According to the official statistics issued by the Iranian authorities the Shahsavan tribe is Iran’s third largest as far the size of the population is concerned. The number of Shahsavan families in West Azarbaijan Province alone is 5,840, totally 46,873 persons of which 52% are male and 48% female.

Their economy, as in the case of most migrating tribes, is based on animal husbandry: raising mainly sheep and to a smaller extent goats. In fact their life and economy depend on the pastures and grazing lands. This makes the distribution of people per square kilometer of utmost significance. During the cold months they live in a region that is 1,652 sq km in area and in the warmer months over an area that is 10,850 sq km. These figures give - for a total population of 46,873 – the distribution figures of 28.84 and 4.32 persons per square
kilometer respectively.

According to the same statistics and to studies carried out recently, the tribe is very young and since everyone in the tribe begins to work, and plays a role in the economy of the community very early, this fact is of great significance to those who wish to make plans for the improvement of the conditions in which the tribe lives.

The tribe works in groups with complete teamwork prevailing all activities. There is clear division of duties and each person knows exactly what he or she is to do. The members of a family work together or in cooperation with one or more other families.

The community does not take advantage of any family by exploiting them nor does the family exploit any of the members within it. This author, who has worked on the issue of the tribes and their conditions and on the question of how their conditions can be improved has submitted a paper to the authorities and would like to bring the subject up in this article for the public to consider the issue and help in any way it can and as a reminder for the authorities.



The most important point for the authorities to bear in mind when trying to make plans for improving the tribes’ conditions are the followings. These are the outcome of research carried out on the Shahsavan tribe of West Azarbaijan but my experience indicates that they can apply to all the Iranian tribes. • Do we really want to produce all the needs of the country for red meat through modern animal husbandry, i.e. in sheep and cattle raising stations, or are we prepared to preserve our tribes and make special plans for them?

Can we tolerate two groups of people living close to each other with one group living very well and the other in utter poverty?
Can we convince the tribes to settle down and become engaged in agricultural production and in food processing facilities?
Do the authorities intend to make long term or short term plans as sedatives only?
Do the authorities intend to save the grazing lands through penalizing the improper use of such lands by the tribes or will they try to teach the tribes how to make proper use of the land?
Have we given enough consideration to the positive aspects of migration as regards the environment?
Are the authorities planning to provide adequate subsidies for these people?



A major problem that threatens the very existence of the tribes is the movement of the tribe members to towns and cities where they often find better work and living conditions. This does not apply only to the tribesmen but to the young men - and sometimes young women - of our villages as well. Of course we should not keep the economy and the people backward simply because we want to preserve our tribes. But we have to remember that even if these men produce higher added values working in towns, if our towns keep growing at such staggering rates the adverse consequences may by far outweigh the advantages. The young people of the tribes visit towns and cities from time to time and the glitter of life in urban areas may entice and even frustrate them.

Therefore, we must make tribal life attractive, give the young members of the tribes something, to discourage them from leaving. Studies carried out by this author and a number of other sociologists indicate that the attraction of tribal migration is so much that if we provide the basic needs of the people they will not leave their tribes.