Greater Iran (,
Iran-e Bozorg, ,
Iran-Zamin) refers to the regions of the
Caucasus,
West Asia,
Central Asia, and parts of
South Asia that have significant
Iranian cultural influence due to having been either long historically ruled by the various
Iranian (Persian) empires (such as those of the
Medes,
Achaemenids,
Parthians,
Sassanians,
Samanids,
Safavids, and
Afsharids and the
Qajar Empire), having considerable aspects of Persian culture in their own culture due to extensive contact with the various Empires based in
Persia (e.g., those regions and peoples in the North Caucasus that were not under direct Iranian rule), or are simply nowadays still inhabited by a significant amount of
Iranic-speaking people who patronize their respective cultures (as it goes for the western parts of
South Asia,
Bahrain and
China). It roughly corresponds to the territory on the
Iranian plateau and its bordering
plains. It is also referred to as
Greater Persia, while the
Encyclopædia Iranica uses the term
Iranian Cultural Continent.