Dari and Southern Pashto are the two National statutory languages of Afghanistan, with the constitution also referring to official status of Uzbek, Turkmen, Pashai, Nuristani, Balochi and Pamiri languages in places where they are in the majority. There are also many other minority languages and languages (and people) that have come from outside the country.
Your Afghan neighbours might speak several languages. God can speak through any language but be more welcome in some than others.
Dari (Afghan Persian or Eastern Farsi) , Southern Pashto (Kandahar/Qandahar Pashto, Southwestern Pashto), Southern Uzbek (Afghanistan Uzbek), Turkmen (Turkmeni or түркменче/Türkmençe), Balochi (Southern, Eastern and Western), Wakhi, Hazaragi, Shughni, Brahui
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Dari, also known as Afghan Persian or Eastern Farsi, is spoken by about 9 million people around the world. |
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Southern Pashto is also known as Kandahar ( Qandahar ) Pashto and Southwestern Pashto. There are known to be over 6 million speakers of Southern Pashto in Afghanistan, 4.5 million in Pakistan, and over 100,000 in Iran. An unknown number are scattered as migrants and refugees. |
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The variety of Uzbek in Afghanistan is called Southern Uzbek or Afghanistan Uzbek. |
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Turkmen is also known as Turkmeni or түркменче (Türkmençe). There are about 1.5 million Turkmen speakers in Afghanistan out of over 6.7 million worldwide. It is also spoken in Turkmenistan, Iran, Iraq, Russian Federation, Syria, and Turkey. |
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Linguists divide Balochi into three separate languages Southern, Eastern and Western. Locals refer to each as Balochi,وچی (Balōčī), بلوچی زبان (Balōčī Zubān) Scripture is available in the Southern variety of Balochi at balochimestag.com including text and audio of the gospels, acts and the book of James. Also available on the site are the Prophets’ story, and God’s Story videos. |
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Wakhi is spoken in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and China. In Afghanistan, it is mainly spoken in the Wakhan district of Badakhshan province. |
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Hazaragi is spoken by over 2 million people. While related to Dari, a language which most Hazaragi also speak, it is different enough to be classed as its own language. |
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Shughni is spoken in Badakhshan province on both sides of the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border by about 80,000 people, most of whom speak little else. |
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Over 200,000 people in Helmand and Kandahar provinces speak Brahui. (Another 2.2 million speak it in Pakistan.) |