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There are two official languages of Afghanistan, in addition to other languages that are spoken. The two official languages are also the most commonly spoken; Dari, a form of the Persian language, is spoken by half of the population, though this percentage also includes speakers of the Hazaragi dialect, about two million people. Pashtu is also an official language and is spoken by 35% of the population. In addition, many Turkic languages such as Turkmen and Uzbek are spoken, as well as over thirty other languages. Much of the population is bilingual.

History

During 1978 to 1979, the Khalq faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan also recognized Uzbeki, Turkmeni, and Nuristani as official languages. This was done in order to reduce the status of Persian so that eventually Pashto could become the language of inter-ethnic communication.

References

1. ^ CIA World Factbook Cite error: The named reference "CIA" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
2. The Decline of the Pashtuns in Afghanistan, Anwar-ul-Haq Ahady, Asian Survey, Vol. 35, No. 7. (Jul., 1995), pp. 621-634.

External links

• New Fines for Using Persian words instead of Pashto words

• Languages of Afghanistan