The Persian cat (Persian: گربه پارسی, romanized: Gorbe'-ye Pârsi), also known as the Persian longhair, is a long-haired **bleep** of cat characterized by a round face and short muzzle. The first documented ancestors of Persian cats were imported into Italy from Persia around 1620.[1][2] Widely recognized by cat fancy since the late 19th century, Persian cats were first adopted by the British, and later by American breeders after World War II. Some cat fancier organizations' **bleep** standards subsume the Himalayan and Exotic Shorthair as variants of this **bleep**, while others generally treat them as separate breeds.
