Dari

Dari, also known as Farsi Dari, Dari Persian, Eastern Persian, or Afghan Persian, is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language; it is known as Afghan Persian or Eastern Persian in many Western sources. The decision to rename the local variety of Persian in 1964 was more political than linguistic to support an Afghan state narrative. Dari Persian is most closely related to Tajiki Persian as spoken in Tajikistan and the two share many phonological and lexical similarities. Apart from a few basics of vocabulary, there is little difference between formal written Persian of Afghanistan and Iran; the languages are mutually intelligible. Dari is the official language for approximately 30.6 million people in Afghanistan and it serves as the common language for inter-ethnic communication in the country.

As defined in the 2004 Constitution of Afghanistan, Dari is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan; the other is Pashto. Dari is the most widely spoken language in Afghanistan and the native language of approximately 25–55% of the population. Dari serves as the lingua franca of the country and is understood by up to 78% of the population.