Ethnic groups in Afghanistan#Uzbek

{{further|Afghans|Afghan (ethnonym)|Afghan identity card|Name of Afghanistan}}

The term "Afghan" is synonymous with the ethnonym "Pashtun", but in modern times the term became the national identity of the people, who live in Afghanistan.{{cite web |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afgan-in-current-political-usage-any-citizen-of-afghanistan-whatever-his-ethnic-tribal-or-religious-affiliation |title=Afghan |first=Ch. M. |last=Kieffer |publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica |quote=From a more limited, ethnological point of view, "Afḡān" is the term by which the Persian-speakers of Afghanistan (and the non-Paṧtō-speaking ethnic groups generally) designate the Paṧtūn. The equation Afghans = Paṧtūn has been propagated all the more, both in and beyond Afghanistan, because the Paṧtūn tribal confederation is by far the most important in the country, numerically and politically. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131116233835/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afgan-in-current-political-usage-any-citizen-of-afghanistan-whatever-his-ethnic-tribal-or-religious-affiliation |archive-date=16 November 2013}}{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/images/PollingUnit/1083a1Afghanistan2009.pdf|title=ABC NEWS/BBC/ARD poll - Afghanistan: Where Things Stand|pages=38–40|work=ABC News|location=Kabul, Afghanistan|access-date=29 October 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628130800/https://abcnews.go.com/images/PollingUnit/1083a1Afghanistan2009.pdf |archive-date=28 June 2011}}

The national culture of Afghanistan is not uniform, at the same time, the various ethnic groups have no clear boundaries between each other and there is much overlap.{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/53.htm |title=Afghanistan – Non-Muslims |website=countrystudies.us |access-date=27 April 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103013037/http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/53.htm |archive-date=3 November 2016}} Additionally, ethnic groups are not racially homogenous. Ethnic groups in Afghanistan have adopted traditions and celebrations from each other and all share a similar culture. For example, Nauruz is a New Year festival celebrated by various ethnic groups in Afghanistan.

{{further|Pashtuns|Pashtun tribes|Theories of Pashtun origin}}

File:Pashtun people.jpg

The Pashtuns make up the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.{{cite book |url=https://www.asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/Surveybook2012web1.pdf |title=Afghanistan in 2018. A Survey of the Afghan People |publisher=The Asia Foundation |year=2018 |page=283|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115230323/https://www.asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/Surveybook2012web1.pdf|archive-date=15 November 2012 |url-status=dead}} The exact numbers vary; according to the Library of Congress Country Studies' estimate of 1996, Pashtuns made up 40%, while some other estimates from around the 2000s say they make up around 60% of Afghanistan's population.{{Cite book|title=Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world|last1=Brown|first1=Keith|author2=Sarah Ogilvie|year=2009|publisher=Elsevie|quote=Pashto, which is mainly spoken south of the mountain range of the Hindu Kush, is reportedly the mother tongue of 60% of the Afghan population.|isbn=978-0-08-087774-7|page=845|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F2SRqDzB50wC&pg=PA845|access-date=2010-09-24}}{{Cite book|title=September 11, 2001: feminist perspectives|last1=Hawthorne|first1=Susan|author2=Bronwyn Winter|year=2002|publisher=Spinifex Press|quote=Over 60 percent of the population in Afghanistan is Pashtun...|isbn=1-876756-27-6|page=225|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DwbfD_irV_AC&pg=PA225|access-date=2010-09-24}} More recent estimates vary between 42% in 2013{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2075.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af®ionCode=sas&#af |title=The World Factbook |website=cia.gov |access-date=11 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014200908/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2075.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af®ionCode=sas&#af |archive-date=14 October 2013 |url-status=dead}} and 52.4% in 2023.{{cite web |url=https://www.worlddata.info/asia/afghanistan/index.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104193327/https://www.worlddata.info/asia/afghanistan/index.php |archive-date=4 January 2024 |title=Afghanistan: Country data and statistics}} The majority of Pashtuns practice Sunni Islam.See:

