Editing Dari (section)

== Geographical distribution ==
[[File:Map of Languages (in Districts) in Afghanistan.jpg|alt=|thumb|Majority Dari Persian speaking regions of Afghanistan in green]]
Dari is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan. In practice though, it serves as the de facto [[lingua franca]] among the various ethnolinguistic groups.

Dari Persian is spoken by approximately 25–80% of the [[demography of Afghanistan|population of Afghanistan]].<ref name="CIA" /><ref name="UCLA" /><ref name="AFGHANISTAN v. Languages quote">{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afghanistan-v-languages|title=AFGHANISTAN v. Languages|quote=''Persian (2) is the language most spoken in Afghanistan. The native tongue of twenty five percent of the population ...''|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]], online ed.|work=Ch. M. Kieffer|access-date=10 December 2010|archive-date=29 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429162829/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afghanistan-v-languages|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Ethnologue">{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_country.asp?name=Afghanistan |title=Languages of Afghanistan |work=[[SIL International]] |publisher=[[Ethnologue]]: Languages of the World |year=2005 |access-date=16 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130093407/http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_country.asp?name=Afghanistan |archive-date=30 January 2009 }}</ref><ref name="Dari-language">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/151550/Dari-language |title=Dari language |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] Online|access-date=7 December 2010}}</ref> [[Tajiks]], who comprise 27–39% of the [[Ethnic groups in Afghanistan|population]],<ref name="washington">Mobasher, Mohammad Bashir. ''Political Laws and Ethnic Accommodation: Why Cross-Ethnic Coalitions Have Failed to Institutionalize in Afghanistan.'' Diss. 2017, p. 42. Link:
[https://digital.lib.washington.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/35da82f3-3bac-4ac9-9cd8-d4a534b72a9f/content]</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |title=Afghanistan in 2019 – A survey of the Afghan people |url=https://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2019_Afghan_Survey_Full-Report_.pdf |journal=[[The Asia Foundation]] |pages=277 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210915152910/https://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2019_Afghan_Survey_Full-Report_.pdf |archive-date=15 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/images/PollingUnit/1083a1Afghanistan2009.pdf|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://abcnews.go.com/images/PollingUnit/1083a1Afghanistan2009.pdf|archive-date=9 October 2022|url-status=live|title=ABC NEWS/BBC/ARD poll&nbsp;– Afghanistan: Where Things Stand|pages=38–40|publisher=ABC News|location=Kabul, Afghanistan|access-date=23 October 2024}}</ref> are the primary native speakers, followed by [[Hazara people|Hazaras]] (9%) and [[Aymāq]]s (4%). Moreover, while [[Pashtuns]] (37–48%)<ref>{{Citation |title=Afghanistan |date=2024-08-29 |work=The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/afghanistan/#people-and-society |access-date=2024-09-12 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Afghanistan in 2018 – A survey of the Afghan people |url=https://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2018_Afghan-Survey_fullReport-12.4.18.pdf |journal=[[The Asia Foundation]] |pages=243 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807211241/https://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2018_Afghan-Survey_fullReport-12.4.18.pdf |archive-date=7 August 2019}}</ref> natively speak [[Pashto]], those living in Tajik and Hazara dominated areas also use Dari Persian as their main or secondary language. Thus, non-native Persian speaking groups have contributed to the increased number of Persian speakers within Afghanistan. The [[World Factbook]] states that about 80% of the Afghan population speaks Dari Persian.<ref name="CIA" /> About 2.5&nbsp;million [[Afghans in Iran]] and [[Afghans in Pakistan]], part of the wider [[Afghan diaspora]], also speak Dari Persian as one of their primary languages.<ref name="Omniglot.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/dari.htm |title=Dari language, alphabet and pronunciation |publisher=Omniglot.com |access-date=26 August 2012 |archive-date=11 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511180819/http://www.omniglot.com/writing/dari.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Dari Persian dominates the northern, western, and central areas of Afghanistan, and is the common language spoken in cities such as [[Balkh]], [[Mazar-i-Sharif]], [[Herat]], [[Fayzabad, Badakhshan|Fayzabad]], [[Panjshir Province|Panjshir]], [[Bamiyan]], and the Afghan capital of [[Kabul]] where all ethnic groups are settled. Dari Persian-speaking communities also exist in southwestern and eastern Pashtun-dominated areas such as in the cities of [[Ghazni]], [[Farah, Afghanistan|Farah]], [[Zaranj]], [[Lashkar Gah]], [[Kandahar]], and [[Gardez]].