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{{wkpen
|wketx=The [[Medes]] /ˈmiːdz/ (Old Persian Māda-, Ancient Greek: [[Μῆδοι]]), singular Mede ([[Μῆδος]], [[Μήδειος]]), were an ancient [[Iranian]] people who spoke the [[Median]] language and who inhabited an area known as [[Media]] between western and northern [[Iran]]. Around the 11th century BC, they occupied the mountainous region of northwestern Iran and the northeastern and eastern region of Mesopotamia located in the region of Hamadan (Ecbatana). Their emergence in Iran is believed to have occurred during the 8th century BC. In the 7th century BC, all of western Iran and some other territories were under Median rule, but their precise geographic extent remains unknown.

Although they are generally recognized as having an important place in the history of the ancient Near East, the Medes have left no textual source to reconstruct their history, which is known only from outside sources such as the Assyrians, Babylonians and Greeks, as well as a few Iranian archaeological sites, which are believed to have been occupied by Medes. The accounts relating to the Medes reported by Herodotus have left the image of a powerful people, who would have formed an empire at the beginning of the 7th century BC that lasted until the 550s BC, played a determining role in the fall of the Assyrian Empire and competed with the powerful kingdoms of Lydia and Babylonia. However, a recent reassessment of contemporary sources from the Mede period has altered scholars' perceptions of the Median state. The state remains difficult to perceive in the documentation, which leaves many doubts about it, some specialists even suggesting that there never was a powerful Median kingdom. In any case, it appears that after the fall of the last Median king against Cyrus the Great of the Persian Empire, Media became an important province and prized by the empires which successively dominated it (Achaemenids, Seleucids, Parthians and Sasanids).
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{{trml
|trtx=af: Mede; am: ሜዶን; an: Medians; ar: ميديون; azb: ماد ایمپراتورلوغو; az: Midiya Dövləti; ba: Мидиялылар; bg: Мидийци; br: Meded; ca: Medes; ceb: Mga Medo; ckb: ماد; da: Mederne; el: Μήδοι; en: Medes; eo: Medoj; es: Medos; eu: Media; fa: پادشاهی ماد; fr: Mèdes; fy: Meden; ga: Méidigh; he: מדי; hi: मीदि साम्राज्य; hr: Medijci; hu: Médek; id: Bangsa Mede; is: Medar; it: Medi; ja: メディア王国; ka: მიდია; ko: 메디아; ku: Med; ky: Мидиялыктар; la: Media; lrc: ماد; lt: Medija; lv: Mīdieši; mg: Mediana; ms: Medes; nl: Meden; nn: Medarar; no: Medere; pl: Medowie; pnb: ماد; ps: د ماد واکمني; pt: Medos; ro: Mezi; ru: Мидийцы; sco: Medes; sh: Medijci; simple: Medes; sk: Médi; sl: Medijci; sr: Медијци; sv: Medien; sw: Umedi; ta: மீடியாப் பேரரசு; tg: Давлати Мод; tl: Mga Medo; tr: Med İmparatorluğu; uk: Мідійці; ur: ماد; vi: Người Media; war: Mediahanon; wuu: 米底王国; zh: 米底王国
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