• {{cite web |title=People and Society :: 33,332,025 (2016 est.) |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2119.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af®ionCode=sas&#af |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607234625/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2119.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af®ionCode=sas&#af |archive-date=7 June 2017 |access-date=23 May 2017 |work=The World Factbook |publisher=www.cia.gov}}
• {{cite web |title=Ethnic groups |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/world/2001/war_on_terror/key_maps/ethnic_pashtun.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101144513/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/world/2001/war_on_terror/key_maps/ethnic_pashtun.stm |archive-date=1 November 2013 |access-date=7 June 2013 |work=BBC News |quote=Pashtun: Estimated to be in excess of 45% of the population, the Pashtuns have been the most dominant ethnic group in Afghanistan.}}
• {{cite book |last1=Janda |first1=Kenneth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_WlzlY9dv74C&pg=PA46 |title=The Challenge of Democracy: Government in America |author2=Jeffrey M. Berry |author3=Jerry Goldman |publisher=Cengage Learning |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-618-81017-8 |edition=9 |page=46 |access-date=22 August 2010}}
• {{cite web |date=10 March 2011 |title=Afghanistan's complex ethnic patchwork |url=http://old.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=237210 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120225356/http://old.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=237210 |archive-date=20 November 2012 |access-date=20 April 2012 |work=The Asian Wall Street Journal |publisher=Tehran Times}}
• {{cite web |title=About Afghanistan – Ethnic Divisions |url=http://www.afghanistans.com/Information/defaulf.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917064432/http://afghanistans.com/Information/defaulf.htm |archive-date=17 September 2010 |access-date=24 September 2010}}
• {{cite book |last1=Christensen |first1=Asger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7LKS93lbSM0C&pg=PA46 |title=Aiding Afghanistan: the background and prospects for reconstruction in a fragmented society |publisher=NIAS Press |year=1995 |isbn=87-87062-44-5 |page=46 |access-date=24 September 2010}}
• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qImZpu07_UEC&pg=PA10088 |title=Congressional Record |publisher=Government Printing Office |year=1949 |page=10088 |isbn=9780160118449 |access-date=24 September 2010}}
• {{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=William J. Jr. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=peTWtThUljQC&pg=PA58 |title=Asian Security to the Year 2000 |author2=Abraham Kim |publisher=DIANE Publishing |year=2000 |isbn=1-4289-1368-8 |page=58 |access-date=24 September 2010}}
• {{cite web |title=The ethnic composition of Afghanistan in different sources |url=http://www.hewad.com/ethnic.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205235855/http://www.hewad.com/ethnic.htm |archive-date=5 February 2012 |access-date=22 April 2012}} After the rise of the Hotaki dynasty in 1709 and the Durrani Empire in 1747, Pashtuns expanded by forming communities in what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan.{{cite web |year=2003 |title=Ethnic map of Afghanistan |url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0311/feature2/images/mp_download.2.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715231715/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0311/feature2/images/mp_download.2.pdf |archive-date=15 July 2011 |access-date=24 October 2010 |work=Thomas Gouttierre, Center For Afghanistan Studies, University of Nebraska at Omaha; Matthew S. Baker, Stratfor |publisher=National Geographic Society}}

There are conflicting theories about the origin of the Pashtun people, both among historians and the Pashtun themselves. A variety of ancient groups with eponyms similar to Pukhtun have been hypothesized as possible ancestors of modern Pashtuns. Since the 3rd century AD and onward they are mostly referred to by the ethnonym "Afghan", a name believed to be given to them by neighboring Persian people.{{cite web |year=1969 |title=Afghan and Afghanistan |url=http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Afghan_and_Afghanistan.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707103517/http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Afghan_and_Afghanistan.htm |archive-date=7 July 2011 |access-date=24 October 2010 |work=Abdul Hai Habibi |publisher=alamahabibi.com}} Some believe that ethnic Afghan is an adaptation of the Prakrit ethnonym Avagana, attested in the 6th century CE. It was used to refer to a common legendary ancestor known as "Afghana", asserted to be grandson of King Saul of Israel.{{cite web |title=Pashtun |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/445546/Pashtun |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030170021/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/445546/Pashtun |archive-date=30 October 2013 |access-date=21 March 2011 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica}}

{{further|Tajiks|Farsiwan|List of Tajik people}}

File:Tajik people.jpg

The Tajiks are a Persian-speaking ethnic group.{{cite encyclopedia|author1=C.E. Bosworth|author2=B.G. Fragner|title=TĀDJĪK|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam|edition=CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0|publisher=Koninklijke Brill NV|location=Leiden, The Netherlands|year=1999}} Historically, Tajiks were nothttps://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000515454.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=June 2025}} and as of 2022https://coi.euaa.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2022_08_EUAA_COI_Report_Afghanistan_Targeting_of_individuals.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=June 2025}} still widely are not considered to be a distinct ethnic group but rather a collection of several sedentary Sunni Muslims who spoke a Persian dialect as their mother tongue.{{cite web |first=John |last=Perry |title=TAJIK i. THE ETHNONYM: ORIGINS AND APPLICATION |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/tajik-i-the-ethnonym-origins-and-application |publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica |date=20 July 2009 |access-date=10 April 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517070443/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/tajik-i-the-ethnonym-origins-and-application |archive-date=17 May 2014}} The Tajiks usually refer to themselves by the region, province, city, town, or village that they are from rather than by tribes,[https://books.google.com/books?id=4VR0EAAAQBAJ], p. 26 for example: Badakhshi, Baghlani, Mazari, Panjsheri, Kabuli, Herati, Kohistani, etc.{{cite web |url=https://nps.edu/web/ccs/ethnic-genealogies |title=Ethnic Identity and Genealogies - Program for Culture and Conflict Studies - Naval Postgraduate School}}{{cite web|url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-39.html|title=Afghanistan: Tajik|access-date=19 December 2007|author=Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress|year=1997|work=Country Studies Series|publisher=Library of Congress|archive-date=27 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927194423/http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-39.html|url-status=live}} Alternative names for the Tajiks are Fārsīwān (Persian-speaker) and historically Dīhgān (cf. {{langx|tg|Деҳқон|translit=Dehqon}}, literally "farmer or settled villager", in a wider sense "settled" in contrast to "nomadic").{{cite encyclopedia |author1=M. Longworth Dames |author2=G. Morgenstierne |author3=R. Ghirshman |title=AFGHĀNISTĀN |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam |edition=CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0 |publisher=Koninklijke Brill NV |location=Leiden, The Netherlands |year=1999}} Tajiks are mainly descended from Bactrians and Sogdians, and are native to Northern Afghanistan, as they have continually inhabited the region for many millennia.[https://www.britannica.com/place/Tajikistan/Cultural-life#ref214553] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021112841/https://www.britannica.com/place/Tajikistan/Cultural-life#ref214553|date=21 October 2020}} Britannica Online Encyclopedia

