South Asian ethnic groups

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

South Asian ethnic groups are an ethnolinguistic grouping of the diverse populations of South Asia, including the nations of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.[1] While Afghanistan is variously considered to be a part of both Central Asia and South Asia, Afghans are generally not included among South Asians.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

The majority of the population fall within three large

Iranic. The Indian, Nepalese, and Sri Lankan societies are traditionally divided into castes or clans; these categories have had no official status in India since independence in 1947, except for the scheduled castes and tribes, which remain registered for the purpose of affirmative action. In today's India, the population is categorised in terms of the 1,652 mother tongues spoken
.

These groups are also further subdivided into numerous sub-groups, castes and tribes. Indo-Aryans form the predominant ethnolinguistic group in India (

Iranic peoples also have a significant presence in South Asia, the large majority of whom are located in Pakistan.[12][13]

Minority groups not falling within either large group mostly speak languages belonging to 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.

List of ethnic groups on the basis of language

South Asian language families

Andamanese groups

Austroasiatic people

Austronesian people

Dravidian people

Indo-Aryan people

The extent of Indo-Aryan languages in South Asia

Iranic people

Nuristani people

Semitic people

Tai people

Tibeto-Burman people

Turkic people

Afro-Asian groups

  • Chaush
  • Black African
    descent, found primarily in Pakistan, Gujarat, and Karnataka.
  • Sri Lanka Kaffirs

European and Eurasian people

East Asian people

Chinese

Linguistic isolate groups

Diaspora

Many South Asian ethnic groups and nationalities have substantial diasporas.

See also

.

Two (or possibly three) other people groups have ethnic and linguistic ties with the region:

See also

National demographics:

References

  1. ^ "UN Geoscheme".
  2. .
  3. .
  4. ^ "Language and the BSA: Ethnicity & Race". British Sociological Association. March 2005. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  5. .
  6. ^ Lindsay, olin (2001). "The South Asian Community" (PDF). Profiles of Ethnic Communities in Canada. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  7. ^ https://study.com/academy/lesson/asian-ethnic-groups.html "South Asia is home to the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka."
  8. ^ https://minorityrights.org/minorities/south-asians/ "In the UK the term South Asian usually refers to people from the Indian subcontinent."
  9. ^ https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.055159 "Individuals of South Asian (Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Indian, Maldivian, Nepalese, Pakistani, and Sri Lankan) ancestry account for almost a quarter of the world’s population, and the South Asian diaspora is one of the largest and most widespread across the globe."
  10. .
  11. . Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  12. .
  13. ^ "Pakistan", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 24 January 2024
  14. ^ D.E. Watters, Notes on Kusunda (a language isolate of Nepal), Kathmandu 2005
  15. .

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.

External links

Media related to Ethnic groups in India at Wikimedia Commons Media related to Ethnic groups in Pakistan at Wikimedia Commons Media related to Ethnic groups in Nepal at Wikimedia Commons