Persians are an Iranian ethnic group indigenous to the Iranian plateau. They originate from an ancient Iranian people who migrated to the region called Persis (modern-day Fars Province in Iran) by the 9th century BCE. Their ancestors likely came from the Proto-Iranians, who split from the Indo- Iranians around 1800 BCE, possibly from regions now known as Afghanistan or Central Asia. Today, Persians form the majority population of Iran and are native speakers of the Persian language (Farsi).