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Afghans or Afghan people are nationals or citizens of Afghanistan, or people with ancestry from there. Afghanistan is made up of various ethnicities, of which Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks are the largest. The three main languages spoken by Afghans are Dari, Pashto, and Uzbek, and many Afghans are bilingual, speaking both Dari and Pashto.
The Hazaras are an ethnic group and a principal component of the population of Afghanistan. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan and primarily residing in the Hazaristan (Hazarajat) region in central Afghanistan. Hazaras are also as significant minority groups in Pakistan mainly in Quetta and Iran mainly in Mashhad. They speak the Dari and Hazaragi dialects of Persian. Dari, also known as Dari Persian, is one of two official languages of Afghanistan.
Tajiks are a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Tajiks are the largest ethnicity in Tajikistan, and the second-largest in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. They speak varieties of Persian, a Western Iranian language. In Tajikistan, since the 1939 Soviet census, its small Pamiri and Yaghnobi ethnic groups are included as Tajiks. In China, the term is used to refer to its Pamiri ethnic groups, the Tajiks of Xinjiang, who speak the Eastern Iranian Pamiri languages. In Afghanistan, the Pamiris are counted as a separate ethnic group.
The Tatars, formerly also spelt Tartars, is an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" across Eastern Europe and Asia. Initially, the ethnonym Tatar possibly referred to the Tatar confederation. That confederation was eventually incorporated into the Mongol Empire when Genghis Khan unified the various steppe tribes. Historically, the term Tatars was applied to anyone originating from the vast Northern and Central Asian landmass then known as Tartary, a term which was also conflated with the Mongol Empire itself. More recently, however, the term has come to refer more narrowly to related ethnic groups who refer to themselves as Tatars or who speak languages that are commonly referred to as Tatar.
Pashtunistan is a region located on the Iranian Plateau, inhabited by the indigenous Pashtun people of southern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, wherein Pashtun culture, the Pashto language, and Pashtun identity have been based. Alternative names historically used for the region include Pashtūnkhwā (پښتونخوا), Pakhtūnistān, Pathānistān, or simply the Pashtun Belt.
The population of Afghanistan is around 41 million as of 2023. The nation is composed of a multi-ethnic and multilingual society, reflecting its location astride historic trade and invasion routes between Central Asia, South Asia, and Western Asia. Ethnic groups in the country include Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, as well as smaller groups such as Baloch, Nuristani, Turkmen, Aimaq, Mongol and some others which are less known. Together they make up the contemporary Afghan people.
The music of Afghanistan comprises many varieties of classical music, folk music, and modern popular music. Afghanistan has a rich musical heritage and features a mix of Persian melodies, Indian compositional principles, and sounds from ethnic groups such as the Pashtuns, Tajiks and Hazaras. Instruments used range from Indian tablas to long-necked lutes. Afghanistan's classical music is closely related to Hindustani classical music while sourcing much of its lyrics directly from classical Persian poetry such as Mawlana Balkhi (Rumi) and the Iranian tradition indigenous to central Asia. Lyrics throughout most of Afghanistan are typically in Dari (Persian) and Pashto. The multi-ethnic city of Kabul has long been the regional cultural capital, but outsiders have tended to focus on the city of Herat, which is home to traditions more closely related to Iranian music than in the rest of the country.
Balkh is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country. It is divided into 15 districts and has a population of about 1,509,183, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a Persian-speaking society. The city of Mazar-i-Sharif serves as the capital of the province. The Mazar-i-Sharif International Airport and Camp Marmal sit on the eastern edge of Mazar-i-Sharif.
Habib Yunich was a Chinese Tatar educator, journalist, and politician. He served as the Second East Turkestan Republic's first education minister, from the state's establishment in 1944 until his sudden death from typhus in 1945. He was succeeded by his deputy Saifuddin Azizi.
The culture of Afghanistan has persisted for over three millennia, tracing record to at least the time of the Achaemenid Empire in 500 BCE, and encompasses the cultural diversity of the nation. Afghanistan's culture is historically strongly connected to nearby Persia, including the same religion, as the people of both countries have lived together for thousands of years. Its location at the crossroads of Central, South and Western Asia historically made it a hub of diversity, dubbed by one historian as the "roundabout of the ancient world".
