In addition, small groups language isolates such as burusho and brahuispeaking peoples also live in the country. The indiapakistan rivalry in afghanistan by zachary constantino summary india and pakistan pursue mutually exclusive objectives in afghanistan and leverage sharply different tools to achieve their respective goals. Afghanistans future will depend on whether and how this issue is resolved. The country has a lot of a valuable stone called lapis lazuli, which was used to decorate the tomb of the egyptian king tutankhamun. The population of the country is divided into the following ethnolinguistic groups. Afghanistans growing ethnic and linguistic divides osce. There is limited, predominantly forced, return movement to afghanistan and continued economic migration to iran and pakistan. Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world and asias poorest, and it also faces one of the most daunting sets of circumstances for inclusive and sustainable growth. The central point of the debate so far on the issue has been the effect of either system on the unity and integrity of the country. Vector map from blank map of afghanistan districts. Loyalty to ones tribe or ethnic group is often contextual, making.
Afghanistan, 20172021 afghanistan inclusive and sustainable growth assessment i. Ethnic violence in afghanistan has played a role in the wars in afghanistan. Afghanistan ethnic map 2005 afghanistan is a multi ethnic country the ethnic groups are such as. Ethnicity and the political reconstruction in afghanistan. Afghanistan is a large country in south asia and is home to many different ethnic groups.
Demographics top at least two major ethnic groupsthe pashtuns and the baluchslive on both sides of the durand line. We combine highresolution population data landscan 2008 and maps that bound areas in which ethnic groups reside to estimate ethnic group population numbers. Pages in category ethnic groups in afghanistan the following 53 pages are in this category, out of 53 total. By vivian nemenyi afghanistan is a warzone, filled with treachery and hatred spewing from different ethnic groups. In an effort to bridge longstanding ethnic divides, president hamid karzais cabinet includes representatives of all of afghanistan s main ethnic groups, though minority tajiks hold most key portfolios, including defense. Afghanistan has a continental climate with hot summers and. Conrad schetter, ethnicity and the political reconstruction of afghanistan, center for development studies zef university of bonn, germany, working paper 3, 2004. The major ethnic groups of pakistan in numerical size include. Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in afghanistan, comprising 42 percent of the population or. Readers will also gain valuable insight on qawm, a. Afghanistan s ethnic diversity does not mean that the members of the different ethnic groups do not interact. There are about a dozen ethnic groups in afghanistan, they include. There is no doubt that the taliban polarised the country between a predominantly pushtun south and east, on the one side, and on the other the centre and north where pushtuns are only a minority. Afghanistans national anthem recognizes 14 ethnic groups among the countrys 27 million people.
Media in category maps of ethnic groups in afghanistan the following 10 files are in this category, out of 10 total. He has spent the past decade researching and writing about security, political, humanitarian and cultural issues in pakistan, afghanistan, and the pashtun heartland along the border region where he was born. Tajiks are the largest nontribal nationality in afghanistan, making up onethird of the population. Related information is available at hyperlinks to source material are highlighted in blue and underlined in the text.
Taliban and other violent extremist groups and generally lacks the capacity to protect religious and ethnic communities from violent attacks, in 2017 uscirf again places afghanistan on tier 2, where it has been since 2006. Afghans have historically identified or associated with ethnic groups, however specific data as to the. Afghanistan has several ethnic groups, the largest being hazara, pashtun, tajik, turkmen, and uzbek. The afghan national anthem and the afghan constitution mention a total of 14 ethnic groups. Karzai himself belongs to the pashtun ethnic group, afghanistan s largest. A key issue for resolution by the people of afghanistan is whether the state should be unitary or federal. Pashtun, tajik, hazara, uzbek, baloch, turkmen, nuristani, pamiri, arab, gujar. Cigi special report january 2009 minorities in iraq. The implications of the usled military intervention against afghanistan. This report provides a brief overview of the various ethnic groups in afghanistan, including their historic and present role within society.
In afghanistan, for example, a comprehensive peace process could help address root causes of the conflict whether or not a peace agreement between the countrys armed, political, and ethnic groups ever materializes. May 08, 20 afghans confront sensitive issue of ethnicity afghanistan is set to issue new national ids that will have a persons ethnicity embedded in it electronically but not printed on it. The pashtun are the largest minority, making up some 38 percent of the population, but like the tajik 25 percent, hazara 19 percent and uzbek 6 percent they are part of a group whose majority lives in another country. The resistance groups that championed the cause of restoration of afghan national pride and revival of the lost state were right from the top party leadership, down to the rank and file, the embodiment of ethnic homogeneity in the case of both pashtuns and minority groups. Mar 20, 2020 ocha coordinates the global emergency response to save lives and protect people in humanitarian crises. One of the more surprising afghanistan facts is that the afghan population is ethnically diverse. Second, while it is true that the taliban have multiple commanders, some with star. While 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.
