The Mandaeans are a group of people defined primarily by their religious affiliation, which differs from that of their mainly Muslim neighbors in Iran and Iraq. Today they live along the rivers and waterways of southern Iraq and Khuzestan, Iran. Mandaean rituals are also based on dualistic principles and center around the practice of baptism. The Mandaean language is related to Aramaic and contains West Syrian linguistic elements, which supports the belief that they migrated from west to east.