A minority ethnic group of central Afghanistan. They are of Mongoloid type, of unknown origin, but apparently settled there by the thirteenth century. They live in enclaves in a mountainous region called the Hazarajat or Hazarastan mainly in the province of Bamian, and also live in Kabul. They were about 8% of the population of the country before the vast fluctuations of the civil wars began in the 1970s. There is now a large Hazara population in Quetta in Pakistan.
As well as being racially distinct from their neighbours, they are also Shi'i whereas most Afghan groups are Sunni. They adhere mainly to the "Twelvers" branch of Shia but some are Ismailis. Their mosques are called Imambargha.
Like the Tajiks of Afghanistan, they speak Dari, the local form of Persian. They call it Hazaragi.