Languages of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Pashto (PUH-shto,PASH-toe; پښتو, Pəx̌tó) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (افغانی, Afghāni).

Shina (ݜݨیاٗ,شِْنْیٛا Ṣiṇyaá) is a Dardic language of Indo-Aryan language family spoken by the Shina people. In Pakistan, Shina is the major language in Gilgit-Baltistan spoken by an estimated 1,146,000 people living mainly in Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan. A small community of Shina speakers is also found in India, in the Guraiz valley of Jammu and Kashmir and in Dras valley of Ladakh. Outliers of Shina language such as Brokskat are found in Ladakh, Kundal Shahi in Azad Kashmir, Palula and Sawi in Chitral, Ushojo in the Swat Valley and Kalkoti in Dir.

Saraiki ( سرائیکی Sarā'īkī; also spelt Siraiki, or Seraiki) is an Indo-Aryan language of the Lahnda group. It is spoken by 28.84 million people, as per the 2023 Pakistani census, taking prevalence in Southern Punjab with remants in Northern Sindh and the Derajat region.

Khowar (Khowar: کھوار زبان, khowār), or Chitrali, is a Dardic language of the Indo-Aryan language family primarily spoken in Chitral and surrounding areas in Pakistan.

Hazaragi (Persian: هزارگی, həzārəgi; Hazaragi: آزرگی, āzərgi) is an eastern dialect and variety of the Persian language that is spoken by the Hazara people.

Hindko (ہندکو, Hindko) is a cover term for a diverse group of Lahnda dialects spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in several areas in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northwestern regions of Punjab.

Gawar-Bati or Narsati is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Kunar Province of eastern Afghanistan and across the border in Pakistan. It is also known as Kohistani in Kunar. Gawar-Bati has an estimated 75,000 speakers, of whom 50,000 are in Kunar and 25,000 in Chitral, Pakistan.

Palula (also spelt Phalura, Palola, Phalulo) and also known as Ashreti (Aćharêtâʹ) or Dangarikwar (the name used by Khowar speakers), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 10,000 people in the valleys of Ashret and Biori, as well as in the village of Puri (also Purigal) in the Shishi valley and at least by a portion of the population in the village Kalkatak, in the Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

Mankiyali is an endangered Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic sub branch spoken in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northern Pakistan. It is spoken by a small community sometimes referred to as the Trawara in the secluded village of Danna (or Dana) located in the Bandi Shungli union council of Mansehra District. There are also some speakers scattered in the neighbouring villages of Damaka, Guldar, Arghaniya, Chamrasi and Shoshni. The whole community has been reported to be bilingual in Hindko, the language of wider communication in the Hazara area. The language is still being passed on to the next generation, but overall it is losing ground to Hindko. The first study documenting the existence of the language was published only in 2015. The name Mankiyali is of recent origin, having been coined by members of the community to replace the older terms Tarawara and Tarawari, which are now seen as stigmatising.