Tajiks are considered the second-largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.Richard Foltz, A History of the Tajiks: Iranians of the East, London: Bloomsbury, 2019, p. 173. While it is estimated that they make up about 37% of the population of Afghanistan in 2019;{{Cite journal |title=Afghanistan in 2019 – A survey of the Afghan people |url=https://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2019_Afghan_Survey_Full-Report_.pdf |journal=The Asia Foundation |pages=277 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210915152910/https://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2019_Afghan_Survey_Full-Report_.pdf |archive-date=15 September 2021}} they made up 25.3% of Afghanistan's population in 1996,{{cite web|url=https://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+af0037)|quote=In 1996, approximately 40 percent of Afghans were Pashtun, 11.4 of whom are of the Durrani tribal group and 13.8 percent of the Ghilzai group. Tajiks make up the second largest ethnic group with 25.3 percent of the population, followed by Hazaras, 18 percent; Uzbeks, 6.3 percent; Turkmen, 2.5 percent; Qizilbash, 1.0; 6.9 percent other. The usual caveat regarding statistics is particularly appropriate here.|title=Ethnic Groups|publisher=Library of Congress Country Studies|year=1997|access-date=8 October 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110132651/https://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+af0037%29|archive-date=10 January 2009}} and the Encyclopædia Britannica explains that by the early 21st century they constituted about one-fifth (i. e. 20%) of the population.{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/581024/Tajik |title=Tajik |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |quote=There were about 5,000,000 in Afghanistan, where they constituted about one-fifth of the population. |access-date=6 November 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125205057/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/581024/Tajik |archive-date=25 November 2011}} It is important to note that all of these numbers are unreliable as there is no official census in Afghanistan.{{Cite web |title=Afghanistan |url=https://www.worldeconomics.com/Demographics/Census-Year/Afghanistan.aspx#:~:text=Afghanistan%20last%20conducted%20a%20census,easy%20comparison%20with%20other%20countries. |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=World Economics |language=en-us}}

{{further|Hazaras|List of Hazara tribes|Aimaq Hazara|List of Hazara people}}

File:Hazara girl (1).jpg

The Hazaras are one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan and a principal component to their population.{{cite web |work=Arash Khazeni, Alessandro Monsutti, Charles M. Kieffer |title=HAZĀRA |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hazara-1 |publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica |date=15 December 2003 |access-date=10 April 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131117041334/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hazara-1 |archive-date=17 November 2013}}{{Citation|last=Monsutti|first=Alessandro|title=Hazāras|date=2017-07-01|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/hazaras-COM_30419?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-3&s.q=hazara|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE|publisher=Brill|language=en|access-date=2021-12-20}} They reside in all parts of Afghanistan, mainly in the Hazarajat region in central Afghanistan. Linguistically the Hazaras speak the Dari and Hazaragi dialects of the Persian language. Dari is the official language of Afghanistan and Hazaragi is closely related to Dari.{{Citation|last=Monsutti|first=Alessandro|title=Hazāras|date=2017-07-01|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/hazaras-COM_30419?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-3&s.q=hazara|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE|publisher=Brill|language=en|access-date=2021-12-20}} They practice Islam, mostly Shi'a, with a significant Sunni minority, and some Isma'ili.{{Citation|last=Monsutti|first=Alessandro|title=Hazāras|date=2017-07-01|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/hazaras-COM_30419?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-3&s.q=hazara|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE|publisher=Brill|language=en|access-date=2021-12-20}} According to Library of Congress Country Studies in 1996, Hazaras made up 18% of country's population.

