Persian cat

Persian
Other names	Longhair, Persian Longhair, Shiraz, Shirazi
Origin	Iran (Persia)
Breed standards
CFA	standard
FIFe	standard
TICA	standard
WCF	standard
FFE	standard
ACF	standard
ACFA/CAA	standard
CCA-AFC	standard
GCCF	standard
LOOF	standard
Notes
The Exotic Shorthair and Himalayan cats are often classified as coat variants of this breed.
Domestic cat (Felis catus)

The Persian cat (Persian: گربه ایرانی) is a long-haired breed of cat characterized by its round face and short muzzle. It is sometimes called the Longhair or Persian Longhair. It is also known as the Shirazi cat or Iranian cat, particularly in the Middle East. The first documented ancestors of the Persian were imported into Europe from Iran (Persia) around 1620. Recognized by the cat fancy since the late 19th century, it was developed first by the English, and then mainly by American breeders after the Second World War. Some cat fancier organizations' breed standards subsume the Himalayan and Exotic Shorthair as variants of this breed, while others treat them as separate breeds.

The selective breeding carried out by breeders has allowed the development of a wide variety of coat colors, but has also led to the creation of increasingly flat-faced Persians. Favored by fanciers, this head structure can bring with it a number of health problems. As is the case with the Siamese breed, there have been efforts by some breeders to preserve the older type of cat, the traditional breed, having a more pronounced muzzle, which is more popular with the general public. Hereditary polycystic kidney disease is prevalent in the breed, affecting almost half the population in some countries.

In 2015 it was ranked as the 2nd most popular breed in the United States according to the Cat Fanciers' Association. The first is the Exotic breed.

It is not clear when longhaired cats first appeared, as there are no known long-haired specimens of the African wildcat, the ancestor of the domestic subspecies.