Where Pashto Is Spoken

Pashto is an Eastern Iranian language with ~50–60 million speakers, primarily in:

• Pakistan: Official language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province; widely spoken in northern Balochistan and tribal districts (former FATA). Major cities: Peshawar, Mardan, Mingora.
• Afghanistan: Co-official with Dari; dominant in the south and east (Kandahar, Helmand, Nangarhar, Kunar, Paktia, Khost).
• Diaspora: Communities in India (Jammu & Kashmir, Rohilkhand), UAE, Iran, Tajikistan, and Western countries (UK, US, Germany).

Two main dialect groups: "Soft" (southwestern, Kandahar) and "Hard" (northeastern, Peshawar/Kabul).