Ethnic groups in South Asia

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Ethnic groups in South Asia are ethnolinguistic groupings within the diverse populations of South Asia, including the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. [1] Afghanistan is variously considered to be a part of both Central Asia and South Asia, which means Afghans are not always included among South Asians, but when they are, South Asia has a total population of about 2.04 billion. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Contents

The majority of the population fall within three large linguistic groups: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, and Iranic. These groups are also further subdivided into numerous sub-groups, castes and tribes. Indo-Aryans form the predominant ethnolinguistic group in India (North India, East India, West India, and Central India), Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. [11] Dravidians form the predominant ethnolinguistic group in southern India, the northern and eastern regions of Sri Lanka and a small pocket of Pakistan. [12] The Iranic peoples also have a significant presence in South Asia, the large majority of whom are located in Afghanistan and the northwestern and western parts of Pakistan. [13] [14]

Minority groups not falling within either large group mostly speak languages belonging to the Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman language families, and largely live around Ladakh and Northeast India, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The Andamanese (Sentinel, Onge, Jarawa, and Great Andamanese) live in some of the Andaman Islands and speak a language isolate, as do the Kusunda in central Nepal, [15] the Vedda in Sri Lanka, and the Nihali of Central India, who number about 5,000 people. The people of the Hunza Valley in Pakistan are another distinct population; they speak Burushaski, a language isolate.

The traditions of different ethnic groups in South Asia have diverged, influenced by external cultures, especially in the northwestern parts of South Asia and also in the border regions and busy ports, where there are greater levels of contact with external cultures. There is also a lot of genetic diversity within the region. For example, most of the ethnic groups of the northeastern parts of South Asia are genetically related to peoples of East or Southeast Asia. There are also genetically isolated groups who have not been genetically influenced by other groups, such as the Jarawa people of the Andaman Islands. The largest ethnolinguistic group in South Asia are the Indo-Aryans, numbering around 1 billion, and the largest subgroup are the native speakers of Hindi languages, numbering more than 470 million.

These groups are based solely on a linguistic basis and not on a genetic basis.

List of ethnic groups on the basis of language

South Asian language families South Asian Language Families.jpg
South Asian language families

Andamanese groups

Austroasiatic people

Austronesian people

Dravidian people

Indo-Aryan people

The extent of Indo-Aryan languages in South Asia Major Indo-Aryan languages.png
The extent of Indo-Aryan languages in South Asia

Iranic people

Nuristani people

Semitic people

Tai people

Tibeto-Burman people

Turkic people

Afro-Asian groups

European and Eurasian people

East Asian people

Chinese

Linguistic isolate groups

Diaspora

Many South Asian ethnic groups and nationalities have substantial diasporas.

See also Bangladeshi diaspora, Indian diaspora, Nepalese diaspora, Pakistani diaspora, Afghan diaspora, and .

Ethnolinguistic diasporas

Other diasporas

Two (or possibly three) other people groups have ethnic and linguistic ties with the region:

See also

National demographics:

Related Research Articles

This is a list of notable persons by nationality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desi</span> Peoples, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and their diaspora

Desi also Deshi, is a loose term used to describe the peoples, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and their diaspora, derived from Sanskrit देश, meaning 'land' or 'country'. Desi traces its origin to the people from the South Asian republics of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, and may also sometimes include people from Myanmar, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Asian cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of South Asia

South Asian cuisine, includes the traditional cuisines from the modern-day South Asian republics of Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, also sometimes including the kingdom of Bhutan and the emirate of Afghanistan. Also sometimes known as Desi cuisine, it has been influenced by and also has influenced other Asian cuisines beyond the Indian subcontinent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinduism in France</span>

Hinduism is a minority religion in France that is followed by more than 121,312 people in France, which is nearly 0.2% of the nation's population. Most of the Hindus in France are mainly from the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora and the Indian diaspora, though there are many Hindus from Nepal, Afghanistan, Mauritius and other nations. There are also Hindus who are french citizen

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in the Middle East</span>

Ethnic groups in the Middle East are ethnolinguistic groupings in the "transcontinental" region that is commonly a geopolitical term designating the intercontinental region comprising West Asia without the South Caucasus, and also comprising Egypt in North Africa. The Middle East has historically been a crossroad of different cultures and languages. Since the 1960s, the changes in political and economic factors have significantly altered the ethnic composition of groups in the region. While some ethnic groups have been present in the region for millennia, others have arrived fairly recently through immigration. The largest socioethnic groups in the region are Egyptians, Arabs, Turks, Persians, Kurds, and Azerbaijanis but there are dozens of other ethnic groups that have hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions of members.

