Tajikistan is a multi-lingual nation. Tajiki, a language of Iranian roots, is the most widely spoken tongue amongst Tajikistan's 5 million people. During the Soviet period Russian was the lingua franca amongst the various ethnic groups in Tajikistan and Central Asia. While many of the ethnic Russians have fled Tajikistan during the last decade the Russian language is still spoken by much of the native population. There are also a large number of Uzbeki speakers in Tajikistan, especially in the Leninabad Province and in the southwestern part of the country. To the east there are several Iranian based languages, named the Pamir languages, that drastically differ from Tajiki. Examples of the Pamir languages spoken in Tajikistan are: Shughni, Roshani, Vakhi, Iskhashimi, Sarikoli, Baratangi, Kufi, Yazgulemi, and Oroshori. In addition there is a community that speaks Yaghnobi, a descendants of the ancient Sughdian language, as well as small population of Pashto and Arabic speakers.

Many ethnic Tajiks live outside of Tajikistan espcially in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. The Pamir language groups are located in Afghanistan, where the Shughni, Roshani, Iskashmi, and Wakhi live. There is also a sizable population of Wakhi in Hunza, Pakistan and of Sarikoli and Wakhi (26,503 as of 1982) in the Tashkurgan Tajik autonomous country in Xinjiang, China

[Some of the following estimates have changed dramatically since Tajikistan gained independence in 1992]

The largest ethnic group in Tajikistan is the Tajiks, who number an estimated 3.5 million people. The Tajiks are descendants of ethnic Iranians who were the traditional sedentary people of Central Asia. The next largest group in Tajikistan is the Uzbeks, a Turkish race who originally were nomads that migrated to Central Asia. Today the Uzbeks number roughly 1 million in Tajikistan. There are also the Pamiris, also known as Badakhshanis, who reside in the Gorno-Badakhshan province. The Pamiris are Tajiks but differ from the rest of the Tajik population by the fact that they speak several distinct Iranian languages and have a distinct culture. The Pamiris number in the tens-of-thousands. There are also a number of various Turkic ethnic groups that are native to Central Asia, including more than 60,000 Kyrgyz, 13,000 Turkmen, 9,000 Kazakhs, and 3,000 Uyghurs. Another group that is indigenous to Central Asia are the Bukharan Jews, who along with the European Jewry, numbered 14,000 in Tajikistan. In the fall of 1992, when the civil war in Tajikistan was full-blown, the Israeli government evacuated most of Tajikistan's Jewish population. Today 2,000 Jews reside in Tajikistan.

There are also a number of non-indigenous ethnic groups that migrated to the region after Russia captured most of Central Asia last century. The most prominent group was the Russians, who first migrated to the region as setters, soldiers, and laborers beginning in the 1860s. At the demise of the Soviet Union there were over 200,000 Russians living in Tajikistan but today there are less than 100,000. There are also an estimated 40,000 Ukrainians as well as a number of Belorussians, Georgians, and Osetians. In addition, there are 6,000 ethnic Armenians, who were the victims of race-riots in Dushanbe in February 1990.

During World War II many ethnic minorities from elsewhere in the Soviet Union were deported to Central Asia after being accused of collaborating with the German invaders. The most obvious victims of these deportations were the Germans, a number of whom found residency in Tajikistan. In 1944, the entire Crimean Tatar nation - upwards of 250,000 to 350,000 - were forced from their homes in the Crimea and deported to Central Asia. An estimated 80,000 Tatars found refuge in Tajikistan. There are also a large number of Koreans living in Tajikistan. Late in the 19th-century many Koreans migrated to the Primorye region in Eastern Russia. In the 1930s almost the entire Korean population, numbering 175,000, was deported to Central Asia for suspected collaboration with the Japanese. Today 13,000 ethnic Koreans live in Tajikistan. Since Tajikistan gained independence in 1991 many of the above mentioned ethnic minorities living in Tajikistan have emigrated to other countries. In the 1930s a number of ethnic Greeks were deported to Central Asia from the Black Sea region and Communist supporters fleeing the Greek Civil War of 1947-49 also settled in Central Asia. A large community of Greeks live in Uzbekistan and an unknown number probably settled in Tajikistan.

Religion in Tajikistan

The majority of Tajikistan's population is Muslim. Amongst the Muslims of Tajikistan there are two primary sects: Hanafi Sunnis and Ismaili Shiites. The Hanafi Sunnis are the largest Muslim group in Tajikistan while the Ismaili Shiites, who are based in the Pamir mountains, number in the hundreds of thousands. International Ismaili Organizations, such as the Aga Khan Foundation, have provided a great deal of aid for the Ismailis in the poverty stricken Gorno-Badakhshan province. During the last decade religion has entered politics in Tajikistan, most notably from the opposition groups who fought against the government in the civil war. Examples of this include the fact that the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) incorporated the former-Islamic Renaissance Party and religious figures hold high ranking positions within the UTO. Despite the fears that emerge along with the rise of Islam the Muslims in Tajikistan have not embraced Islamic fundamentalism. But there are worries that Islamic fundamentalist beliefs are being imported into Tajikistan from abroad. Suspicions are abound in Central Asia that the radical Wahhabi Sunnis, who originate from Saudi Arabia, have made a strong presence in Tajikistan.

During the early years of Tajikistan's independence fears emerged in the west about Iranian influence. But despite common ethnic bonds between Iran and Tajikistan neither the Sunnis nor the Shiites in Tajikistan have adopted the Iranian example of fundamentalist beliefs. Besides the Muslims there are a number of other religious groups in Tajikistan including Christians, most of whom are members of the Orthodox Church and come from the European and Korean population, as well as a small number of Jews living in Tajikistan.