Ethnic groups in Afghanistan in the context of "List of massacres against Hazaras"

Pashtuns, also known as Pakhtuns, Pukhtoons, or Pathans, are a nomadic, pastoral Iranian ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically referred to as Afghans until 1923, after the term's meaning had become a demonym for all citizens of Afghanistan, regardless of their ethnic group, creating an Afghan national identity.

The Pashtuns speak the Pashto language, which belongs to the Eastern Iranian branch of the Iranian language family, the Wanetsi language, mainly among Pashtuns of the Tareen tribe, and Ormuri among non-Pashtun Ormur people and Wazir Pashtuns. Additionally, Dari serves as the second language of Pashtuns in Afghanistan, while those in Pakistan speak Urdu and English. In India, the majority of those of Pashtun descent have lost the ability to speak Pashto and instead speak Hindi and other regional languages, while those in Iran primarily speak Southern Pashto, and Persian as a second language.

The Hazaras (Persian: هزاره, romanized: Hazāra; Hazaragi: آزره, romanized: Āzrə) are an ethnic group and a principal component of Afghanistan's population. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan, primarily residing in the Hazaristan (Hazarajat) region in central Afghanistan. Hazaras also form significant minority communities in Pakistan, mainly in Quetta, and in Iran, primarily in Mashhad. They speak Dari and Hazaragi, dialects of Persian. Dari, also known as Dari Persian, is an official language of Afghanistan, alongside Pashto.

Between 1888 and 1893, more than half of the Hazara population was massacred under the Emirate of Afghanistan, and they have faced persecution at various times over the past decades. Widespread ethnic discrimination, religious persecution, organized attacks by terrorist groups, harassment, and arbitrary arrest for various reasons have affected Hazaras. There have been numerous cases of torture of Hazara women, land and home seizures, deliberate economic restrictions, economic marginalization of the Hazara region and appropriation of Hazara agricultural fields and pastures leading to their forced displacement from Afghanistan.

An Afghan personal name consists of a given name (Dari: نام, Pashto: نوم) and sometimes a surname at the end. Personal names are generally not divided into first and family names; a single name is recognized as a full personal name, and the addition of further components – such as additional given names, regional, or ethnic family/clan names or patronymics – is often a matter of parents' choice. This structure is shared amongst the different ethnicities of Afghanistan and people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Taliban, which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is an Afghan political and militant organization with an ideology comprising elements of the Deobandi movement of Islamic fundamentalism and Pashtun nationalism. It ruled approximately 90% of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, before it was overthrown by an American-led invasion after the September 11 attacks carried out by the Taliban's ally al-Qaeda. Following a 20-year insurgency and the departure of coalition forces, the Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021, overthrowing the Islamic Republic, and now controls all of Afghanistan. The Taliban has been condemned for restricting human rights, including women's rights to work and have an education, and for the persecution of ethnic minorities. It is designated as a terrorist organization by several countries, and the Taliban government is largely unrecognized by the international community.

The Taliban emerged in 1994 as a prominent faction in the Second Afghan Civil War (1992–1996) and largely consisted of warlords from the Pashtun areas of eastern and southern Afghanistan. Under the leadership of Mullah Omar, the movement spread through most of Afghanistan, shifting power away from the Islamic State of Afghanistan, as well as other Mujahideen militants. The Taliban seized Kabul in 1996 and established the First Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan that was opposed by the Northern Alliance, which maintained international recognition as a continuation of the Islamic State.

Afghanistan is a linguistically diverse nation with upwards of 40 distinct spoken languages. Dari and Pashto serve as the two main official languages. Dari, historically serving as the region’s lingua franca, is a shared language between the country's different ethnic groups. While Pashto is the dominant first language in the southern and eastern regions of the country, but is primarily spoken within its own ethnic lines.

The country's two main official languages, Dari and Pashto are also sister languages, as both are Iranian languages and are part of the larger Indo-European languages family. The third largest language, Uzbek, is a Turkic language and is sister to neighboring Turkmen. The Turkic languages, along with Balochi, Pashayi, Nuristani, and Pamiri, are the third official languages in areas where the majority speaks them.

Pashtunization (Pashto: پښتون‌ جوړونه, Dari: پشتون‌سازی), is a process of cultural or linguistic change in which someone or something non-Pashtun becomes acculturated to Pashtun influence. Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and second-largest in Pakistan.