Ethnic groups in Afghanistan explained

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, Sadat, Mongol 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]

National identity

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.[6]

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.[7] 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

Pashtuns

The Pashtuns make up the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.[8] The exact numbers vary; according to the Library of Congress Country Studies' estimate of 1996, Pashtuns made up 40%, according to other estimates from around the 2000s around 60% of Afghanistan's population.[9] [10] More recent estimates vary between 42% in 2013[11] and 52.4% in 2023.[12] The majority of Pashtuns practice Sunni Islam.[13] 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.[14]

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. The Greek historian Herodotus mentioned a people called Pactyans, living in the Achaemenid's Arachosia Satrap as early as the 1st millennium BC.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17]

Some notable Pashtuns of Afghanistan include: Hamid Karzai, Ashraf Ghani, Nazo Tokhi, Abdul Ahad Momand, Zalmay Khalilzad, the Afghan Girl, Hedayat Amin Arsala, Abdul Rahim Wardak, Sher Mohammad Karimi, Abdul Salam Azimi, Zalmai Rassoul, Omar Zakhilwal, Ghulam Farooq Wardak, Anwar ul-Haq Ahady, Daud Shah Saba, Mohammad Gulab Mangal, Gul Agha Sherzai, Asadullah Khalid, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, Mohammad Ishaq Aloko, Mohammed Omar, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Nashenas, Ubaidullah Jan, Naghma, Farhad Darya, Suhaila Seddiqi, Shukria Barakzai, and Fauzia Gailani.

Tajik

Tajiks form the second-largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.[18] While it is estimated that they make up about 27% of the population as of 2013, they made up 25.3% of Afghanistan's population in 1996, and the Encyclopædia Britannica explains that by the early 21st century they constituted about one-fifth (i. e. 20%) of the population.[19] They are a native Persian-speaking people.[20] As a self-designation, the term Tajik, which earlier on had been more or less pejorative, has become acceptable only during the last several decades, particularly as a result of Soviet administration in Central Asia.[21] Alternative names for the Tajiks are Fārsī (Persian), Fārsīwān (Persian-speaker), and Dīhgān (cf. Tajik: Деҳқон|translit=[[Dehqan|Dehqon]], literally "farmer or settled villager", in a wider sense "settled" in contrast to "nomadic").[22]

Tajiks are the major ethnic group in neighboring Tajikistan, a country that was created north of Afghanistan in 1991. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, large number of Central Asian Tajiks fled the conquest of their native homeland by Russian Red Army and settled in northern Afghanistan.[23] [24]

Some notable Tajiks from Afghanistan include: Habibullah Kalakani, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Ahmad Shah Massoud, Ahmad Zia Massoud, Mohammed Fahim, Yunus Qanuni, Ismail Khan, Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, Atta Muhammad Nur, Amrullah Saleh, Wasef Bakhtari, Abdul Latif Pedram, Massouda Jalal, Baz Mohammad Ahmadi, Mohammed Daud Daud, Abdul Basir Salangi, and Fawzia Koofi.

Hazara

The Hazaras are one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan.[25] 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 the Dari which sometimes their variant is interspersed with many Turkic and a few Mongolic words[26] They practice Islam, mostly the Shi'a, with significant and almost large Sunni, and some Isma'ili. According to Library of Congress Country Studies in 1996, Hazaras made up 18% of country's population, while more recent estimates vary between 9 and 12%.[27]

Some notable Hazaras of Afghanistan include: Abdul Ali Mazari, Commander Shafi Hazara, Ismael Balkhi, Sultan Ali Keshtmand, Abdul Wahed Sarābi, Karim Khalili, Habiba Sarābi, Sarwar Danish, Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, 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

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 with 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.[28] Uzbeks living in Afghanistan were estimated in the 1990s at approximately 1.3 million but are believed to be 2 million in 2011.[29]

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

Smaller ethnic groups

Aimaq

The Aimaqs, Aimaq meaning "tribe" or "group of tribes" in Turkic-Mongolic (Oymaq), 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. 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 Aimaq dialect of the Persian close to Dari, and refer to themselves with tribal designations.[30] Population estimates vary widely, from less than 500,000 to around 800,000.

