The largest ethnicity in Afghanistan and a plurality of the population (Pashtuns also reside in Pakistan); historically Afghanistan's main leaders have been Pashtun.

One of the major ethnic groups in Afghanistan, and a local minority in Herat and the western provinces of Afghanistan. Most of the Taliban leadership was Pashtun, as is President Hamid Karzai and the former king of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah. Other major ethnicities in Afghanistan are Tajik, Uzbek, Hazara, Baluch, and Nuristani.