Some notable Hazaras of Afghanistan include: Abdul Ali Mazari, Commander Shafi Hazara, Sadiqi Nili, Ismael Balkhi, Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, Sultan Ali Keshtmand, Abdul Wahed Sarābi, Karim Khalili, Habiba Sarābi, Sarwar Danish, Sima Samar, Ramazan Bashardost, Muhammad Arif Shah Jahan, Abdul Haq Shafaq, Sayed Anwar Rahmati, Qurban Ali Urozgani, Azra Jafari, Ahmad Shah Ramazan, Muhammad Mohaqiq, Ahmad Behzad, Nasrullah Sadiqi Zada Nili, Abbas Noyan, Fahim Hashimi, Rohullah Nikpai, Hamid Rahimi, Mohammad Ebrahim Khedri, Wakil Hussain Allahdad, and Dawood Sarkhosh.

{{further|Uzbeks|List of Uzbeks|Afghan Turkestan}}

File:Uzbek people from Afghanistan.jpg

The Uzbeks are one of the main Turkic ethnic group in Afghanistan, whose native territory is in the northern regions of the country. Most likely the Uzbeks migrated as a wave of Turkic invaders and intermingled with local Iranic tribes over time to become the ethnic group they are today. The Uzbeks of Afghanistan are predominantly Sunni Muslims and fluent in Southern Uzbek.{{cite web |work=L. Dupree |date=July 1982 |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afghanistan-iv-ethnography |title=Afghanistan: (iv.) ethnocgraphy |publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica |access-date=10 April 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310021354/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afghanistan-iv-ethnography |archive-date=10 March 2014}} Uzbeks living in Afghanistan were estimated in the 1990s at approximately 1.3 million but are believed to be 2 million in 2011.{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/621020/Uzbek |title=Uzbek |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=6 November 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127183140/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/621020/Uzbek |archive-date=27 November 2011}}

Some notable Uzbeks of Afghanistan include: Azad Beg, Alhaj Mutalib Baig, Abdul Rashid Dostum, Suraya Dalil, Husn Banu Ghazanfar, Delbar Nazari, Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi, Muhammad Yunus Nawandish, Sherkhan Farnood, Abdul Majid Rouzi, Rasul Pahlawan, and Abdul Malik Pahlawan.

{{further|Aimaq people|Aimaq Hazara}}

The Aimaqs, Aimaq meaning "tribe" or "group of tribes" in Turkic-Mongolic (Oymaq),{{Citation |last=Spuler |first=B. |title=Aymak |date=2012-04-24 |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/aymak-SIM_0904?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-2&s.q=Aymak |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition |access-date=2023-12-29 |publisher=Brill |language=en}} is not an ethnic denomination, but differentiates semi-nomadic herders and agricultural tribal groups of various ethnic origins including the Hazara, Tajik, and others, that were formed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.{{Citation |last=Frye |first=R. N. |title=Čahār Aymaḳ |date=2012-04-24 |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/cahar-aymak-SIM_1582 |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition |access-date=2023-12-29 |publisher=Brill |language=en}} They live among non-tribal people in the central and western highlands of Afghanistan, especially in Badghis, Ghor, and Herat provinces. They practice Sunni Islam, speak the Dari and Aimaqi dialects of Persian, and refer to themselves with tribal designations.{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+af0042) |title=Library of Congress, Aimaq |website=loc.gov |access-date=27 April 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811104522/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+af0042%29 |archive-date=11 August 2017}}

{{further|Turkmens|Afghan Turkmens|Turkmen tribes|Afghan Turkestan}}

File:Turkmen girl and baby.jpg

The Turkmens are a smaller Turkic-speaking ethnic group in Afghanistan. They are predominantly Sunni Muslims, and their origins are similar to that of the Uzbeks. Unlike the Uzbeks, however, the Turkmens are traditionally a nomadic people (though they were forced to abandon this way of life in Turkmenistan itself under Soviet rule). In the 1990s their number was put at around 200,000.

{{further| Baloch of Afghanistan|Baloch people|List of Baloch tribes}}

File:Men in Zaranj-cropped.jpg

The Baloch people are speakers of the Balochi language who are mostly found in and around the Balochistan region of Afghanistan. In the 1990s their number figure was put at 100,000 but they are around 200,000 today. Mainly pastoral and desert dwellers, the Baloch people of Afghanistan are predominantly Sunni Muslims. Abdul Karim Brahui the former Governor of Nimruz province, is an ethnic Baloch.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

{{further|Pashayi people}}

File:Pashai Cap.jpg]]

The Pashayi are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group{{cite book |last=Minahan |first=James B. |title=Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia |date=10 February 2014 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781610690188 |page=217 |language=English |quote=Historically, north and east Afghanistan was considered part of the Indian cultural and religious sphere. Early accounts of the region mention the Pashayi as living in a region producing rice and sugarcane, with many wooded areas. Many of the people of the region were Buddhists, though small groups of Hindus and others with tribal religions were noted.}} living primarily in eastern Afghanistan. They are mainly concentrated in the northern parts of Laghman and Nangarhar, also parts of Kunar, Kapisa, Parwan, Nuristan, and a bit of Panjshir. Their total population is estimated to be 400,000.{{Cite web |title=What Languages do People Speak in Afghanistan? |url=https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/afghanistan/language |access-date= |website=worldpopulationreview.com}}

