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Turkoman:
About 125,000 (primarily semi-sedentary and semi-nomadic) in northwest Afghanistan. Nomadic herdsmen, speak archaic Turkish and generally Persian.
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Uzbek:
Make up 1m, based in the northern plains as farmers and stockmen. Descendants from the Central Asian Turks with kinsmen in Uzbekistan, many of whom fled into northern Afghanistan in the 1920s escaping Soviet suppression. Speak
Uzbaki and Turkic dialects.
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Tajik:
Principal inhabitants of Tajikistan, they
number 3.5m. Concentrated across the north. Mainly farmers, but they also hold the bulk of educated elite with wealth and political influence in and around Kabul. Rivalry with the Pashtun is strong. Speak Tajiki dialects.
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Nuristani:
About 100,000 people comprised of small groups of sheep/goat herders, dairymen, and farmers. Occupy the rugged mountain zones of eastern Afghanistan and Pakistani Chitral.
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Farsswa:
About 600,000 Persian-speaking farmers. Inhabitants of the extreme west, a geographical and cultural extension of the Iranian Plateau. On the southwestern Iranian border are the nomadic Baluch and Dravidian-speaking Brahui tribes.
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Aimaq:
About 800,000 semi-nomadic people. Located in the central mountains, they belong to a larger cluster of eight tribes, the Char Aimaq, who are scattered throughout Afghanistan and northern Iran. Speak Aimaq, part of the Persian language family, but includes some Turkic vocabulary.
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Hazara:
About 1m, driven to the barren central mountains by Pashtun 18th century expansion. Primarily farmers, but many migrated to towns. Economically deprived and socially fragmented, they are separated into nine regionally distinct enclaves. Speak Hazaragi.
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Pashtun:
Dominant community. Farmers and traders make up 13m, split equally between southeast Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan. Tribal divisions are a source of conflict within the Pashtuns who were deeply fragmented by the Soviet occupation. Speak Pashto dialects.
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