Conrad schetter, ethnicity and the political reconstruction of afghanistan, center for development studies zef. Information about the iagcis work and a list of the documents which have been. The ethnic groups of afghanistan pashtun peoples are the largest ethnic group in the south of the country, while tajiks and uzbeks are concentrated along the norther borders, and the hazara in the central highlands. This is partly due to silk traders traveling the silk route from china to the western world, creating a nomadic trait in afghanistan.
Policy congressional research service 1 background afghanistan has a history of a high degree of decentralization, and resistance to foreign invasion and occupation. Available also through the library of congress web site as a raster image. About the afghanistan papers abstract although the taliban remain a largely pashtun movement in terms of their composition, they have started making significant inroads among other ethnic groups. Dari and pashto are the countrys official languages. The kurds are an ethnic group that live in turkey, syria, iraq, and iran. The taliban was formed in the early 1990s by an afghan faction of mujahideen, islamic fighters who had resisted the soviet occupation of afghanistan 197989 with the covert backing of the. The most serious attempt to list the ethnic groups in afghanistan to my knowledge is that of erwin orywal and collaborators. Afghanistan is a multicultural entity, which has both tribal and nontribal communities. At the 2016 census the major religious affiliations amongst afghanistan born were islam 42,708, catholic 47 and. Gis vector dataset of ethnoreligious areas in iraq, based on distribution of ethnoreligious groups and tribes, cia country profile, 2003. The support that the outsidersincluding the soviets in the past and the u. Perceiving them as a formidable ethnic group, the pakistani establishment has. In 1933 amanullahs nephew mohammad zahir shah, the last king of afghanistan, began a.
Pashtun, tajik, hazara, uzbek, aimaq, turkmen, baloch, pashayi. The border was established in 1893 via an agreement between abdur rahman khan, the emir or ruler of afghanistan, and sir mortimer durand, foreign secretary of the british raj. Afghanistan conflict and displacement crisis overview. Afghanistan born all overseasborn of the afghanistan born, 3. In 1747, the pashtun, the dominant ethnic group in afghanistan, established their dynasty. Despite being of various ethnic groups, in a research poll that was conducted in 2009, 72% of the population labelled their identity as afghan first, before ethnicity. Afghanistan population 2020 demographics, maps, graphs. Afghanistan has snow and glaciers in the mountains. They are the largest ethnic group in the world without a country of their own. Basically, the country is subdivided into four regions identified by their longstanding urban centers. Executive office of the president, office of management and budget omb, office of. The crisis and politics of ethnicity in afghanistan.
Pashtun peoples are the largest ethnic group in the south of the country, while tajiks and uzbeks are concentrated along the norther borders, and the hazara in the central highlands. The fragmented state of the more than 35 million pashtuns in pakistan and afghanistan is a key factor in this crisis. Major ethnic groups in pakistan, 1973 about 98% of languages spoken in pakistan are indoiranian subbranches. Anthropologists and demographers have tried hard to count the ethnic groups and tribes of afghanistan, with widely differing results. Ethnic groups of pakistan simple english wikipedia, the. Standards for the classification of federal data on race. Punjabis, pashtuns, sindhis, seraikis, muhajirs, balochis, chitralis and other smaller groups. In the north especially, the hezbi islami can more easily recruit from nonpashtun ethnic groups. During the afghan civil war, ethnic groups fought for regional power in a conflict that left millions dead and set the precedence for the rise and.
The ethnic balance we have tried to work out here is, i think, 11 for the pashtuns, eight for the tajiks, five for the hazaras, three for the uzbeks and one or two for the others, the smaller groups. The arabs introduced islam in the 7th century and the turks briefly made afghanistan the center of islamic power and civilization at the beginning of the 11th century. According to 2010 data from the us department of state, the largest ethnic group in afghanistan is the pashtun including kuchis, comprising 42% of afghans. The taliban are often described as an umbrella movement comprising loosely connected groups that are essentially local and unorganized. Increasing numbers of highereducated afghans seek to emigrate while urban migration and unemployment continue to rise. On the contrary, this report s analysis of the structure and strategy of the insurgency reveals a resilient. C i v i l m i l i t a r y f u s i o n c e n t re afghan. Afghanistan simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Aug 14, 2011 ethnic groups often form an individuals perceptions, behaviours and interactions in society. History and conflict between ethnic groups in afghanistan. The taliban beyond the pashtuns centre for international. Although soviet union occupation plays a role in the disaster, afghanistan has many different ethnic groups, resulting in the major struggles between them, which leads towards violence, and.