{{further|Nuristanis|Kalash people|Nuristani languages}}

File:Girl in a Kabul orphanage, 01-07-2002.jpg

The Nuristanis are an Iranic-speaking people, representing a third independent branch of the Aryan peoples (Indo-Aryan, Iranian and Nuristani), who live in isolated regions of northeastern Afghanistan as well as across the border in the district of Chitral in Pakistan. They speak a variety of Nuristani languages. Better known historically as the Kafirs of what was once known as Kafiristan (land of pagans). In the mid-1890s, after the establishment of the Durand Line when Afghanistan reached an agreement on various frontier areas to the British Empire for a period of time, Abdur Rahman Khan conducted a military campaign in Kafiristan and followed up his conquest with forced conversion of the Kafirs to Islam;{{cite web|url=http://www.chart.ac.uk/chart2001/papers/noframes/witek.html |title=Wlodek Witek (CHArt 2001) |work=chart.ac.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721135131/http://www.chart.ac.uk/chart2001/papers/noframes/witek.html |archive-date=21 July 2011}}{{cite journal|url=http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/arasi_0004-3958_1968_num_18_1_1603 |title=Persée: A Kafir goddess|journal=Arts Asiatiques |year=1968 |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=3–21 |doi=10.3406/arasi.1968.1603 |last1=Motamedi |first1=Ahmad |last2=Edelberg |first2=Lennart}} the region thenceforth being known as Nuristan, the "Land of Light".{{cite book|first=Martin |last=Ewans |title=Afghanistan: a short history of its people and politics |publisher=Harper Perennial |date=2002 |pages=103}}{{cite journal |last1=Klimburg |first1=Max |title=A Former Kafir Tells His 'Tragic Story': Notes on the Kati Kafirs of Northern Bashgal (Afghanistan) |journal=East and West |date=2008 |volume=58 |issue=1/4 |pages=391–402 |jstor=29757772}}{{cite journal |title=Reflections of the Islamisation of Kafiristan in Oral Tradition |first1=Georg |last1=Buddruss |journal=Journal of Asian Civilizations |volume=31 |issue=1–2 |date=2008 |pages=16–35}}'The pacification of the country was completed by the wholly gratuitous conquest of a remote mountain people in the north-east, the non-Muslim Kalash of Kafiristan (Land of the Unbelievers), who were forcibly converted to Islam by the army. Their habitat was renamed Nuristan (Land of Light).' Angelo Rasanayagam, Afghanistan: A Modern History, I.B. Tauris, 2005, p.11 Before their conversion, the Nuristanis practiced a form of Indo-Iranian (Vedic- or Hindu-like) religion.{{efn|name="Indo_Iranian_religion"|Elements of ancient Indo-Iranian religion:

• {{harvtxt|Witzel|2004|p=2}}:

:* "an ancient, common substrate (TUITE 2000, cf. BENGTSON 1999, 2001, 2002). These must be separated from what may appear to be Vedic."

:* "A few key features that highlight the position of Hindukush religion in between the IIr. [Indo-Iranian], BMAC and Vedic religions will be summarized and discussed in some detail, as they by and large even now remain unknown to Vedic specialists, in spite of BUDDRUSS 1960 and the selective summary "d'un domaine mal connu des indianistes" by FUSSMAN (1977: 21-35), who, even with an "esprit hypercritique comme le nôtre" (1977: 27), overstresses (post-Vedic) Indian influences (1977: 69; for a balanced evaluation of the linguistic features, see now DEGENER 2002). However, both Hindukush and Vedic mythology, ritual, and festivals, in spite of many layers of developments and mutual influences, tend to explain each other very effectively; cf. the similar case of Nepal (Witzel 1997c: 520-32)."

