Ethnic groups in South Asia are ethnolinguistic groupings within the diverse populations of South Asia, including the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan is variously considered to be a part of both Central Asia and South Asia, which means Afghans are not always included among South Asians, but when they are, South Asia has a total population of about 2.04 billion.
The majority of the population fall within three large linguistic groups: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, and Iranic. 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, and Central India), Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Dravidians form the predominant ethnolinguistic group in southern India, the northern and eastern regions of Sri Lanka and a small pocket of Pakistan. The Iranic 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.
Minority groups not falling within either large group mostly speak languages belonging to the Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman language families, and largely live around Ladakh and Northeast India, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The Andamanese (Sentinel, Onge, Jarawa, and Great Andamanese) live in some of the Andaman Islands and speak a language isolate, as do the Kusunda in central Nepal, the Vedda in Sri Lanka, and the Nihali of Central India, who number about 5,000 people. The people of the Hunza Valley in Pakistan are another distinct population; they speak Burushaski, a language isolate.
The traditions of different ethnic groups in South Asia have diverged, influenced by external cultures, especially in the northwestern 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 the northeastern parts of South Asia are genetically related to peoples of East or Southeast Asia. There are also genetically isolated groups who have not been genetically influenced by other groups, such as the Jarawa people of the Andaman Islands. The largest ethnolinguistic group in South Asia are the Indo-Aryans, numbering around 1 billion, and the largest subgroup are the native speakers of Hindi languages, numbering more than 470 million.
These groups are based solely on a linguistic basis and not on a genetic basis.
Contents
List of ethnic groups on the basis of language
Andamanese groups
Great Andamanese
Jangil
Jarawa
Onge
Sentinelese
Austroasiatic people
Khasi people
Pnar/Jaintia
Munda peoples
Asur people
Birhor people
Bhumij people
Bonda people
Ho people
Juang people
Kharia people
Korku people
Mahle people
Mundari people
Santali people
Sora people
Nicobarese people
Shompen people
Austronesian people
Sri Lankan Malays
Iranic people
Afghan Qizilbash
Aimaq people
Baloch people
Hazara people
Irani people
Pamiris
Pashtun people
Rohilla people
Tajiks of Pakistan
Wakhi people
Yidgha-Munji people
Nuristani people
Nuristani people
Kata people
Kom people
Mumo people
Semitic people
Arabs or Jews and mixed
Arabs in Gujarat
Sri Lankan Moors (trace ancestry to Arab traders who settled in Sri Lanka and native Tamil women)
Iraqi biradri - a community of Muslims in north India (trace ancestry from Arab tribe of Bani Tamim)
Labbay Arab traders who settled in South India
Konkani Muslims trace their ancestry to Arab traders.
Mappila Muslims trace their ancestry to Arab traders.
Chaush trace ancestors to traders from Yemen.
Nasrani Mapilla who trace their origins to Jewish traders
Knanaya Syriac Christians who trace their origins to Mesopotamia
Thangal
Arabs in Afghanistan
Indian Jews
Cochin Jews (Malayali Jews)
Bene Israel (Marathi Jews)
Baghdadi Jews (Arab Jews in Bengal)
Bnei Menashe (Mizo and Kuki Jews)
Bene Ephraim (Telugu Jews)
Paradesi Jews (European Jews in India)
Tai people
Ahom people
Tai Aiton
Tai Phake or Tai Phakial
Turkic people
Turks in India
Rowther are descendants of Seljuk Turks in Turko-Persian tradition. They have since become the tradition of Turko-Indian in 11th Century.
Turkic people in Afghanistan
Uzbeks
Afghan Turkmens
Mughal (Moghul) (A Sunni Islamic dynasty of Asia which originated in Central Asia)
Chughtai Tartars (Those people who originated in Uzbekistan and fought for Chagatai Khan who was son of Genghis Khan).
Barlas (A Turkified Mongol tribe to which Babur belonged)
Changezi (Those who were in army of Hulagu Khan)
Turkic people in Pakistan
Kyrgyz in Pakistan
Turkmen in Pakistan
Uyghurs in Pakistan
Uzbeks in Pakistan
Linguistic isolate groups
Hunza people
Kusunda
Nahali
Vedda
Afro-Asian groups
Chaush
Sheedis/Siddis, an ethnic community of Black African descent, found primarily in Pakistan, Gujarat, and Karnataka.
Sri Lanka Kaffirs
European and Eurasian people
Anglo-Burmese
Anglo-Indian
Bangladeshi-Armenians
Burgher people
French-Indian
Luso-Indian
East Asian people
Chinese diaspora in South Asia
Bangladeshi Chinese
Indian Chinese
Pakistani Chinese
Sri Lankan Chinese
Diaspora
Many South Asian ethnic groups and nationalities have substantial diasporas.
See also Bangladeshi diaspora, Indian diaspora, Nepalese diaspora, Pakistani diaspora, Afghan diaspora, and .
Other diasporas
Two (or possibly three) other people groups have ethnic and linguistic ties with the region:
Dom people
Romani people
Lom people (who speak a language both related to Indo-Aryan and Armenian)