The culture of Afghanistan has been around for over two millenniums, tracing record to at least the time of the Achaemenid Empire in 500 BCE. Afghanistan translates to the "place of Afghans" or "land of the Afghans" in the nation's official languages, Pashto and Dari (Persian). It is mostly a tribal society with different regions of the country having their own separate tradition, reflecting the multi-cultural and multi-lingual character of the nation. In the southern and eastern region, as well as western Pakistan which was historically part of Afghanistan, the Pashtun people live according to the Pashtun culture by following Pashtunwali, which is an ancient lifestyle that is still preserved until today. The northern and central regions of Afghanistan are culturally Persian or Tajik with some small regions being Turkic. The western region of Afghanistan has a mixture of both Pashtuns and Tajiks, Some of the non-Pashtuns who live in close proximity with Pashtuns have adopted Pashtunwali in a process called Pashtunization (or Afghanization) and many Pashtuns have adopted Persian culture and language in places where Tajiks constitute the majority.
Afghanistan has been the main crossroads for Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East, and has influenced its culture.[9] Besides being devout Muslims, the people of Afghanistan are generally very shy and private by nature.
Languages of Afghanistan
Afghanistan is home to more than 40 languages, with around 200 different dialects. The two official languages of Afghanistan are Persian Dari (lingua franca) and Pashto. Both are Indo-European languages from the Iranian languages sub-family. Other important regional languages, such as Ōzbēkī (Uzbek), Torkmanī (Turkmen), Balūčī (Baluchi), Pašaī (Pashayi) and Nūrestānī (Nuristani) (Kati) are spoken by minority groups across the country. In 1980, these languages have been granted official status in the regions where they are the language of the majority. Other minor languages may include Ashkunu, Kamkata-viri, Vasi-vari, Tregami and Kalasha-ala, Pamiri (Shughni, Munji, Ishkashimi and Wakhi), Brahui, Hindko, Kyrgyz, etc.
Due to Afghanistan's multi-ethnic character, language variety as well as multi- and bilingualism is a common phenomenon. Persian has always been the the main means of communication between speakers of different languages, and it has maintained its status of lingua franca. Persian is the native tongue of various Afghan ethnic groups including the Tajiks, Afghanistan's second largest ethnic group, the Hazara, and Aimak. Pashto is the native tongue of the Pashtuns, the single largest ethno-linguistic group within Afghanistan.
According to a 2006 opinion poll survey involving 6,226 randomly-selected Afghan citizens by the Asia Foundation, Dari was the first language of 49% of the polled people, while an additional 37% spoke it as a second language. 42% were able to read Dari. Pashto was the first language of 40%, with an additional 28% stating the ability to speak Pashto as a second language. 33% were able to read Pashto. Uzbek was was the first language of 9% and a second language for 6%. Turkmen was the first language of 2% and a second language for 3%. English could also be spoken by 8% and Urdu by 7%.
In another survey called Afghanistan: Where Things Stand (2004 to 2009), 39-51% of the polled people were able to read Persian, while 29-43% were able to read Pashto. With 66-71% the majority of the polled people preferred to be polled in Dari, while 29-32% preferred Pashto. The polling took place once per year within that period resulting in a range of responses.
Demography of Afghanistan
The population of Afghanistan is around 29,835,392 as of the year 2010, which is unclear if the 3 million Afghan refugees living outside the country are included or not. It is a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society, reflecting its location astride historic trade and invasion routes between Western Asia, Central Asia, and Southern Asia. The majority of Afghanistan's population consist of the Iranic peoples, notably the Pashtuns and Tajiks. The Pashtun is the largest group followed by Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimak, Turkmen, Baloch and others.
Pashto and Dari (Persian) are both the official languages of the country. Persian is spoken by about half of the population and serves as a lingua franca for the majority. Pashto is spoken widely in the south, east and south west of the country as well as in neighboring western Pakistan. Uzbek language and Turkmen language are spoken in parts of the north. Smaller groups throughout the country also speak more than 30 other languages and numerous dialects.
Islam is the religion of 99.7% of Afghanistan. An estimated 80-89% of the population practice Sunni Islam and belong to the Hanafi Islamic law school while 10-19% are Shi'a, majority of the Shia follow the Twelver branch with smaller numbers of Ismailis. The remaining 1% or less practice other religions such as Sikhism and Hinduism. Despite attempts during the 1980s to secularize Afghan society, Islamic practices pervade all aspects of life. In fact, Islam served as the principal basis for expressing opposition to the Soviet invasion. Likewise, Islamic religious tradition and codes, together with traditional practices, provide the principal means of controlling personal conduct and settling legal disputes. Excluding urban populations in the principal cities, most Afghans are organized into tribal and other kinship-based groups, which follow their own traditional customs: for instance Pashtunwali.
The term "Afghan", historically synonymous with "Pashtun", is today the national identity of Afghanistan. Despite being of various ethnicities, in a research poll that was conducted in Afghanistan in 2009, 72% of the population labelled their identity as Afghan first, before ethnicity.
The modern Afghan national identity is derived from the rise of the Pashtun Hotaki and Durrani dynasties, especially with the establishment of the Durrani Empire (Afghan Empire) in the early-18th century. From 1747 until 1826, Ahmad Shah Durrani and his descendants held the monarchy in direct session. They were the first rulers of a Pashtun dominated sovereign state and were later replaced by the Pashtun Barakzai dynasty.
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. Additionally, ethnic groups are not racially homogenous.
Since Afghan history is fraught with regional cleavages any notion of an Afghan nation state is absent until the rise of the Hotakis and Durranis in the early-18th century. Important figures from the past such as Avicenna and Rumi, who were of ethnic Tajik identity, are generally not identified as ethnic Afghans, at least according to academics, while they are generally included within the context of the collective history of the modern nation-state in the geographic sense.