Indo-Aryan peoples

Indo-Aryan peoples
1978 map showing geographical distribution of the major Indo-Aryan languages. (Urdu is included under Hindi. Romani, Domari, and Lomavren are outside the scope of the map.) Dotted/striped areas indicate where multilingualism is common.
  Dardic
Total population
~1.4 billion
Regions with significant populations
IndiaOver 1 billion
PakistanOver 180 million
BangladeshOver 170 million
NepalOver 26 million
Sri LankaOver 14 million
AfghanistanOver 2 million
MauritiusOver 725,400
MaldivesOver 300,000
BhutanOver 240,000
Languages
Indo-Aryan languages
Religion
Predominantly Hindu and Muslim
Large minority : Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Christian and some non-religious atheist/agnostic
Related ethnic groups
Iranian peoples

Indo-Aryan peoples (also known as Indic peoples in the context of Indo-European studies) are a diverse collection of peoples predominantly found in South Asia, who (traditionally) speak Indo-Aryan languages. Historically, Aryans were the pastoralists who spoke Indo-Iranian languages, migrated from Central Asia into South Asia, and introduced the Proto-Indo-Aryan language. The early Indo-Aryan peoples were known to be closely related to the Iranian group that have resided west of the Indus River on the Iranian Plateau; an evident connection in cultural, linguistic, and historical ties. Today, the majority of Indo-Aryan speakers are found south of Hindu Kush and east of the Indus, across the modern-day regions of Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and northern half of India as well as parts of Afghanistan (Kunar).