Asian people are the people of the continent of Asia. The term may also refer to their descendants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in Asia</span> Ethnic group

The ancestral population of modern Asian people has its origins in the two primary prehistoric settlement centres – greater Southwest Asia and from the Mongolian plateau towards Northern China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of South Asia</span>

South Asia is home to several hundred languages, spanning the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It is home to the fourth most spoken language in the world, Hindi–Urdu; and the sixth most spoken language, Bengali. Languages like Bengali, Tamil and Nepali have official/national status in more than one country of this region. The languages in the region mostly comprise Indo-Iranic and Dravidian languages, and further members of other language families like Austroasiatic, and Tibeto-Burman languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian subcontinent</span> Physiographical region in South Asia

The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia, mostly situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geographically, it spans the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, the British Indian Ocean Territory, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Although the terms "Indian subcontinent" and "South Asia" are often used interchangeably to denote the region, the geopolitical term of South Asia frequently includes Afghanistan, which is not considered a part of the subcontinent, while excluding the British Indian Ocean Territory which is geologically associated with the subcontinent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Asia</span> Subregion of Asia

South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethnic-cultural terms. With a population of 2.04 billion living in South Asia, it contains a quarter (25%) of the world's population. As commonly conceptualised, the modern states of South Asia include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, with Afghanistan also often included, which may otherwise be classified as part of Central Asia. South Asia borders East Asia to the northeast, Central Asia to the northwest, West Asia to the west and Southeast Asia to the east. Apart from Southeast Asia, Maritime South Asia is the only subregion of Asia that lies partly within the Southern Hemisphere. The British Indian Ocean Territory and two out of 26 atolls of the Maldives in South Asia lie entirely within the Southern Hemisphere. Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian subcontinent and is bounded by the Indian Ocean in the south, and the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Pamir Mountains in the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian diaspora</span> Ethnic group

Overseas Indians, officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin (PIOs) are Indians who reside or originate outside of India. According to the Government of India, Non-Resident Indians are citizens of India who currently are not living in India, while the term People of Indian Origin refers to people of Indian birth or ancestry who are citizens of countries other than India. Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) is given to People of Indian Origin and to persons who are not People of Indian Origin but married to Indian citizen or People of Indian Origin. Persons with OCI status are known as Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs). The OCI status is a permanent visa for visiting India with a foreign passport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamil Mauritians</span> Ethnic group

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamil Nadu diaspora</span>

The Tamil Nadu diaspora comprises people who have emigrated from South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, to other non-Tamil Indian states and other countries, and people of Tamil Nadu descent born or residing in other non-Tamil Indian states and other countries.

Bihari diaspora are people hailing from the Indian state of Bihar who resides outside of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinduism in South Asia</span> Overview of Hinduism in South Asia

Hinduism is the largest religion in South Asia with about 1.2 billion Hindus, forming just under two-thirds of South Asia's population. South Asia has the largest population of Hindus in the world, with about 99% of all global Hindus being from South Asia. Hinduism is the dominant religion in India and Nepal and is the second-largest religion in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan.

South Asians in the Netherlands, also referred to as South Asian Dutch or Dutch South Asians, are citizens or residents of the Netherlands whose ancestry traces back to South Asia. They are a subcategory of Dutch Asians.

References

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  8. https://study.com/academy/lesson/asian-ethnic-groups.html "South Asia is home to the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka."
  9. https://minorityrights.org/minorities/south-asians/ "In the UK the term South Asian usually refers to people from the Indian subcontinent."
  10. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.055159 "Individuals of South Asian (Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Indian, Maldivian, Nepalese, Pakistani, and Sri Lankan) ancestry account for almost a quarter of the world’s population, and the South Asian diaspora is one of the largest and most widespread across the globe."
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  12. Swan, Michael; Smith, Bernard (26 April 2001). Learner English: A Teacher's Guide to Interference and Other Problems. Cambridge University Press. p. 227. ISBN   978-0-521-77939-5 . Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  13. Kachru, Braj B.; Kachru, Yamuna; Sridhar, S. N. (27 March 2008). Language in South Asia. Cambridge University Press. p. 34. ISBN   978-1-139-46550-2.
  14. "Pakistan", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 24 January 2024
  15. D.E. Watters, Notes on Kusunda (a language isolate of Nepal), Kathmandu 2005
  16. Yasmin Saikia (9 November 2004). Fragmented Memories. Duke University Press. ISBN   0822333732.

16. Vij SB, Webb ML. Culturally competent occupational therapy practice for South Asians in the United States of America: A narrative review. Indian J Occup Ther 2022;54:4-9.

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