Total population | |
---|---|
c. 100,000–120,000[1][2] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Pakistan | 64,000 (2018)[citation needed] |
Afghanistan | 21,000 (2018)[citation needed] |
Tajikistan | 20,000 (2018)[citation needed] |
China | 14,000 (2018)[citation needed] |
Languages | |
Wakhi | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Islam (Isma'ili Shia) | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Iranian peoples |
The Wakhi people (Wakhi: ښیک مردمِش, Shughni: Waxiēn, Persian: مردمان وخی; Russian: Ваханцы; Chinese: 瓦汗 or 瓦罕), also locally referred to as the Wokhik (وخیک),[3] are an Iranian ethnic group native to Central and South Asia. They are found in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and China—primarily situated in and around Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor, the northernmost part of Pakistan's Gilgit−Baltistan and Chitral, Tajikistan's Gorno−Badakhshan Autonomous Region and the southwestern areas of China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.[4] The Wakhi people are native speakers of the Wakhi language, an Eastern Iranian language.