Demographics
Further information: Demography of Afghanistan and Afghan diasporaThe population of Kabul has fluctuated since the early 1980s to the present period. It was believed to be around 500,000 in 2001 but since then many Afghan expats began returning from Pakistan and Iran where they had taken refuge from the wars. The Kabul metropolitan area has a population of over 3 million inhabitants these days. The wider Kabul province, which also includes rural areas, has a population of around 3.7 million people. The city of Kabul represents about 80 percent of the total provincial population.
The population of the city reflects the general multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-lingual characteristics of Afghanistan. There is no official government report on the exact ethnic make-over. According to National Geographic, the population consists of 45% Tajiks, 25% Hazaras, 25% Pashtuns, 2% Uzbeks, 1% Baloch, 1% Turkmen, and 1% Hindu. Dari (Persian) and Pashto are the most widely used languages in the area, although Persian serves as the lingua franca in the city. But in the larger Kabul province overall, Pashto speakers are in majority, making up 60% of the population.
Nearly all the people of Kabul are Muslim, which includes the majority Sunnis and minority Shias. A small number of Sikhs, Hindus, and Christians are also found in the city.
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