Yaghnobi People

The Yaghnobi people (Yaghnobi: yaγnōbī́t; Tajik: яғнобиҳо) are an ethnic minority in Tajikistan. They inhabit Tajikistan's Sughd province in the valleys of the Yagnob, Kul and Varzob rivers. The Yaghnobians are considered to be descendants of the Sogdian-speaking peoples who once inhabited most of Central Asia beyond the Amu Darya River.

The 1926 and 1939 census data gives the number of Yaghnobi language speakers as approximately 1,800. In 1955, M. Bogolyubov estimated the number of Yaghnabi native speakers as more than 2,000. In 1972, A. Khromov estimated 1,509 native speakers in the Yaghnob valley and about 900 elsewhere. The estimated number of Yagnobi people is approximately 25,000.