The ethnic groups of Afghanistan

[Joso]

When people say "Afghan," they probably think of Afghan Pashtuns and Tajiks. However, a lot of people who are Afghan do not belong to those two ethnicities, approximately 40% of Afghans do not. All these ethnic groups are just as Afghan as one another. This thread is to help people recognize the full diversity of people in Afghanistan, a very misunderstood country. All the Afghan ethnic groups are beautiful.

INB4 "AFGHANISTAN IS NOT IN THE MIDDLE EAST!!!!"' Yes, I know that, but this was the least of the bad sections available.

Pashtuns




Pashtuns are the main ethnic group in Afghanistan. They are an Eastern Iranian people, who's language closely related to Pamiri. Approximately 42% of Afghans are pashtuns. More Pashtuns live in neighboring Pakistan than in Afghanistan. This is due to the Duranid Line boundary issue which was created which divided former Afghan land. However, most Afghan and Pakistani Pashtuns ignore the border and treat it as Afghan land to this day.

Pashtuns are a very tribal people and their culture is formed on the base of pashtunwali code



The culture itself is obviously largely Iranian, but has influences from the Greeks, Indians, Turkics, and Arabs (if you count religion).

One of the biggest non-religious holidays is the persian Norwuz (Persian new year). This holiday is celebrated widely. Albanians, Tatars, Persians, Uzbeks, Tatars, Turks, Pashtuns, Balochis, Kazakhs, Parsis, Georgians, Azeris, Tabassarans, Tajiks, Lezgins, Lurs, Talyshs, Ossetians, Ughyurs, and many other ethnic groups around the area celebrate this holiday as well. It is an highly Iranic holiday and stems from our ancient religion (Zorostrianism), but also celebrated by people in the Balkans and Russia as well. It is usually celebrated around March 21st every year. So this holiday is celebrated by not only the pashtuns but virtually almost everyone in Afghanistan.

Tajiks



Afghan Tajiks are the second largest ethnic group in Afghanistan. They make up roughly a quarter of Afghanistan's population. Tajiks speak an Eastern Persian dialect called "Dari." This is also one of the official languages of Afghanistan.

Tajiks are less tribal than Pashtuns, but they are a very interesting people. Their culture greatly overlaps with pashtuns in terms of traditions, languages, and culture. They are the closest ethnic group to Afghan Pashtuns in terms of everything.

Pamiri Tajiks also fall under this, but I'll give them their own section.

Hazaras



Hazaras in Afghanistan are Persian speaking. Hazaras are descended from mongolian settlers who mixed with the local population. Depsite becoming pashtunified and persianified, many have retained their original Turkic customs and still practice them in Afghanistan, and it is beautiful. Hazaras tie with Uzbeks in being the third largest population(s) in Afghanistan. Hazaras and Uzbeks both individually make up 9% of Afghanistan's population, (meaning together, they make up 18%).

Uzbeks



Uzbeks, like Pashtuns, are a tribal people. Afghanistan has the second largest Uzbek population, and Uzbeks and Afghans go way back. Uzbeks are a Turanid Turkic ethnic group who have strong ties to the Central Asian steepe. As mentioned earlier, Uzbeks make up 9% of Afghans, and tie with Hazaras in being the third largest afghan population. Uzbeks in Afghanistan are a mixture of recent migrants and some are there from historic times some the fall of many Persian and Central Asian empires.

Though Uzbeks have a large affinity to Iranics, they are a Turkic people and have retained a lot of their Turkic culture.

Aimaq



The Aimaqs are a Persian speaking people. They are extremely similar to Hazaras, with the exception of the Aimaqs being Sunni Muslim and not Shiia Muslim like the Hazaras are.


Turkmens




The Turkmens who speak a Turkic language make up 3% of Afghans and are known for being extremely moderate and laidback muslims.

Balochis




The Balochis are another Eastern Iranian people, being somewhat similar to Pashtuns and Tajiks. They make up 2% of Afghans. They speak Balochi.

Pamiris


Pamiri Tajiks are extremely linguistically and ethnically close to Afghan Pashtuns and Tajiks. They also share ties with other Central Asians as well, culturally, since they are spread out across Afghanistan, Tajikstan, and even China.


Nuristanis



The Nuristanis live in Eastern Afghanistan. They are interesting in that they are not Iranic, but their own sub-branch of Indo-Iranian called "Nuristani." They were said to be descended from the Greeks, but genetics have proved that the Kalash (who are probably more or less similar to a good portion Nuristanis) are genetically related to other populations in the area and don't have connections with Greeks. The rumor of them descending from Greeks probably stemmed from the Nuristanis having a high rate of blondism (which is weird cause Greeks aren't even known for being blonde). The Nuristanis and the Kalash have had in iffy history with Pashtuns and Indic groups, with both trying to assimilate them. The Nuristanis are now muslim, but the both the Kalash and the Nuristani have retained most of their culture and have done a good job preserving the original indo-aryan cultures of AfghanIstan.

Other ethnic groups in Afghanistan include Arabs, Gujjars, and Brahuis, who make up 4% of Afghans together

Very cool

[Khamzat]

If we had Balkanic blood, it would have showed ya know. My mom did say she might be part Bulgarian, but I doubt that's true. Nuristanis probably overlap with Pamiris. They're a bit different from the Kalash. Her grandparents from nuristani look like pamiris and the dna test looked very Caucasus shifted like my paternal cousins as well. So they seem to overlap with pashtuns from my dad's area.

Nuristanis are very similar to kalash, they are more similar to chitralis than they are to any Afghan group.

[Myanthropologies]

Nuristanis are very similar to kalash, they are more similar to chitralis than they are to any Afghan group.

Also I found out I don't have nuristani ancestry, and that part of what my mother thought was it is actually Afghan Tajik lol

Nuristanis are diverse though, and we don't know exactly what they're like yet.

[Myanthropologies]

I should make a similar thread for Iran when my laptop comes back from repair with Best Buy

[Khamzat]

Also I found out I don't have nuristani ancestry, and that part of what my mother thought was it is actually Afghan Tajik lol

Nuristanis are diverse though, and we don't know exactly what they're like yet.

Lol i've also got great grandparents who were apparently "Pashai from Nuristan" mine could be similar case to yours lol, my great grandad looked like a cheryy picked nuristani with light hair and eyes that you'd see on this site though lol.

[Myanthropologies]

Lol i've also got great grandparents who were apparently "Pashai from Nuristan" mine could be similar case to yours lol, my great grandad looked like a cheryy picked nuristani with light hair and eyes that you'd see on this site though lol.

Are they really that cherrypicked though? My mother told me that Nuristanis don't look as "Nordic" as people think, but says that roughly 1/3 are blonde or light brown haired.

[Khamzat]

Are they really that cherrypicked though? My mother told me that Nuristanis don't look as "Nordic" as people think, but says that roughly 1/3 are blonde or light brown haired.

No idea but my great grandad did have blonde hair and green eyes, I think light features are much more common there than any part of south central asia but still not higher than 5%

[Marmara]

I liked the fact that Turkmens are laidback muslims

[Myanthropologies]

No idea but my great grandad did have blonde hair and green eyes, I think light features are much more common there than any part of south central asia but still not higher than 5%

I would think it is much higher than 5% because when Coon went to that area, he recorded that 28% of the Kalash he saw were blonde. It is not only westerners who say they look like that, but people from the area who are of other ethnic groups, too.

[Marmara]

Here is a Turkish actor (Muhammet Cangören) who is originally an Afghan. I don't know his background though but i think he speaks Dari.