Zazas

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Zazas

Geographic distribution of Zaza speakers (darker green) among Iranian speakers[1]
Total population
2 to 3 million[2]
Regions with significant populations
Turkey Diaspora: Approx. 300,000[3] Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States[4][5]
Languages
Zaza, Kurmanji Kurdish,[4] and Turkish
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam (mostly Shafiʽi school but also Hanafism) significant minority Alevism[6]

The Zazas (Zazaki: Zaza, Kırd, Kırmanc, Dımili^[7] or Şarê Ma, 'Our people') are a people in eastern Turkey who traditionally speak the Zaza language, a western Iranian language written in the Latin script. Their heartland consists of Tunceli and Bingöl provinces and parts of Elazığ, Erzincan and Diyarbakır provinces.^[3] Zazas generally^[8] consider themselves Kurds,^{[9][6][10][11]} and are often described as Zaza Kurds by scholars.^{[7][12][13][14][15]}