Ethnic groups in Afghanistan

Ethnic groups in Afghanistan as of 1997

Afghanistan is a multiethnic and mostly tribal society. The population of the country consists of numerous ethnolinguistic groups: mainly the Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, and Uzbek, as well as the minorities of Aimaq, Turkmen, Baloch, Pashai, Nuristani, Gujjar, Brahui, Qizilbash, Pamiri, Kyrgyz, Moghol, and others.[1][2][3][4] Altogether they make up the Afghan people.

The former Afghan National Anthem and the Afghan Constitution (before 2021) each mention fourteen of them.[5]

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## Fertility rate by Ethnic origins

[edit]

Fertility Rate in Afghanistan by Ethnic Group (1950-2023)[6][7] Year | Afghanistan (Overall) | Pashtuns | Tajiks | Hazaras | Uzbeks | Turkmens | Localized Arabs | Indo-Aryans (Pashayis, Nuristanis, etc.) | Localized Soviets | Others

|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1950 | 7.25 | 8.30 | 7.55 | 7.85 | 7.70 | 7.65 | 6.80 | 7.40 | - | 4.10
1960 | 7.28  | 8.28  | 7.48  | 7.72  | 7.64  | 7.62  | 6.75  | 7.35  | - | 4.00
1970 | 7.40  | 8.25  | 7.52  | 7.81  | 7.68  | 7.66  | 6.80  | 7.42  | - | 3.95
1980 | 7.64  | 8.35  | 7.60  | 7.88  | 7.74  | 7.73  | 6.90  | 7.50  | - | 3.85
1990 | 7.58  | 8.20  | 7.58  | 7.72  | 7.66  | 7.69  | 6.82  | 7.45  | 2.30  | 3.80
1995 | 7.77  | 8.32  | 7.66  | 7.85  | 7.75  | 7.78  | 6.88  | 7.58  | 2.95  | 3.77
2000 | 7.57  | 7.95  | 7.38  | 7.50  | 7.40  | 7.36  | 6.65  | 7.32  | 3.25  | 3.62
2010 | 5.12  | 6.45  | 5.15  | 5.55  | 5.45  | 5.40  | 4.80  | 5.20  | 3.10  | 3.30
2015 | 5.25  | 6.60  | 5.25  | 5.60  | 5.50  | 5.45  | 4.30  | 5.30  | 2.90  | 2.80
2023 | 5.40  | 6.75  | 5.35  | 5.80  | 5.70  | 5.60  | 4.28  | 5.45  | 2.85  | 2.77

## National identity

[edit]

Further information: Afghans, Afghan (ethnonym), Afghan identity card, and 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.[8][9]

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.[10] 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.

## Larger ethnic groups

[edit]

### Pashtuns

[edit]

Further information: Pashtuns, Pashtun tribes, and Theories of Pashtun origin

Pashtuns of Afghanistan

The Pashtuns make up the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.[11] 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.[12][13] More recent estimates vary between 42% in 2013[14] and 52.4% in 2023.[15] The majority of Pashtuns practice Sunni Islam.[16] 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.[17]

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.[18] Some believe that ethnic Afghan is an adaptation of the Prakrit ethnonym Avagana, attested in the 6th century CE.[8] It was used to refer to a common legendary ancestor known as "Afghana", asserted to be grandson of King Saul of Israel.[19]

### Tajik

[edit]

Further information: Tajiks, Farsiwan, and List of Tajik people

Tajiks of Afghanistan

The Tajiks are a Persian-speaking ethnic group.[20] Historically, Tajiks were[21] and still widely are[22] 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.[23] The Tajiks usually refer to themselves by the region, province, city, town, or village that they are from rather than by tribes,[24] for example: Badakhshi, Baghlani, Mazari, Panjsheri, Kabuli, Herati, Kohistani, etc.[24][25][26] Alternative names for the Tajiks are Fārsīwān[21] (Persian-speaker) and historically Dīhgān (cf. Tajik: Деҳқон, romanized: Dehqon, literally "farmer or settled villager", in a wider sense "settled" in contrast to "nomadic").[27] Tajiks are mainly descended from Bactrians and Sogdians, and are native to Northern Afghanistan, as they have continually inhabited the region for many millennia.[28]

