Languages spoken in Afghanistan: map, families and speakers

Languages of Afghanistan at a glance

45living languages
4language families
40.1 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
6with a CLDR share

Tap the map to list every language whose area covers a spot in Afghanistan. Areas are generalisations from published atlases and overlap, and a language that is mapped here is not necessarily spoken everywhere inside its area.

The 40 most widely spoken languages in Afghanistan

Languages with a Unicode CLDR share come first, biggest first by estimated speakers; the rest follow A to Z. Estimated speakers are the share applied to CLDR’s own population figure for the country.

Language	Family	Share of population	Estimated speakers	Status
Western Farsi	Indo-European	50%	20,060,800	Not endangered
Southern Pashto	Indo-European	43%	17,252,288	Not endangered
Hazaragi	Indo-European	5.9%	2,367,174	Not endangered
Northern Uzbek	Turkic	4.7%	1,885,715	Not endangered
Turkmen	Turkic	1.7%	682,067	Not endangered
Western Balochi	Indo-European	0.6%	252,766	Not endangered
Aimaq	Indo-European			Not endangered
Ashkun	Indo-European			Shifting
Brahui	Dravidian			Threatened
Central Pashto	Indo-European			Not endangered
Chitral Kalasha	Indo-European			Shifting
Dari	Indo-European			Not endangered
Eastern Balochi	Indo-European			Not endangered
Gawar-Bati	Indo-European			Threatened
Grangali-Ningalami	Indo-European			Shifting
Gujari	Indo-European			Not endangered
Ishkashimi	Indo-European			Shifting
Kara-Kalpak	Turkic			Not endangered
Katë	Indo-European			Shifting
Kazakh	Turkic			Not endangered
Khowar	Indo-European			Not endangered
Kirghiz	Turkic			Not endangered
Munji	Indo-European			Shifting
Northeast Pashayi	Indo-European			Threatened
Northern Pashto	Indo-European			Not endangered
Northwest Pashayi	Indo-European			Threatened
Nuristani Kalasha	Indo-European			Shifting
Ormuri	Indo-European			Shifting
Parachi	Indo-European			Shifting
Parya	Indo-European			Shifting
Prasun	Indo-European			Threatened
Sanglechi	Indo-European			Moribund
Sauji	Indo-European			Not endangered
Shughni	Indo-European			Threatened
Shumashti	Indo-European			Moribund
South Azerbaijani	Turkic			Not endangered
Southeast Pashayi	Indo-European			Threatened
Southern Uzbek	Turkic			Not endangered
Southwest Pashayi	Indo-European			Threatened
Tajik	Indo-European			Not endangered

Language families in Afghanistan

Indo-European (36 languages)
Turkic (7 languages)
Dravidian (1 language)
Afro-Asiatic (1 language)

All 45 languages in Afghanistan, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Afghanistan comes from the overlap of Glottography and Glottolog language areas and positions with the country outline, together with the languages Glottolog assigns to the country. The shares come from Unicode CLDR release 48 and are estimates. See every source and licence.

Questions about languages in Afghanistan

How many languages are spoken in Afghanistan?

45 living languages are mapped in Afghanistan, from 4 families. The number depends on how a catalogue decides where one language ends and another begins, so other sources give other totals.

What is the most spoken language in Afghanistan?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Western Farsi is spoken by 50% of the population, about 20,060,800 people, followed by Southern Pashto (43%). Shares are approximate, can add up to more than 100% because many people speak several languages, and only cover languages CLDR has a figure for.

Which language families are found in Afghanistan?

Indo-European (36 languages), Turkic (7 languages), Dravidian (1 language) and Afro-Asiatic (1 language).