Pashtun diaspora comprises all ethnic Pashtuns. There are millions of Pashtuns who are living outside of their traditional homeland of Pashtunistan, a historic region that is today situated over parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. While the (erstwhile) Pashtunistan is home to the majority of Pashtun people, there are significant local Pashtun diaspora communities scattered across the neighbouring Pakistani provinces of Sindh and Punjab, particularly in their respective provincial capital cities of Karachi and Lahore. Additionally, people with Pashtun ancestry are also found across India; particularly in Rohilkhand, a region in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh; and in the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Outside of South Asia, significant Pashtun diaspora communities are found in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Iran, Australia, Canada, and Russia.
Afghanistan is a linguistically diverse nation, with upwards of 40 distinct languages. However, Dari and Pashto are two of the most prominent languages in the country, and have shared official status under various governments of Afghanistan. Dari, as a shared language between multiple ethnic groups in the country, has served as a historical lingua franca between different linguistic groups in the region and is the most widely understood language in the country. Pashto is also widely spoken in the region; but the language does not have a diverse multi-ethnic population like Dari, and the language is not as commonly spoken by non-Pashtuns. Dari and Pashto are also "relatives", as both are Iranian languages.
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. Altogether they make up the Afghan people.
Jumhūriyyah is the word for "republic" in the Arabic language. Loanwords representing variations of the term also exist in other language families, especially Turkic.
Fayzabad also spelled Feyzabad or Faizabad is a city in northeastern Afghanistan, with a population of around 39,555 people. It serves as the provincial capital and largest city of Badakhshan Province. It is situated in Fayzabad District and is at an altitude of 1,254 m (4,114 ft).
As a geographically fragmented state, Afghanistan is separated into as many as 14 ethnic groups that have historically faced divisions that devolved into political violence. This conflict reached its culminating point in the 1990s with the rise of the Taliban.
Anti-Pashtun sentiment refers to dislike and hostility towards Pashtuns, Pashtun culture, or the Pashto language. This includes fear as well as resentment exhibited by non-Pashtun ethnic majorities who have suffered decades of persecution at the hands of Pashtuns, including disappearances, murder, slavery, Pashtunization, and genocide, especially the Hazaras.
Tatar Hazara is a tribe consisting mostly of Sunni Hazaras in Afghanistan. They live mainly in northern parts of Afghanistan and Bamyan. They speak the Hazaragi dialect of Persian.
Afghan Turkmens or Turkmens of Afghanistan live in the north-west of Afghanistan along the border with Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, surrounded by a larger group of Afghan Uzbeks. The number of Turkmens in Afghanistan is estimated at 1 million people or roughly 2-3% of the population of Afghanistan.
References
- 1 2 "کنگره جهانی تاتارها: یک هزار دانشجوی تاتار افغانستان به چین و هند میروند". افغانستان اینترنشنال (in Persian). 2023-12-13. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- ↑ مزارشریف, حیات شیبان بی بی سی. "افغانستان تاتارلری نیگه هزاره گی تیلده گپلشماقده لر؟ - BBC O'zbek". www.bbc.com (in Uzbek). Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- 1 2 3 "Afghanistan Recognizes Long Forgotten Ethnic Tatar Community". www.rferl.org. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- 1 2 "تاتارهای افغانستان در تلاش بازیابی فرهنگ فراموش شدۀ شان". da.azadiradio.com. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- 1 2 "Now living conditions of the Tatars in Afghanistan remind those of emigrants — RealnoeVremya.com". m.realnoevremya.com. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- ↑ Semple, Michael (2011-03-02). "Guest Blog: Why the Buddhas of Bamian were destroyed". Afghanistan Analysts Network - English (in Pashto). Retrieved 2023-01-02.
- ↑ Рушан, Лукманов. "The delegation of the Tatars of Afghanistan visited their historical homeland – the city of Bolgar". Всемирный конгресс татар. Retrieved 2023-12-13.