Turkmen

The Turkmens are a smaller Turkic-speaking ethnic group in Afghanistan. They are predominantly Sunni Muslims, and their origins are very 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.

Baloch

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.

Sadat

On 13 March 2019, addressing the Sadat gathering at the presidential palace (Arg), President Ashraf Ghani said that he will issue a decree on the inclusion of Sadat ethnic group in new electronic national identity card (e-NIC).[31] [32] [33] [34]

Pashayi

The Pashayi are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group[35] 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.[36]

Nuristani

The Nuristanis are an Indo-Iranian 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, Emir Abdur Rahman Khan conducted a military campaign in Kafiristan and followed up his conquest with forced conversion of the Kafirs to Islam;[37] [38] the region thenceforth being known as Nuristan, the "Land of Light".[39] [40] [41] [42] Before their conversion, the Nuristanis practiced a form of ancient Hinduism.[43] [44] [45] 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.[46] [47] Nuristan has also received abundance of settlers from the surrounding Afghanistan regions due to the borderline vacant location.[48] [49]

Pamiri

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. 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.[50]

Kurd

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.[51] [52] [53] 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. 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.[54] Afghan Kurds today are mostly assimilated, yet acknowledge that they are Kurds, most of them speak Dari as their first language, and only a few Kurdish speakers exist among them.[55] They follow Sunni Islam and mainly live in the cities of Herat, Ghazni, Mazar-i-Sharif, and Kabul. According to the Kurdish Institute of Paris, Kurds in Afghanistan number 200,000 people.[56] [57]

Gujar

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.[58] [59] The Gujar people are predominantly found in the 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.

The old Afghanistan constitution recognised 14 ethnic groups officially with the Gujar ethnic group being one of them.[60] 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.[61] 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.[62]

Kyrgyz

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.[63]

Others

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

On September 2021, Zablon Simintov left Afghanistan, and thus the Afghan Jewry came to its end.[64]

Distribution

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 for example are highly concentrated in southern Afghanistan and parts of the east, but nevertheless large minorities exist elsewhere.[65] Tajiks are highly concentrated in the north-east, but also form large communities elsewhere such as in western Afghanistan.[66] Hazaras tend to be mostly concentrated in the wider "Hazarajat" region of central Afghanistan,[67] while Uzbeks are densely populated in the north.[68] 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.[69] [70] The provinces of Ghazni, Kunduz, Kabul and Jowzjan are noted for remarkable ethnic diversity.

Ethnic composition

The population of Afghanistan was estimated in 2023 at 41.6 million.[71] 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,[72] an approximate distribution of the ethnic groups is shown in the chart below:

Ethnic groups in Afghanistan
Ethnic groupImage
[73] [74] [75] [76]
[77] [78]
[79]
Pashtun52.4%37–60%
38–62%
50–70%
55–60%
Tajikalign=center rowspan="2"32.1%20–39%
12–28%
20–35%
20–30%
Hazara6–13%
7–19%
5–10%
3–7%
Uzbek8.8%5–9%
6–14%
5–10%
3–8%
Aimaq–0–4%
–––
Turkmen1.9%1–3%
2–2.5%
––
Baloch0.9%0–3%
–––
Others (Pashai, Nuristani, Brahui, Qizilbash, Pamiri, Gujjar, etc.)3.9%0–4%
1–12%
0–5%
0–4%
The recent estimate in the above chart is somewhat supported by the below national opinion polls, which were aimed at knowing how a group of about 804 to 8,706 local residents in Afghanistan felt about the current war, political situation, as well as the economic and social issues affecting their daily lives. Ten surveys were conducted between 2004 and 2015 by the Asia Foundation (a sample is shown in the table below; the survey in 2015 did not contain information on the ethnicity of the participants) and one between 2004 and 2009 by a combined effort of the broadcasting companies NBC News, BBC, and ARD.[80] [81]
Answers regarding ethnicity provided by 804 to 13,943 Afghans in national opinion polls
Ethnic group
Pashtun46%40%42%38%40.1%40%40%40%37%39%
Tajik39%37%37%38%35.1%37%33%36%37%37%
Hazara6%13%12%6%10.0%11%11%10%10%11%
Uzbek6%6%5%6%8.1%7%9%8%9%8%
Aimak0%0%0%0%0.8%0%1%1%1%<0.5%
Turkmen1%1%3%2%3.1%2%2%2%2%2%
Baloch0%0%0%3%0.7%1%1%1%1%<0.5%
Others (Pashayi, Nuristani, Kurdish, Qizilbash.)3%3%1%5%2.1%3%3%2%2%3%
Don't knowalign=center-%align=center-%align=center-%align=center-%align=center-%align=center-%align=center-%align=center-%1%align=center-%
What is noticeable is that the percentage of Tajik people is noticeably higher across the board in these polls in comparison to the estimations of The World Factbook, World Data etc., while the number of Pashtuns and Aimaks tends to get underrepresented.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. . Iwamura . Shinobu . Hunting for the Génghis Khanid Mongols in Afghanistan . Japan Quarterly . 3 . 2 . April 1956 . 213 .
  2. Web site: Mongolian .
  3. Web site: Mongolian .
  4. Web site: Mongolian languages summary | Britannica .
  5. Web site: Article Four of the Constitution of Afghanistan . The nation of Afghanistan is the following ethnic groups: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbak, Turkman, Baluch, Pashai, Nuristani, Aimaq, Qirghiz, Qizilbash, Gujur, Brahwui and others. . 23 May 2017 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20131028065437/http://www.afghan-web.com/politics/current_constitution.html#preamble . 28 October 2013.
  6. Web site: Afghan . Ch. M. . Kieffer . . 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. . live . 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 . 16 November 2013.
  7. Web site: Afghanistan – Non-Muslims . countrystudies.us . 27 April 2018 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20161103013037/http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/53.htm . 3 November 2016.
  8. Book: Afghanistan in 2018. A Survey of the Afghan People . . 2018 . 283. https://web.archive.org/web/20121115230323/https://www.asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/Surveybook2012web1.pdf. 15 November 2012 . dead.
  9. Book: Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world. Brown. Keith. Sarah Ogilvie. 2009. Elsevie. 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.. 978-0-08-087774-7. 845. 2010-09-24.
  10. Book: September 11, 2001: feminist perspectives. Hawthorne. Susan. Bronwyn Winter. 2002. Spinifex Press. Over 60 percent of the population in Afghanistan is Pashtun.... 1-876756-27-6. 225. 2010-09-24.
  11. Web site: The World Factbook . cia.gov . 11 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131014200908/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2075.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af&regionCode=sas&#af . 14 October 2013 . dead.
  12. Web site: Afghanistan: Country data and statistics . https://web.archive.org/web/20240104193327/https://www.worlddata.info/asia/afghanistan/index.php . 4 January 2024 .
  13. See:
  14. Web site: 2003 . Ethnic map of Afghanistan . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110715231715/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0311/feature2/images/mp_download.2.pdf . 15 July 2011 . 24 October 2010 . . National Geographic Society.
  15. http://www.piney.com/Heredotus7.html Chapter 7
  16. Web site: 1969 . Afghan and Afghanistan . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110707103517/http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Afghan_and_Afghanistan.htm . 7 July 2011 . 24 October 2010 . . alamahabibi.com.
  17. Web site: Pashtun . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20131030170021/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/445546/Pashtun . 30 October 2013 . 21 March 2011 . Encyclopædia Britannica.
  18. [Richard Foltz]
  19. Web site: Tajik . Encyclopædia Britannica . There were about 5,000,000 in Afghanistan, where they constituted about one-fifth of the population. . 6 November 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20111125205057/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/581024/Tajik . 25 November 2011.
