Pashto (, ; Pashto: Pax̌tō ), also known in older literature as Afghānī or Paṭhānī, is the South-Central Asian language of the Pashtuns. It is an Eastern Iranian language, belonging to the Indo-European family. Pashto is one of the two officiallanguages of Afghanistan, and it is the second-largest regional language of Pakistan, mainly spoken in the west and northwest of the country. Pashto is the main language among the Pashtun diaspora around the world. The total number of Pashto-speakers is estimated to be 45–60 million people worldwide.