Gilaks (Gilaki: گيلٚکؤن, Persian: گیلکها) are an Iranian peoples[2] native to south of Caspian sea.
Gilaks play an important role in the provincial and national economy, supplying a large portion of the region's agricultural staples, such as rice, grains,[7] tobacco,[8] and tea.
[4][10] In addition to agricultural activities, Gilaks also control other principal sectors of commerce of the province of Gilan such as tourism, and share administrative and government positions with civil servants from other regions of Iran.
The Gilaks are closely related to the neighboring Mazandarani, and other groups of Caucasus descent, such as Georgians, Armenians, and Azerbaijanis.
[13] Gilaki, which has two main dialect types, eastern and western, with the Safidrūd River as the general border, is a member of the Caspian subgroup.
The differences in forms and vocabulary lead to a low mutual intelligibility with either Gilaki or Mazandarani, and so these dialects should probably be considered a third separate language group of the Caspian area.
It has been suggested that their ancestors came from the Caucasus region, perhaps displacing an earlier group in the South Caspian.
Based on mtDNA HV1 sequences, the Gilaks and Mazandarani most closely resemble their geographic and linguistic neighbors, namely other Iranian groups.
[3] A scenario that explains these differences is a south Caucasian origin for the ancestors of the Gilaki and Mazandarani, followed by introgression of women (but not men) from local Iranian groups, possibly because of patrilocality.