Ethnic groups in South Asia areethnolinguistic groupings within the diverse populations ofSouth Asia, including the countries ofBangladesh,Bhutan,India,Maldives,Nepal,Pakistan, andSri Lanka.[1]Afghanistan is variously considered to be a part of bothCentral Asia and South Asia, which meansAfghans are not always included among South Asians, but when they are, South Asia has a total population of about 2.04 billion.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
The majority of the population fall within three largelinguistic groups:Indo-Aryan,Dravidian, andIranic. These groups are also further subdivided into numerous sub-groups, castes and tribes. Indo-Aryans form the predominant ethnolinguistic group in India (North India,East India,West India, andCentral India), Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.[11] Dravidians form the predominant ethnolinguistic group insouthern India, the northern and eastern regions of Sri Lanka and a small pocket of Pakistan.[12] TheIranic peoples also have a significant presence in South Asia, the large majority of whom are located in Afghanistan and the northwestern and western parts of Pakistan.[13][14]
Minority groups not falling within either large group mostly speak languages belonging to theAustroasiatic andTibeto-Burman language families, and largely live aroundLadakh andNortheast India, Nepal, Bhutan, and theChittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. TheAndamanese (Sentinel, Onge, Jarawa, and Great Andamanese) live in some of the Andaman Islands and speak alanguage isolate, as do theKusunda in central Nepal,[15] theVedda in Sri Lanka, and theNihali of Central India, who number about 5,000 people. The people of theHunza Valley in Pakistan are another distinct population; they speakBurushaski, a language isolate.
The traditions of different ethnic groups in South Asia have diverged, influenced by external cultures, especially in thenorthwestern parts of South Asia and also in the border regions and busy ports, where there are greater levels of contact with external cultures. There is also a lot of genetic diversity within the region. For example, most of the ethnic groups of thenortheastern parts of South Asia are genetically related to peoples ofEast orSoutheast Asia. There are also genetically isolated groups who have not been genetically influenced by other groups, such as theJarawa people of theAndaman Islands. The largest ethnolinguistic group in South Asia are the Indo-Aryans, numbering around 1 billion, and the largest subgroup are the native speakers ofHindi languages, numbering more than 470 million.
These groups are based solely on a linguistic basis and not on a genetic basis.
Many South Asian ethnic groups and nationalities have substantial diasporas.
See alsoBangladeshi diaspora,Indian diaspora,Nepalese diaspora,Pakistani diaspora,Afghan diaspora, and .
Two (or possibly three) other people groups have ethnic and linguistic ties with the region:
National demographics:
16. Vij SB, Webb ML. Culturally competent occupational therapy practice for South Asians in the United States of America: A narrative review. Indian J Occup Ther 2022;54:4-9.
Media related toEthnic groups in India at Wikimedia Commons Media related toEthnic groups in Pakistan at Wikimedia Commons Media related toEthnic groups in Nepal at Wikimedia Commons
Ethnic groups in India(by ethnolinguistic classification) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indo-Aryans | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dravidians | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tibeto-Burmans | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Austroasiatic | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Andamanese | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miscellaneous | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indo-Aryans | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austro-Asiatic | |||||||||||
| Dravidian | |||||||||||
| Tibeto-Burman | |||||||||||
| Others | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Afghans | |
|---|---|
| Foreigners | |
| Sino-Tibetan (Trans-Himalayan) |
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indo-Aryan |
| ||||||||
| Indo-Aryan of adistinct origin | |||||||||
| Other peoples (M,D,i) ofIndus-Ganga |
| ||||||||
| Other basis |
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| Immigrants | |||||||||
| Indigenous | |
|---|---|
| Traditional | |
| Multiracial | |
| Immigrants | |