Tajiks are considered the second-largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.[29] While it is estimated that they make up about 37% of the population of Afghanistan in 2019;[30] they made up 25.3% of Afghanistan's population in 1996,[31] and the Encyclopædia Britannica explains that by the early 21st century they constituted about one-fifth (i. e. 20%) of the population.[23][32] It is important to note that all of these numbers are unreliable as there is no official census in Afghanistan.[33]

### Hazara

[edit]

Further information: Hazaras, List of Hazara tribes, Aimaq Hazara, and List of Hazara people

A Hazara girl in Afghanistan

The Hazaras are one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan and a principal component to their population.[34][35] 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.[36] They practice Islam, mostly Shi'a, with a significant Sunni minority, and some Isma'ili.[37] According to Library of Congress Country Studies in 1996, Hazaras made up 18% of country's population.[16]

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.

### Uzbek

[edit]

Further information: Uzbeks, List of Uzbeks, and Afghan Turkestan

Uzbeks of Afghanistan

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.[38] Uzbeks living in Afghanistan were estimated in the 1990s at approximately 1.3 million[31] but are believed to be 2 million in 2011.[39]

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.

## Smaller ethnic groups

[edit]

### Aimaq

[edit]

Further information: Aimaq people and Aimaq Hazara

The Aimaqs, Aimaq meaning "tribe" or "group of tribes" in Turkic-Mongolic (Oymaq),[40] 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.[41] 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.[42]

### Turkmen

[edit]

Further information: Turkmens, Afghan Turkmens, Turkmen tribes, and Afghan Turkestan

Turkmen girl and baby in Afghanistan

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).[38] In the 1990s their number was put at around 200,000.[31]

### Baloch

[edit]

Further information: Baloch of Afghanistan, Baloch people, and List of Baloch tribes

Balochs of Afghanistan

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.[31] 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]

### Pashayi

[edit]

Further information: Pashayi people

A Pashai boy wearing a pakol

The Pashayi are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group[43] 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.[44]

### Nuristani

[edit]

Further information: Nuristanis, Kalash people, and Nuristani languages

A Nuristani girl in Afghanistan

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;[45][46] the region thenceforth being known as Nuristan, the "Land of Light".[47][48][49][50] Before their conversion, the Nuristanis practiced a form of Indo-Iranian (Vedic- or Hindu-like) religion.[a][51][52][53] 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.[31]

The Nuristan region has been a prominent location for war scenes that have led to the death of many indigenous Nuristanis.[54][55] Nuristan has also received abundance of settlers from the surrounding Afghanistan regions due to the borderline vacant location.[56][57]

### Pamiri

[edit]

Further information: 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.[58]

### Kurd

[edit]

Further information: Kurds and 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.[59][page needed][60] 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.[60][better source needed] 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.[61]

### Gujar

[edit]

Further information: Gujars, Gurjar clans, and List of Gurjars

Group of Tribal Gujar People Gathered in North Eastern Afghanistan

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.[62][63] 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.[62][63]

Traditional Jirga of the Gujars in Afghan Society Gathering of Gujar Tribal People in Northern Afghanistan

The old Afghanistan constitution recognised 14 ethnic groups officially with the Gujar ethnic group being one of them.[62][64][63] 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.[62][65] 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.[63]

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.[66]

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).[67] 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).[67]

### Kyrgyz

[edit]

Further information: 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.[68]

### Others

[edit]

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.[69]

## Distribution

[edit]

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.[70] Tajiks are highly concentrated in the north-east but also form large communities elsewhere such as in western Afghanistan.[71] Hazaras tend to be mostly concentrated in the wider "Hazarajat" region of central Afghanistan,[72] while Uzbeks are densely populated in the north.[73] 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.[74][75] The provinces of Ghazni, Kunduz, Kabul, and Jowzjan are noted for remarkable ethnic diversity.[72]

## Ethnic composition

[edit]

The population of Afghanistan was estimated in 2023 at 41.6 million.[76] 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%.[76]

While there are no reliable statistics post-2004,[77] an approximate distribution of the ethnic groups is shown in the chart below:

Ethnic groups in Afghanistan  Ethnic group  | Image  | 2023 estimate based on native mother tongue[15] | Pre-2021 estimates
[78][9][79][14][32][80] | Pre-2004 estimates
[81][80][31][82] | Pre-1992 estimates
[83][84][80] | Pre-1973 estimates[80]

|
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|
|

Pashtun |  | 52.4%  | 37–60%
≈48.5% | 38–62%
≈50% | 50–70%
≈60% | 55–60%
≈57.5%
Tajik |  | 32.1%[A] | 20–39%
≈29.5% | 12–28%
≈20% | 20–35%
≈27.5% | 20–30%
≈25%
Hazara |  | 6–13%
≈9.5% | 7–19%
≈13% | 5–10%
≈7.5% | 3–7%
≈5%
Uzbek |  | 8.8%  | 5–9%
≈7% | 6–14%
≈10% | 5–10%
≈7.5% | 3–8%
≈5.5%
Aimaq |  | –  | 0–4%
≈2% | –  | –  | –
Turkmen |  | 1.9%  | 1–3%
≈2% | 2–2.5%
≈2.25% | –  | –
Baloch |  | 0.9%  | 0–3%
≈1.5% | –  | –  | –
Others (Pashai, Nuristani, Brahui, Qizilbash, Pamiri, Gujjar, etc)  |  | 3.9%  | 0–4%
≈2% | 1–12%
≈6.5% | 0–5%
≈2.5% | 0–4%
≈2%

1. ^ This number represents Dari Persian native speakers including Tajiks, Hazaras, Aimaqs, Qizilbash, and other smaller ethnicities.

## See also

[edit]

* Afghanistan portal

* Ethnic violence in Afghanistan
* Demographics of Afghanistan

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Elements of ancient Indo-Iranian religion:
* 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)."
* Ruhland (2019, p. 107): "Their traditional shamanic religion is probably rooted in Indo-Iranian, pre-Zoroastrian Vedic traditions."
* Vinogradov & Zharnikova (2020, p. 182): "... the pagan Kafir pantheon, which has preserved the relics of the most ancient Indo-Iranian mythological concepts."
* Richard Strand, 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-)"
* 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.

## References

[edit]