• {{harvtxt|Ruhland|2019|p=107}}: "Their traditional shamanic religion is probably rooted in Indo-Iranian, pre-Zoroastrian Vedic traditions."
• {{harvtxt|Vinogradov|Zharnikova|2020|p=182}}: "... the pagan Kafir pantheon, which has preserved the relics of the most ancient Indo-Iranian mythological concepts."
• Richard Strand, [http://nuristan.info/Nuristani/Nuristanis1.html Peoples and Languages of Nuristan]: "Before their conversion to Islâm the Nuristânis practised a form of ancient Hinduism, infused with accretions developed locally. They acknowledged a number of human-like deities who lived in the unseen Deity World (Kâmviri d'e lu; cf. Sanskrit deva lok'a-)"
• {{harvtxt|West|2010|p=357}}: "The Kalasha are a unique people living in just three valleys near Chitral, Pakistan, the capital of North-West Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan. Unlike their neighbours in the Hindu Kush Mountains on both the Afghani and Pakistani sides of the border the Kalasha have not converted to Islam. During the mid-20th century a few Kalasha villages in Pakistan were forcibly converted to this dominant religion, but the people fought the conversion and, once official pressure was removed, the vast majority continued to practice their own religion.
  Their religion is a form of Hinduism that recognises many gods and spirits and has been related to the religion of the Ancient Greeks, who mythology says are the ancestors of the contemporary Kalash [...] However, it is much more likely, given their Indo-Aryan language, that the religion of the Kalasha is much more closely aligned to the Hinduism of their Indian neighbours than to the religion of Alexander the Great and his armies.}}{{cite book|last=Minahan |first=James B. |title=Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia |date=10 February 2014 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |language=en |isbn=9781610690188 |page=205 |quote=Living in the high mountain valleys, the Nuristani retained their ancient culture and their religion, a form of ancient Hinduism with many customs and rituals developed locally. Certain deities were revered only by one tribe or community, but one deity was universally worshipped by all Nuristani as the Creator, the Hindu god Yama Raja, called imr'o or imra by the Nuristani tribes.}}{{cite book|last1=Barrington |first1=Nicholas |last2=Kendrick |first2=Joseph T. |last3=Schlagintweit |first3=Reinhard |title=A Passage to Nuristan: Exploring the Mysterious Afghan Hinterland |date=18 April 2006 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |language=en |isbn=9781845111755 |page=111 |quote=Prominent sites include Hadda, near Jalalabad, but Buddhism never seems to have penetrated the remote valleys of Nuristan, where the people continued to practise an early form of polytheistic Hinduism.}}{{cite book|last1=Weiss |first1=Mitch |last2=Maurer |first2=Kevin |title=No Way Out: A Story of Valor in the Mountains of Afghanistan |date=31 December 2012 |publisher=Berkley Caliber |language=en |isbn=9780425253403 |page=299 |quote=Up until the late nineteenth century, many Nuristanis practised a primitive form of Hinduism. It was the last area in Afghanistan to convert to Islam—and the conversion was accomplished by the sword.}} Non-Muslim religious practices endure in Nuristan today to some degree as folk customs. In their native rural areas, they are often farmers, herders, and dairymen. The population in the 1990s was estimated at 125,000 by some; the Nuristani prefer a figure of 300,000.

The Nuristan region has been a prominent location for war scenes that have led to the death of many indigenous Nuristanis.{{cite book|last=Hauner |first=M. |date=1991 |title=The Soviet War in Afghanistan |publisher=United Press of America}}{{cite book|last1=Ballard |last2=Lamm |last3=Wood |date=2012 |title=From Kabul to Baghdad and back: The U.S. at war in Afghanistan and Iraq}} Nuristan has also received abundance of settlers from the surrounding Afghanistan regions due to the borderline vacant location.{{cite web|url=http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/10573-nuristan-a-safe-passage-for-taliban-to-enter-north-and-north-eastern-parts-of-afghanistan |title=Nuristan a Safe Passage for Taliban to Enter North and North-Eastern Parts of Afghanistan |access-date=4 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185143/http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/10573-nuristan-a-safe-passage-for-taliban-to-enter-north-and-north-eastern-parts-of-afghanistan |archive-date=29 October 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004CE90B/%28httpDocuments%29/3E2AD065B3616B2D802570B7005876F4/$file/Land_disputes_NRC_june04.pdf |title=Land and property disputes in Eastern Afghanistan |access-date=2 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213504/http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004CE90B/%28httpDocuments%29/3E2AD065B3616B2D802570B7005876F4/$file/Land_disputes_NRC_june04.pdf |archive-date=4 October 2013}}

{{Further|Pamiris}}

Pamiris are people who speak the Pamiri languages. Pamiris share close linguistic, cultural and religious ties with the people in Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan, the Sarikoli speakers in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in Xinjiang Province in China and the Wakhi speakers in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They practice predominantly Nizari Isma'ili Shia Islam. The Pamiri people have their own distinctive styles of dress, which can differentiate one community from the next. The styles of hats are especially varied: one can spot someone from the Wakhan, as opposed to from Ruhshon or Shugnon valleys, based solely on headwear.{{cite web |date=2016-09-07 |title=The Pamiris: People on the Roof of the World |url=http://paramountjourney.com/en/pamiris/ |access-date=2016-09-07 |publisher=Paramount Journey |archive-date=12 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612163305/http://paramountjourney.com/en/pamiris/ |url-status=dead}}

