India Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand Pakistan Azad Kashmir, Galliat hill tract of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Murree hill tract of Punjab, Potohar Plateau | ||
The Pahari people (Pahāṛī; पहाड़ी), also called Pahadi people, is a wide term applied to social groups of Pahari speaking Indo-Aryan people of the Himalayas living in India, Nepal and Pakistan. They constitute the majority population of the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In Jammu and Kashmir they are the third largest ethno-linguistic group. Pahari people form a plurality in Nepal also, where nearly one-third of people are Pahari.
The name Pahari derives from Pahar (पहाड़), meaning "hill", referring to the Himalayan Hill Region in India, Nepal and Pakistan which the Pahari inhabit. The term Pahari may be used to contrast with the groups of Tibetan origin, Indian origin and indigenous communities such as Bhotiyas of the Himalayas.