Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
India (Jammu and Kashmir) | 6,797,587 (2011)*[1] |
Pakistan (outside Azad Kashmir) | 353,064 (2017)*[2] |
Pakistan (Azad Kashmir) | 132,450 (as per 1998 census)[3] |
Canada | 6,165[4] |
Languages | |
Kashmiri | |
Religion | |
Majority: Islam (Sunni majority, Shia minority) Minority: | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Indo-Aryan peoples | |
*The population figures are only for the number of speakers of the Kashmiri language. May not include ethnic Kashmiris who no longer speak the Kashmiri language. |
The Kashmiri people are a Dardic ethnic group living in the central valley of Kashmir in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir. They speak the Kashmiri language. Kashmiri is an Indo-Aryan language. The Kashmiris are also known as Koshur.
There are about 7.1 million people speaking the Kashmiri language. About 6.7 million[5] of them live in Jammu and Kashmir, and about 350,000[6] in Azad Kashmir and the Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) in Pakistan. Although all residents of Azad Kashmir call themselves 'Kashmiri', most residents of Azad Kashmir are not ethnic Kashmiris but rather a northern subgroup of Punjabis who speak a northern Punjabi dialect.[A]