Modern Persian, also known as Farsi, is the official language of Iran and is spoken by millions of people in Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well. It belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family and has evolved from Old Persian and Middle Persian over centuries. The language uses a modified version of the Arabic script, consisting of 32 letters. Modern Persian has a rich literary tradition, with notable poets like Rumi and Hafez. It also incorporates vocabulary from Arabic, Turkic, and French, reflecting the diverse cultural influences in the region.