  20. Web site: John . Perry . TAJIK i. THE ETHNONYM: ORIGINS AND APPLICATION . Encyclopædia Iranica . 20 July 2009 . 10 April 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140517070443/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/tajik-i-the-ethnonym-origins-and-application . 17 May 2014.
  21. Encyclopedia: C.E. Bosworth . B.G. Fragner . TĀDJĪK . . CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0 . Koninklijke Brill NV . Leiden, The Netherlands . 1999.
  22. Encyclopedia: M. Longworth Dames . G. Morgenstierne . R. Ghirshman . AFGHĀNISTĀN . . CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0 . Koninklijke Brill NV . Leiden, The Netherlands . 1999.
  23. Web site: The Networks of Kunduz: A History of Conflict and Their Actors, from 1992 to 2001 . While non-Pashtun settlers from inside Afghanistan such as Tajiks, Hazara or Baluch people moved to Kataghan during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as well, the most considerable wave of non-Pashtun immigration to the northeast occurred in the 1920s. By this time between one-and two-hundred thousand Tajiks and Uzbeks fled the conquest of their homeland by Russian Red Army and settled in northern Afghanistan . Wörmer . Nils . 2012 . Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik . . 8 . 10 April 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20131104043424/http://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/fachpublikationen/wrm_2012_the_networks_of_Kunduz.pdf . 4 November 2013.
  24. Web site: Afghanistan: Glossary . tajiks An ethnic minority group migrated from former Russian Turkestan, ethnically and linguistically Persian, residing north of the Hindu Kush and around Kabul . . 15 March 2008 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20100702122855/http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/afghanistan/afghanistancollection/afghanglossary/afghanglossary.html . 2 July 2010.
  25. Web site: Arash Khazeni, Alessandro Monsutti, Charles M. Kieffer . HAZĀRA . Encyclopædia Iranica . 15 December 2003 . 10 April 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20131117041334/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hazara-1 . 17 November 2013.
  26. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hazara "Hazara people • Britannica"
  27. see cite note #73
  28. Web site: . July 1982 . Afghanistan: (iv.) ethnocgraphy . Encyclopædia Iranica . 10 April 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140310021354/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afghanistan-iv-ethnography . 10 March 2014.
  29. Web site: Uzbek . Encyclopædia Britannica . 6 November 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20111127183140/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/621020/Uzbek . 27 November 2011.
  30. Web site: Library of Congress, Aimaq . loc.gov . 27 April 2018 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170811104522/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+af0042%29 . 11 August 2017.
  31. News: President Ghani to Issue Legislative Decree on Recognizing 'Sadat' as Ethnic Group . Ariana News . en.
  32. Web site: 'Sadat Ethnicity' to be Inserted in e-NIC . 13 March 2019 . 14 March 2021 . 9 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210509183659/https://www.didpress.com/en/2019/03/13/sadat-ethnicity-to-be-inserted-in-e-nic/ . dead .
  33. News: Hamdard . Azizullah . Ghani decrees mentioning Sadat tribe in electronic ID card . subscription . 15 March 2019 . en.
  34. Web site: Ethnic Identity and Genealogies . Program for Culture and Conflict Studies – Naval Postgraduate School . en.
  35. Book: Minahan, James B. . Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia . 10 February 2014 . ABC-CLIO . 9781610690188 . 217 . English . 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..
  36. Web site: What Languages do People Speak in Afghanistan? . worldpopulationreview.com.
  37. Web site: Wlodek Witek (CHArt 2001) . chart.ac.uk . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721135131/http://www.chart.ac.uk/chart2001/papers/noframes/witek.html . 21 July 2011.
  38. Persée: A Kafir goddess. Arts Asiatiques . 1968 . 18 . 1 . 3–21 . 10.3406/arasi.1968.1603 . Motamedi . Ahmad . Edelberg . Lennart .
  39. Book: Ewans, Martin . Afghanistan: a short history of its people and politics . Harper Perennial . 2002 . 103.
  40. Klimburg . Max . A Former Kafir Tells His 'Tragic Story': Notes on the Kati Kafirs of Northern Bashgal (Afghanistan) . East and West . 2008 . 58 . 1/4 . 391–402 . 29757772 .
  41. Reflections of the Islamisation of Kafiristan in Oral Tradition . Georg . Buddruss . Journal of Asian Civilizations . 31 . 1–2 . 2008 . 16–35 .
  42. '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
  43. Book: Minahan, James B. . Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia . 10 February 2014 . . en . 9781610690188 . 205 . 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..
  44. Book: Barrington . Nicholas . Kendrick . Joseph T. . Schlagintweit . Reinhard . A Passage to Nuristan: Exploring the Mysterious Afghan Hinterland . 18 April 2006 . . en . 9781845111755 . 111 . 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..
  45. Book: Weiss . Mitch . Maurer . Kevin . No Way Out: A Story of Valor in the Mountains of Afghanistan . 31 December 2012 . Berkley Caliber . en . 9780425253403 . 299 . 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..
