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Pashto (Naskh: -pspaʂˈto; also transliterated Pakhto, Pushto, Pukhto, Pashtu, Paxto or Pushtu), known as Afghani in Persian and Pathani in Punjabi (the two languages being located on either side of Pashto), is the native language of the indigenous Pashtun people or Afghan people who are found primarily between an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan and west of the Indus River in Pakistan. It is a member of the Eastern Iranian languages group spoken in Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as by the Pashtun diaspora around the world. Pashto belongs to the Northeastern branch of the Indo-Iranian language family, although Ethnologue lists it as Southeastern. The number of Pashtuns or Pashto-speakers is estimated 50-60 million people world wide. The Constitution of Afghanistan declares Pashto as one of the two official languages of the country, the other being Dari (Persian). |