Indo-Iranian peoples

various peoples speaking these languages

Indo-Iranian peoples or Indo-Iranic peoples, is the name given to the group that covers Iranic peoples, Indo-Aryans and Nuristanis today. In the historical sense, it is the group that defined itself as Aryan and eventually split into Iranians, Indo-Aryans and Nuristanis. They spoke the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European languages.

Indo-Iranian peoples
Indo-Iranic peoples
Regions where Indo-Iranian languages are spoken
Regions with significant populations
South Asia, West Asia, Central Asia
India72% of population[1]
Pakistan86,15% of population[2]
Bangladesh98% of population[3]
Iran79% of population[4]
Afghanistan71% of population[5]
Sri Lanka74.9% of population
Tajikistan79.9% of population[6]
South Ossetia89.9% of population
Languages
Indo-Iranian languages
Religion
Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, Christianity etc.

List of peoples change

Name Population Main country Religion
Bengalis c. 285 million   Bangladesh
  India
Predominantly:
Islam
Minority:

  • Hinduism
  • Buddhism
  • Christianity
Punjabis c. 150 million   Pakistan
  India
Predominantly:
Islam
Minority:
  • Sikhism
  • Hinduism
  • Christianity
Marathi people c. 83 million   India Predominantly:
Hinduism
Minority:
  • Islam
  • Buddhism
  • Christianity
  • Jainism
  • Judaism
Maithils c. 73 million   India Predominantly: Hinduism
Minority:
  • Islam
  • Buddhism
  • others
Gujarati people c. 70 million   India Predominantly:
Hinduism
Minority:
  • Jainism
  • Islam
  • Buddhism
Persians c. over 60 million   Iran Predominantly:
Islam (mostly Shia Islam, minority Sunni Islam)
Minority:
  • Zoroastrianism
  • Baháʼí Faith
  • Christianity
  • others
Pashtuns over 50 million   Pakistan
  Afghanistan
Predominantly:
Islam (mostly Sunni Islam, minority Shia Islam)
Bhojpuri people c. 51 million   India Predominantly:
Hinduism
Minority:
  • Islam
  • Buddhism
  • Christianity
  • Jainism
Sindhis c. 37 million   Pakistan Predominantly:
Islam
Minority:
Hindusim
Odia people c. 34 million   India Predominantly:
Hinduism
Minority:
  • Islam
  • Christianity
  • Jainism
  • Buddhism
  • others
Kurds c. 30–45.6 million   Turkey
  Iran
  Iraq
  Syria
Predominantly:
Islam (mostly Sunni Islam, minority Shia Islam and Kurdish Alevism)
Minority:
  • Yazidism
  • Yarsanism
  • Zoroastrianism
  • Judaism
  • Christianity
Saraiki people c. 26 million   Pakistan Predominantly:
Islam
Minority:
  • Christianity
  • Hinduism
  • Sikhism
Tajiks c. 18–25 million   Afghanistan
  Tajikistan
  Russia
  Uzbekistan
Predominantly:
Islam (mostly Sunni Islam, minority Shia Islam and others)
Minority:
others
Sinhalese people c. 17 million   Sri Lanka Predominantly:
Buddhism
Minority:
Christianity
Baloch people c. 10 million   Pakistan
  Iran
  Afghanistan
Predominantly:
Islam (mostly Sunni Islam)
Minority:
Hinduism
Maldivians c. 378.114   Maldives Predominantly:
Islam (Sunni Islam)

References change

  1. "India". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (United States). "Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)"
  2. "Pakistan". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (United States). "Punjabi 44.68%, Pashtun (Pathan) 15.42%, Sindhi 14.1%, Sariaki 8.38%, Muhajirs 7.57%, Balochi 3.57%, other 6.28% "
  3. "Bangladesh". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (United States). "Bengali 98%, other 2% (includes tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims) (1998) "
  4. "Iran". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (United States). "Persian 61%, Azeri 16%, Kurd 10%, Lur 6%, Baloch 2%, Arab 2%, Turkmen and Turkic tribes 2%, other 1%"
  5. "Afghanistan". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (United States). "Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, other 4%"
  6. "Tajikistan". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (United States). "Tajik 79.9%, Uzbek 15.3%, Russian 1.1%, Kyrgyz 1.1%, other 2.6% (2000 census)"

Notes change