  46. Book: Hauner, M. . 1991 . The Soviet War in Afghanistan . United Press of America.
  47. Book: Ballard . Lamm . Wood . 2012 . From Kabul to Baghdad and back: The U.S. at war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
  48. Web site: Nuristan a Safe Passage for Taliban to Enter North and North-Eastern Parts of Afghanistan . 4 January 2014 . dead . 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 . 29 October 2013 .
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  50. Web site: 2016-09-07 . The Pamiris: People on the Roof of the World . 2016-09-07 . Paramount Journey . 12 June 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180612163305/http://paramountjourney.com/en/pamiris/ . dead .
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  58. News: Afghan News . Pajhwok . January 2021 . Govt has long ignored our problems, needs: Gujars . 15 March 2023.
  59. News: Hamdard . Azizullah . January 2021 . Gujars use Andak meat for coronavirus treatment . 15 March 2023.
  60. News: March 2021 . Afghanistan Recognizes Long Forgotten Ethnic Tatar Community . Radiofreeeurope/Radioliberty . 15 March 2023.
  61. News: February 2018 . Gujar tribesmen forcibly evicted from Takhar homes . 20 March 2023.
  62. News: September 2013 . Karzai assures to consider Gujar tribe demands . 15 March 2023.
  63. News: Estrin . James . February 4, 2013 . A Hard Life on the 'Roof of the World' . The New York Times .
  64. Web site: 2021-09-09 . Afghanistan's last Jew leaves after Taliban takeover . 2024-08-02 . AP News . en.
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  70. Book: Afghanistan's Experiences: The History of the Most Horrifying Events Involving Politics, Religion, and Terrorism . 978-1-5049-8614-4 . D . Hamid Hadi M. . 24 March 2016. AuthorHouse .
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  73. See:
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2019 – A survey of the Afghan people . 277 . D-14. Which ethnic group do you belong to? . . Kabul, Afghanistan . 15 September 2021 . https://archive.today/20210915152910/https://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2019_Afghan_Survey_Full-Report_.pdf . 15 September 2021.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2018 – A survey of the Afghan people . 243 . D-14. WHICH ETHNIC GROUP DO YOU BELONG TO? . . Kabul, Afghanistan . 31 December 2018 . 7 August 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190807211241/https://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2018_Afghan-Survey_fullReport-12.4.18.pdf . dead.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2012 – A survey of the Afghan people . 182 . Ethnicity Status . . Kabul, Afghanistan . 28 November 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20121115230323/https://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/Surveybook2012web1.pdf . 15 November 2012.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2010 – A survey of the Afghan people . 225–226 . 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% . The Asia Foundation . Kabul, Afghanistan . 2010 . 20 March 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110719221519/https://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/Afghanistanin2010survey.pdf . 19 July 2011.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2009: A Survey of the Afghan People . The 2009 survey interviewed 6,406 Afghans (53% men and 47% women) . The Asia Foundation . Kabul, Afghanistan . 28 November 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120907040332/https://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/Afghanistanin2009.pdf . 7 September 2012.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2010 – A survey of the Afghan people . The 2008 survey interviewed 6,593 Afghans... . The Asia Foundation . Kabul, Afghanistan . 28 November 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120905002127/https://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/Afghanistanin2008.pdf . 5 September 2012.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2007 – A survey of the Afghan people . 225–226 . 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% . The Asia Foundation . Kabul, Afghanistan . 2010 . 20 March 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110813043634/https://www.asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/AGsurvey07.pdf . 13 August 2011.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2006 – A survey of the Afghan people . 83–88 . 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 . The Asia Foundation . Kabul, Afghanistan . 28 November 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120413085751/https://www.asiafoundation.org/pdf/AG-survey06.pdf . 13 April 2012.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2004 – A survey of the Afghan people . 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%. . The Asia Foundation . Kabul, Afghanistan . 2004 . 28 November 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120906011313/https://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/afghanvotered04.pdf . 6 September 2012.