Information and colours from map of ethnic groups in districts in afghanistan. Pakistan and afghanistan institute for the study of war. We advocate for effective and principled humanitarian action by all, for all. They speak the hazaragi variant of persian, one of the two official languages of afghanistan. Pdf afghanistans ethnic groups share a ychromosomal.
Afghanistan and pakistan ethnic groups national geographic. Pashtuns, tajiks, hazaras, uzbeks, and others who make up less than 2% each. Mar 28, 2012 afghanistan s location, history, and diverse ethnic groups present a unique opportunity to explore how nations and ethnic groups emerged, and how major cultural evolutions and technological developments in human history have influenced modern population structures. Herat in the west, qandahar in the south, mazarisharif in the north, and kabul in the east. The vast majority of indias population is composed of ethnic groups that have evolved over many hundreds if not thousands of years in the country lc, eb. Afghanistan history, map, flag, capital, population. The afghan pushtun heartland roughly covers a large crescentshaped belt following the afghanpakistani border on the east, southward from nuristan, across the south, and northward. Forced by the controlling pashtuns to live in the barren mountains of central afghanistan. Afghan ethnicities presentation notes flashcards quizlet. The history of afghanistan is a history of war and conflict even up to present day. An ethnolinguistic map of showing different language and cultural groups across afghanistan and pakistan.
The majority of afghanistan s ethnic groups 87%, including the hazara 9%, brahui 1. Pakistan utilizes militant groups, including the afghan taliban, as strategic proxies, while india plac. Media in category flags of ethnic groups in afghanistan the following 4 files are in this category, out of 4 total. On this map, both the baloch and pashtun ethnolinguistic groups straddle the 2640kilometer 1640mile border between afghanistan and pakistan, known as the durand line. Afghanistan s 2004 constitution recognizes 14 ethnic groups. Afghanistan s location, history, and diverse ethnic groups present a unique opportunity to explore how nations and ethnic groups emerged, and how major cultural evolutions and technological developments in human history have influenced modern population structures. Afghanistan s ethnic groups share a ychromosomal heritage structured by historical events. The most recent figures on the ethnic affiliations comes from a survey conducted by the asia foundation. Work the type of work that people engage in is divided along ethnic and regional lines in afghanistan. The area along the afghanistanpakistan border opposite peshawar and the.
Many kurds live in an area of northern iraq called kurdistan not a separate country. Afghanistan s ethnic groups share a ychromosomal heritage structured by historical events article pdf available january 2012 with 119 reads how we measure reads. Following violent clashes between the hazara and the kuchi over land, members of the hazara diaspora in the united kingdom and australia came out strongly in support of their ethnic kin in afghanistan and protested zethnic discrimination of the hazara by the afghan state. The population comprises several main ethnic groups 2009. The multiplicity of ethnic groups and languages should have played a. Most languages of pakistan are written in the persoarabic script, with significant vocabulary derived from arabic and persian. An ethnic group cannot be identified or characterised only from within. This lists the logos of programs or partners of ng education which have provided or contributed the content on this page. This level of engagement could occur when the withdrawal of nato and the. We have chosen to focus on the iraqi case not only because it is a question of life or death for hundreds of thousands of people, but also because the crisis there threatens a critical part of human history and civilization. Ethnic groups in afghanistan simple english wikipedia. This, however, is a matter for the afghans themselves. Pashtun, tajik, hazara, uzbek, aymaq, turkmen, baloch, pashai, nuristani, gujjar, arab, brahui, pamiri and a few others. Afghanistan, landlocked multiethnic country located in the heart of southcentral asia.
Barfield and others published afghanistan is not the. Standards for the classification of federal data on race and ethnicity federal register, august 28, 1995. Decentralisation of state powers in afghanistan yash ghai the issue 1. Afghanistans ethnic divides abubakar siddique senior correspondent covering afghanistan and pakistan for rferls. Afghanistan is a multiethnic and mostlytribal society. Its unclear how accurate these estimates may be, given that the last census was nearly 40 years ago in 1979. Like a number of other afghan ethnic groups, the pushtun extend beyond afghanistan into pakistan where they constitute a major ethnic group of about 14 million. Kurds form almost 20% of the population of turkey and iraq. The paper will discuss in detail the ethnic groups, which exist in afghan. Library of congress federal research division country profile. However, resistance to his domestic reform program forced his abdication in 1929. In 2017, uscirf also finds that the taliban merits designation as an entity of particular. Other major tribes include the wardak, jaji, tani, jadran, mangal, khugiani, safi, mohmand and shinwari. Lying along important trade routes connecting southern and eastern asia to europe and the middle east, afghanistan has long been a prize sought by empire builders.
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