What is the most spoken language of Afghanistan?

[Michael Chopra]

I am kinda confused because I thought Pushto was the most spoken language in Afghanistan but then I watched Kite Runner and there wasn't even a single scene in Pushto language and all they spoke was Dari even though the main character was a Pashtun. So my question is what language is most spoken in Afghanistan and what language do Afghan cricketers speak?

 

[CricketCartoons]

Was at a event this week to support refugees from Afghanistan and Congo. When I tried small talk with the Afghans, they all spoke Farsi. They didn't budge on the price of dry fruits, said this is not Kabul but Gurgaon, everything fixed price, but I ended up buying the overpriced stuff anyway. Hopefully it was really from Afghanistan and not sourced from India.

 

[Badsha]

I bet you thought it was Pashto because of the afghans always claiming that we Pashtuns are actually part of Afghanistan. Pretty ridiculous.

Btw afghan Pashtuns and Pakistan Pashtuns also have very different cuisines.

 

[Musakhel]

Dari is the most spoken language, most pashtuns can speak Dari, but few tajiks can speak pashto.

 

[Michael Chopra]

Most of the Afghan cricketers speak Pushto it seems.

 

[enkidu_]

Dari is the most spoken language, most pashtuns can speak Dari, but few tajiks can speak pashto.

indeed, but it has to be noted that those who speak "Dari" say they speak Farsi, "Dari" being, for them, a term imposed by the Pashtuns :

(...)
Many Persian speakers in Afghanistan prefer and use the name Farsi, the official language in Iran. They say the term Dari has been forced on them by the dominant Pashtun ethnic group as an attempt to distance Afghans from their cultural, linguistic, and historical ties to the Persian-speaking world, which includes Iran and Tajikistan.
(...)
Naderi says historical documents prove that the word Dari, along with Parsi, dates as far back as the sixth century, when it was used to describe the Persian language. After the language adopted the Arabic script centuries later, it fell out of use and was replaced by the term Farsi.

Naderi says he prefers to use the word "Farsi-Dari" to describe the Persian language, calling it a solution to the current standoff. Any change would require a constitutional amendment.

Naderi says that while the Persian spoken in Afghanistan and neighboring Iran have distinct accents and variations in vocabulary and usage, the language is the same. There are dozens of regional variations of Persian inside Iran and Afghanistan, Naderi says.

Dari is the lingua franca in Afghanistan, where it is the native tongue of ethnic Tajiks, Hazaras, and Aimaqs as well as being spoken by Pashtuns in and around the capital, Kabul. Many educated Afghans are bilingual, speaking both Dari and Pashto, the country's other official language.
(...)

https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-dari-farsi-persian-language-dispute/28840560.html

 

[troodon]

Met an Afghan dude and he kind of looked Asian. His wife looked like Eastern European and his daughter looked almost Chinese. Very interesting family. He said he speaks Farsi and everyone in Kabul speaks Farsi. A massive supporter of Afghan cricket though.

 

[Syed1]

A close family member of mine married into Afghans and their in-laws all speak Farsi only

 

[Michael Chopra]

Met an Afghan dude and he kind of looked Asian. His wife looked like Eastern European and his daughter looked almost Chinese. Very interesting family. He said he speaks Farsi and everyone in Kabul speaks Farsi. A massive supporter of Afghan cricket though.

He must be Hazara then. There are some of them in Pakistan as well. They are descendants of Genghis Khan.

 

[troodon]

He must be Hazara then. There are some of them in Pakistan as well. They are descendants of Genghis Khan.

Wow! That Gengis has created a whole race of his own people

 

[Pakistanian]

The fine afghan girls speak Farsi.

 

[PakLFC]

Pushto being a Pathan language is spoken much more in Pak then Afghanistan. Afghan's mostly speak Dari.

 

[blackanhyellow]

Majority of Afghans are Pashtun and their native language is Pashto.

However a large minority are Tajik, Hazara, Turkmen, etc.. whom all speak Dari (which is very close to Farsi, you can think of it as a different dialect).

However, the Farsi speaking people of Afghanistan have historically been more educated, and in general not only in Afghanistan Farsi is seen as a sophisticated language. Therefore, Farsi is a powerful language in Afghanistan. It is the most spoken language in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.

Because of its significance, even many Pashtuns in Afghanistan are fluent in Dari/Farsi, especially those from Kabul.