{{Further|Kurds|Kurdish tribes}}

Kurds have been coming to Afghanistan at different times and lived there. Another large wave of Kurdish migration into Afghanistan was the continuation of their migration from Iranian Kurdistan to greater Khorasan during the Afsharid dynasty.{{cite book |author=Tanner, Stephen |title=Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander The Great to the Fall of The Taliban |publisher=DA CAPO Press |year=2002 |isbn=0-306-81233-9}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}{{Cite web |title=کُردهای افغانستان – کوردستان و کورد |url=https://fa.kurdistanukurd.com/?p=42983}} Two main groups formed Nader Shah's army. The first was a group of Shahsevan Turks who were in charge of warfare and combat, and the second was a group of Kurds who served as a backup for Nader's army.{{better source needed|date=June 2023}} Although the majority of Afghan Kurds are descendants from the Kurds brought to fight the Mongols, or the descendants of the Kurds who migrated to Afghanistan, or the descendants of Kurds loyal to Nader Shah, a significant amount came in the 1980s to fight in the Soviet–Afghan War to fight against the Soviets.{{cite book |last=Martin |first=Gus |title=The SAGE Encyclopedia of Terrorism, Second Edition |date=15 June 2011 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=9781412980166 |page=48}}

{{further|Gujars|Gurjar clans|List of Gurjars}}

File:Gujar tribal people in afghanistan september 09 2022.jpg

The Gujar people are a tribal group who have lived in Afghanistan for centuries. According to the Afghanistan news agency Pajwok Afghan News, there are currently an estimated 1.5 million Gujar people residing in the country.{{cite news |last1=Afghan News |first1=Pajhwok |date=January 2021 |title=Govt has long ignored our problems, needs: Gujars |url=https://pajhwok.com/2021/01/04/govt-has-long-ignored-our-problems-needs-gujars/ |access-date=15 March 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Hamdard |first1=Azizullah |date=January 2021 |title=Gujars use Andak meat for coronavirus treatment |url=https://pajhwok.com/2021/01/13/gujars-use-andak-meat-for-coronavirus-treatment/ |access-date=15 March 2023}} The Gujar people predominantly inhabit northeastern regions of Afghanistan, including Kapisa, Baghlan, Balkh, Kunduz, Takhar, Badakhshan, Nuristan, Laghman, Nangarhar, and Khost. They have a distinct culture and way of life.

File:Traditional Jirga of the Gujars in Afghan Society.png

File:Gathering of Gujar Tribal People in Afghanistan.png

The old Afghanistan constitution recognised 14 ethnic groups officially with the Gujar ethnic group being one of them.{{cite news |date=March 2021 |title=Afghanistan Recognizes Long Forgotten Ethnic Tatar Community |newspaper=Radiofreeeurope/Radioliberty |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-recognizes-long-forgotten-ethnic-tatar-community/31180205.html |access-date=15 March 2023}} Many Gujar tribal people in Afghanistan are deprived of their rights and their living conditions are poor. The Gujar in Afghanistan have sometimes been internally displaced in the past by illegal militias, during 2018 around 200 Gujar families were displaced from their homes in Farkhar district in Takhar province.{{cite news |date=February 2018 |title=Gujar tribesmen forcibly evicted from Takhar homes |url=https://pajhwok.com/2018/02/06/gujar-tribesmen-forcibly-evicted-takhar-homes/ |access-date=20 March 2023}}

During the corona virus pandemic, the Gujar people in the northeastern province of Badakhshan used Andak meat to treat the corona virus, due to lack of clinics and other health facilities in their areas. The Gujar Tribe Council deemed the meat of the Andak animal as Haram, however many Gujar people in the area said they had no choice.

In the past Gujar tribal leaders have met with the previous President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai. The Gujar elders demanded schools and hospitals to be built in their areas and the Afghan government give scholarships to Gujar students to study abroad.{{cite news |date=September 2013 |title=Karzai assures to consider Gujar tribe demands |url=https://pajhwok.com/2013/09/11/karzai-assures-consider-gujar-tribe-demands/ |access-date=15 March 2023}}

In Upper Asqalan, local elders once requested a former mujahideen commander to take on the role of a Taliban commander to provide protection and leadership for their area (interview, 20 July 2007).{{Cite book |last1=Goodhand |first1=Jonathan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M4D7CwAAQBAJ |title=The Afghan Conundrum: intervention, statebuilding and resistance |last2=Sedra |first2=Mark |date=2016-04-14 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-56963-3 |language=en}} Similarly, in Burka, the leaders of the prominent mir family in Kokah Bulaq reached an agreement with a Gujjar commander—who had previously fought alongside them during the resistance against Soviet forces—to assume responsibility as the Taliban commander for the Full Valley, with the aim of safeguarding the local population (interviews, 5 September 2007 and 26 March 2009).

{{Further|Kyrgyz people}}

The Kyrgyz population of Afghanistan was 1,130 in 2003, all from the eastern Wakhan District in the Badakhshan Province of northeastern Afghanistan. They live a nomadic lifestyle.{{cite news |last=Estrin |first=James |date=February 4, 2013 |title=A Hard Life on the 'Roof of the World' |newspaper=The New York Times |url=http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/a-hard-life-on-the-roof-of-the-world/}}

More small groups include the Moghol, Ormur, Wakhi, Sindhi, Hindkowan, Punjabi, Peripatetic groups, and others.

