (born 18 July 1984; also credited as Nigar Khan) is an Iranian-born Norwegian actress. She is best known for her Bollywood item songs and film work.
Personal life
Khan is fluent in the Persian, Azeri, Norwegian, English and Urdu lan ...
became a notable celebrity after appearing in the Norwegian version of reality TV-series
Paradise Hotel
''Paradise Hotel'' is an American reality television program. In the show, a group of singles live in a luxurious hotel resort, competing to see who can stay in the hotel the longest. Each week, the contestants pair off into couples, and must sh ...
, while former
Miss Norway
Miss Norway (formerly known as "Frøken Norge") is a national beauty pageant in Norway The pageant was founded in 1950, where the winners were sent to Miss Universe.
History
Miss Norway was held for first time in 1950 by Dagbladet Magazine. T ...
pageant
Aylar Lie
Aylar Dianati Lie ( fa, آیلار دیانتی لی; born 12 February 1984) is an Iranian-Norwegian actress, model, singer and former pornographic actress. She has worked as a music video actress and singer, appearing in several of Swedish DJ Ba ...
(née Sharareh Dianati) has long been a famous artist, glamor-model and actress on Norwegian screens. In the news media, journalist Mina Ghabel Lunde worked for several years as a reporter for the
Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation
NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...
Physician and neuroscientist Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam is a medical researcher and human rights activist, as well as co-founder of the
Iran Human Rights
Iran Human Rights (IHR) (Persian language, Persian: سازمان حقوق بشر ایران) is a nonprofit organization, non-profit international non-governmental organization focused on human rights in Iran. Founded in 2005, it is a non-partisa ...
foundation which monitors human rights violations in Iran, amongst his achievements are: His Majesty the King's Gold medal for the best medical PhD at the University of Oslo,
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
Norway’s human rights prize 2007 and Anders Jahre’s medical prize for young investigators 2008.
Notable Norwegian-Iranians
See also
*
Iranian diaspora
Iranian diaspora refers to Iranian people or those who are of Iranian ancestry living outside Iran.Iranian diaspora
Norwegian people of Iranian descent
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
*Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
*Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including the ...