  74. Web site: ABC NEWS/BBC/ARD poll - Afghanistan: Where Things Stand. 38–40. ABC News. Kabul, Afghanistan. 29 October 2010. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20110628130800/https://abcnews.go.com/images/PollingUnit/1083a1Afghanistan2009.pdf . 28 June 2011.
  75. Book: Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world. Brown. Keith. Sarah Ogilvie. 2009. Elsevie. 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.. 978-0-08-087774-7. 845. 7 April 2012.
  76. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/40616/Mobasher_washington_0250E_17869.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
  77. Web site: Ethnic Groups. 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.. Library of Congress Country Studies. 1997. 8 October 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090110132651/https://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+af0037%29. 10 January 2009.
  78. Web site: PEOPLE – Ethnic divisions. Pashtun 38%, Tajik 25%, Uzbek 6%, Hazara 19%; minor ethnic groups include Chahar Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, and others. The World Factbook/Central Intelligence Agencyu. University of Missouri. 22 January 1993. 20 March 2011. 9 October 1999. https://web.archive.org/web/19991009201426/https://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/wofact92/wf930006.txt. dead.
  79. Web site: The World Factbok – Afghanistan. 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 Balochi and Pashai)[,] much bilingualism. The World Factbook/Central Intelligence Agency. University of Missouri. 15 October 1991. 20 March 2011. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20110427053700/https://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/wofact90/world12.txt. 27 April 2011.
  80. See:
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2019 – A survey of the Afghan people . 277 . D-14. Which ethnic group do you belong to? . . Kabul, Afghanistan . 15 September 2021 . https://archive.today/20210915152910/https://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2019_Afghan_Survey_Full-Report_.pdf . 15 September 2021.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2018 – A survey of the Afghan people . 243 . D-14. WHICH ETHNIC GROUP DO YOU BELONG TO? . . Kabul, Afghanistan . 31 December 2018 . 7 August 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190807211241/https://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2018_Afghan-Survey_fullReport-12.4.18.pdf . dead.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2012 – A survey of the Afghan people . 182 . Ethnicity Status . . Kabul, Afghanistan . 28 November 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20121115230323/https://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/Surveybook2012web1.pdf . 15 November 2012.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2010 – A survey of the Afghan people . 225–226 . 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% . The Asia Foundation . Kabul, Afghanistan . 2010 . 20 March 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110719221519/https://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/Afghanistanin2010survey.pdf . 19 July 2011.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2009: A Survey of the Afghan People . The 2009 survey interviewed 6,406 Afghans (53% men and 47% women) . The Asia Foundation . Kabul, Afghanistan . 28 November 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120907040332/https://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/Afghanistanin2009.pdf . 7 September 2012.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2010 – A survey of the Afghan people . The 2008 survey interviewed 6,593 Afghans... . The Asia Foundation . Kabul, Afghanistan . 28 November 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120905002127/https://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/Afghanistanin2008.pdf . 5 September 2012.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2007 – A survey of the Afghan people . 225–226 . 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% . The Asia Foundation . Kabul, Afghanistan . 2010 . 20 March 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110813043634/https://www.asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/AGsurvey07.pdf . 13 August 2011.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2006 – A survey of the Afghan people . 83–88 . 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 . The Asia Foundation . Kabul, Afghanistan . 28 November 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120413085751/https://www.asiafoundation.org/pdf/AG-survey06.pdf . 13 April 2012.
    • Web site: Afghanistan in 2004 – A survey of the Afghan people . 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%. . The Asia Foundation . Kabul, Afghanistan . 2004 . 28 November 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120906011313/https://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/afghanvotered04.pdf . 6 September 2012.
  81. Web site: ABC NEWS/BBC/ARD poll - Afghanistan: Where Things Stand. 38–40. ABC News. Kabul, Afghanistan. 29 October 2010. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20110628130800/https://abcnews.go.com/images/PollingUnit/1083a1Afghanistan2009.pdf . 28 June 2011.

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