In September 2021, Zablon Simintov left Afghanistan, and thus the Afghan Jewry came to its end.{{Cite web |date=2021-09-09 |title=Afghanistan's last Jew leaves after Taliban takeover |url=https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-religion-israel-afghanistan-evacuations-c616b5b847da79f0cfc1de6f0f37b0b7 |access-date=2024-08-02 |website=AP News |language=en}}

Of the major ethnicities, the geographic distribution can be varied. Still, there are generally certain regions where one of the ethnic groups tend to dominate the population. Pashtuns are highly concentrated in southern Afghanistan and parts of the east, but nevertheless large minorities exist elsewhere.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=raMpr0NvR3MC&pg=PA233 |title=Central Asia, Security, and Strategic Imperatives |isbn=9788178350790 |last1=Firdous |first1=Tabassum |year=2002|publisher=Gyan Publishing House}} Tajiks are highly concentrated in the north-east but also form large communities elsewhere such as in western Afghanistan.{{cite web |url=http://www.understandingwar.org/tajikistan-and-afghanistan |title=Tajikistan and Afghanistan |website=Institute for the Study of War}} Hazaras tend to be mostly concentrated in the wider "Hazarajat" region of central Afghanistan,https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=senior_seminar {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}} while Uzbeks are densely populated in the north.https://info.publicintelligence.net/MCIA-AfghanCultures/Uzbeks.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}} Some places are very diverse: the city of Kabul, for example, has been considered a "melting pot" where large populations of the major ethnic groups reside, albeit traditionally with a distinct "Kabuli" identity.{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=80419&page=1 |title=The Significance of Taking Kabul |website=ABC News}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xx3_CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT501 |title=Afghanistan's Experiences: The History of the Most Horrifying Events Involving Politics, Religion, and Terrorism |isbn=978-1-5049-8614-4 |last1=D |first1=Hamid Hadi M. |date=24 March 2016|publisher=AuthorHouse}} The provinces of Ghazni, Kunduz, Kabul, and Jowzjan are noted for remarkable ethnic diversity.

The population of Afghanistan was estimated in 2023 at 41.6 million.{{cite news |url=https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/afghanistan-population/|title=Afghanistan Population (2023) - Worldometer |website=www.worldometers.info |access-date=15 June 2023}} An additional 3 million or so Afghans are temporarily housed in neighboring Pakistan and Iran, most of whom were born and raised in those two countries. This makes the total Afghan population around 44.6 million, and its current growth rate is 2.33%.

While there are no reliable statistics post-2004,{{cite web |title=Afghanistan |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/afghanistan |website=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=16 January 2022 |language=en |date=4 January 2022}} an approximate distribution of the ethnic groups is shown in the chart below:

File:Afghanistan ethnic groups 2005.jpg

File:US Army ethnolinguistic map of Afghanistan -- circa 2001-09.jpg

File:Afghanistan Ethnolinguistic Groups 1982.jpg

{{notelist-ua}}

{{Clear}}

{{portal|Afghanistan}}

• Ethnic violence in Afghanistan
• Demographics of Afghanistan

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book | last =Ruhland | first =Heike | year =2019 | title =Peacebuilding in Pakistan: A Study on the Religious Minorities and Initiatives for Interfaith Harmony | publisher =Waxmann Verlag}}
• {{cite book | last1 =Vinogradov | first1 =A.G. | last2 =Zharnikova | first2 =S.V. | year =2020 | title =Indo-European Ornamental Complexes and their Analogies in the Cultures of Eurasia}}
• {{cite book | last =West | first =Barbara A. | date =2010 | title =Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania | publisher =Infobase Publishing | language =en | isbn =9781438119137 | page =357 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=PA357 }}
• {{cite book | first =Michael | last =Witzel | year =2004 | author-link =Michael Witzel | chapter =Kalash Religion (extract from 'The Ṛgvedic Religious System and its Central Asian and Hindukush Antecedents') | editor1 =A. Griffiths | editor2 =J. E. M. Houben | title =The Vedas: Texts, Language and Ritual | location =Groningen | publisher =Forsten | pages =581–636 | chapter-url =https://fid4sa-repository.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/3370/1/KalashaReligion.pdf | archive-date =28 September 2024 | access-date =25 August 2024 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20240928075914/https://fid4sa-repository.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/3370/1/KalashaReligion.pdf | url-status =live }}

{{refend}}

• [https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/09/10/enmity-breeds-violence-in-afghanistan/ Enmity Breeds Violence in Afghanistan] by Nabi Sahak

{{Ethnic groups in Afghanistan}}

{{Asia topic|Ethnic groups in}}

{{Afghanistan topics}}

{{Authority control}}