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3. ^ "Mongolian".
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6. ^ Demographic and Health Surveys Program (DHS)
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* Taylor, William J. Jr.; Abraham Kim (2000). Asian Security to the Year 2000. DIANE Publishing. p. 58\. ISBN 1-4289-1368-8. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
* "The ethnic composition of Afghanistan in different sources". Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
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28. ^ [2] Archived 21 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine Britannica Online Encyclopedia
29. ^ Richard Foltz, A History of the Tajiks: Iranians of the East, London: Bloomsbury, 2019, p. 173.
30. ^ "Afghanistan in 2019 – A survey of the Afghan people" (PDF). The Asia Foundation: 277. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2021.
31. ^ a b c d e f "Ethnic Groups". Library of Congress Country Studies. 1997. Archived from the original on 10 January 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2010. "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."
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50. ^ '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
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78. ^ See:
* "Afghanistan in 2019 – A survey of the Afghan people" (PDF). Kabul, Afghanistan: The Asia Foundation. p. 277\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021. "D-14. Which ethnic group do you belong to?"
* "Afghanistan in 2018 – A survey of the Afghan people" (PDF). Kabul, Afghanistan: The Asia Foundation. p. 243\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2018. "D-14. WHICH ETHNIC GROUP DO YOU BELONG TO?"
* "Afghanistan in 2012 – A survey of the Afghan people" (PDF). Kabul, Afghanistan: The Asia Foundation. p. 182\. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 November 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012. "Ethnicity Status"
* "Afghanistan in 2010 – A survey of the Afghan people" (PDF). Kabul, Afghanistan: The Asia Foundation. 2010. pp. 225–226\. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2011. "D-9. Which ethnic group do you belong to? SINGLE RESPONSE ONLY Pashtun 48%, Tajik 25%, Uzbek 9%, Hazara 10%, Turkmen 2%, Baloch 1%, Nuristani 1%, Aimak 2%, Mongol 2%"
* "Afghanistan in 2009: A Survey of the Afghan People" (PDF). Kabul, Afghanistan: The Asia Foundation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012. "The 2009 survey interviewed 6,406 Afghans (53% men and 47% women)"
* "Afghanistan in 2010 – A survey of the Afghan people" (PDF). Kabul, Afghanistan: The Asia Foundation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012. "The 2008 survey interviewed 6,593 Afghans..."
* "Afghanistan in 2007 – A survey of the Afghan people" (PDF). Kabul, Afghanistan: The Asia Foundation. 2010. pp. 225–226\. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 August 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2011. "The 2007 survey interviewed 6,406 Afghans, Which ethnic group do you belong to? SINGLE RESPONSE ONLY Pashtun 55%, Tajik 25%, Uzbek 8%, Hazara 15%, Turkmen 8%, Baloch 1%, Nuristani 1%, Aimak 1%, Mongol 1%"
* "Afghanistan in 2006 – A survey of the Afghan people" (PDF). Kabul, Afghanistan: The Asia Foundation. pp. 83–88\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012. "A total of 6,226 respondents were surveyed in the study, out of which 4888 (78.5%) were from the rural areas and 1338 (22%) were from the urban areas. Ethnicity: Pashtun 40.9, Tajik 37.1, Uzbek 9.2, Hazara 9.2, Turkmen 1.7, Baloch 0.5, Nuristani 0.4, Aimak 0.1, Mongol 0.7, Pashayi 0.3"
* "Afghanistan in 2004 – A survey of the Afghan people" (PDF). Kabul, Afghanistan: The Asia Foundation. 2004. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012. "The 2004 survey interviewed 804 Afghans, Which ethnic group do you belong to? Pashtun 40%, Tajik 39%, Uzbek 6%, Hazara 6%, Turkmen 1%, Baloch 0%, Nuristani 1%, Aimak 0%, Mongol 1%, Pashaye 0%, Other 1%."
79. ^ Brown, Keith; Sarah Ogilvie (2009). Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world. Elsevie. p. 845\. ISBN 978-0-08-087774-7. Retrieved 7 April 2012. "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."
80. ^ a b c d Mobasher, Mohammad Bashir. Political Laws and Ethnic Accommodation: Why Cross-Ethnic Coalitions Have Failed to Institutionalize in Afghanistan. Diss. 2017, p. 42. Link: [3]
81. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/11/world/2-afghan-factions-sign-pact-to-fight-new-kabul-rulers.html "The three leaders who met here represent three of the largest ethnic minorities in Afghanistan, the Hazara, Tajik and Uzbek groups, which together account for about 5 million of the country's 16 million people."
82. ^ "PEOPLE – Ethnic divisions". The World Factbook/Central Intelligence Agencyu. University of Missouri. 22 January 1993. Archived from the original on 9 October 1999. Retrieved 20 March 2011. "Pashtun 38%, Tajik 25%, Uzbek 6%, Hazara 19%; minor ethnic groups include Chahar Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, and others"
83. ^ "The World Factbok – Afghanistan". The World Factbook/Central Intelligence Agency. University of Missouri. April 1981. Retrieved 12 December 2024. "Ethnic divisions: 50% Pashtun, 25% Tajik, 9% Uzbek, 9% Hazara; minor ethnic groups include Chahar Aimaks, Turkmen, Baluchi and others […] Language: 50% Pashtu, 35% Afghan Persian (Dari), 11% Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen), 4% thirty minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai)[,] much bilingualism"
84. ^ "The World Factbok – Afghanistan". The World Factbook/Central Intelligence Agency. University of Missouri. 15 October 1991. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2011. "Ethnic divisions: 50% Pashtun, 25% Tajik, 9% Uzbek, 12-15% Hazara[,] minor ethnic groups include Chahar Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, and others […] Language: 50% Pashtu, 35% Afghan Persian (Dari), 11% Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen), 4% thirty minor languages (primarily Baluchi and Pashai); much bilingualism"

## Sources

[edit]

* Ruhland, Heike (2019). Peacebuilding in Pakistan: A Study on the Religious Minorities and Initiatives for Interfaith Harmony. Waxmann Verlag.
* Vinogradov, A.G.; Zharnikova, S.V. (2020). Indo-European Ornamental Complexes and their Analogies in the Cultures of Eurasia.
* West, Barbara A. (2010). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. Infobase Publishing. p. 357\. ISBN 9781438119137.
* Witzel, Michael (2004). "Kalash Religion (extract from 'The Ṛgvedic Religious System and its Central Asian and Hindukush Antecedents')" (PDF). In A. Griffiths; J. E. M. Houben (eds.). The Vedas: Texts, Language and Ritual. Groningen: Forsten. pp. 581–636\. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 September 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.

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