The standard Persian variety spoken in Iran, with a rich literary tradition rooted in classical poetry and modern expression.
Dari
The Persian variety spoken in Afghanistan, sharing deep roots with Farsi while carrying its own vocabulary and pronunciation.
Shareable facts
Frequently asked questions
What language is Dari?
Dari is a dialect of the Persian language.
Where is Dari spoken?
Dari is primarily spoken in Afghanistan.
Which region is Dari associated with?
Dari is part of the Central Asia region on DialectAtlas.
How many people speak Dari?
Dari is spoken by approximately 20,000,000 people.
Is Dari endangered?
Dari is not currently classified as endangered. It has a stable speaker community with active intergenerational transmission.
What are the other dialects of Persian?
Persian also includes Farsi, Tajik, Hazaragi, Kabuli, Herati. Each variety has its own vocabulary, pronunciation, and cultural context.
Other Persian dialects
See on the atlas →The Persian variety spoken in Tajikistan, written in Cyrillic script with unique vocabulary influenced by Central Asia.
A distinctive Persian dialect of the Hazara people, with its own verb forms, vocabulary, and cultural identity rooted in central Afghanistan.
Kabuli Persian · Kabuli Dari · Kābolī
The Dari variety of Kabul and the prestige basis of standard Afghan Persian as used in broadcast, government, and education. Sociolinguistically dominant across most of eastern and central Afghanistan, with several million speakers.
Herati Persian · Herati Dari · Herātī
The Dari of Herat and the Hari Rud valley in western Afghanistan. Transitional between Kabuli Dari and the Khorasani Persian of north-eastern Iran, with strong Iranian features in vocalism and lexicon. Around two million speakers.
Nearby dialects
See on the atlas →72 km away
A distinctive Persian dialect of the Hazara people, with its own verb forms, vocabulary, and cultural identity rooted in central Afghanistan.
150 km away
The Dari variety of Kabul and the prestige basis of standard Afghan Persian as used in broadcast, government, and education. Sociolinguistically dominant across most of eastern and central Afghanistan, with several million speakers.
203 km away
A cluster of Indo-Aryan languages spoken in eastern Afghanistan, especially Kapisa, Laghman, and Nangarhar. Linguistically a Dardic language, sister to Kashmiri rather than to Hindi.
318 km away
The Pashto of southern Afghanistan around Kandahar. Considered the most conservative Pashto variety, retaining retroflex consonants lost in the northern dialects.
357 km away
The Pashto of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan and parts of eastern Afghanistan. The literary basis of Pakistani Pashto, with the characteristic /ʃ/-realisation of the historical retroflex sibilant.
423 km away
The Balochi of Pakistan's Balochistan, centred on Quetta. The largest Balochi variety by speakers and the basis of most Balochi-language broadcasting and publishing.