The Persian cat descended from the Turkish cat of Angora; and its geographical origin is the ancient region of Persia (currently Iran) and Ankara in Turkey.  That is where its name comes from.

Current Persian cats arose in England in the fourteenth century, a product of the cross between a pure blooded Persian cat (coming from Persia), which was introduced in Europe through Italy, and the white Turkish Angora.  This is how it obtained a silkier coat and multiplied the colors of its fur.  The Persian has continued evolving to become more stocky and less slender, with bigger eyes, more similar to the original Iranian.

As we know it today, it is an artificially created breed, the fruit of careful selection since the fourteenth century.  It was in this century when they began to export specimen to England and France, where it reached popularity and from where it expanded to United States.

Physical Characteristics
The Persian cat has a compact, rounded and muscular body with a robust bone structure.  The paws are short and thick.  The length of the cat can vary between 40 and 50 cm, plus 25-30 cm of tail and 30 cm of height.

It has a thick, full, long and silky coat with a fluffy tail, lightly rounded at the end. Its head is big, wide and round, with protruding cheeks, a short nose, small and rounded, widely spaced ears with tufts of long hair, and big, round, open eyes.

The variety of colors in the Persian race is tremendous.  The single color cats should have balanced, intense colors without light tones, like black, white, lilac, red, cream... they can also have combinations of colors like the bicolor or harlequin.

Character of the Persian Cat
The Persian cat is a sweet cat, with a very calm and peaceful temperament.  In fact, there are some who call it the "couch tiger," owing to its calm character.  It needs a lot of care and requires frequent displays of affection on part of its owners. 

It is very sleepy.  And it loves when you compliment its beauty. Very observant and little expressive.  It entirely lacks the hunting instinct, which is surprising in a cat.