and Gilaki groups fall inside a major cluster consisting of populations from the Caucasus and West Asia and are particularly close to the South Caucasus groups—Georgians, Armenians, and Azerbaijanis. Iranians from Tehran and Isfahan are situated more distantly from these groups. Haplogroups The Gilaks display a high frequency of Y-DNA haplogroups R1a1a, J2a, and G2a3b. Assimilated groups into the Gilak people During the Safavid, Afsharid, and Qajar eras, Gilan was settled by large numbers of Georgians, Circassians, Armenians and by other peoples of the Caucasus, whose descendants still live across Gilan. See also Caspian people Gilan Province Iranian peoples Mazandarani people Northwestern Iran Peoples of the Caucasus Persian dance References External links Iranian ethnic groups Ethnic groups in Iran Ethnic groups in the Middle East