<P> Middle Iranian languages were once spoken throughout Central Asia, such as the once prominent Sogdian, Khwarezmian, Bactrian and Scythian, which are now extinct and belonged to the Eastern Iranian family . The Eastern Iranian Pashto language is still spoken in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan . Other minor Eastern Iranian languages such as Shughni, Munji, Ishkashimi, Sarikoli, Wakhi, Yaghnobi and Ossetic are also spoken at various places in Central Asia . Varieties of Persian are also spoken as a major language in the region, locally known as Dari (in Afghanistan), Tajik (in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), and Bukhori (by the Bukharan Jews of Central Asia). </P> <P> Tocharian, another Indo - European language group, which was once predominant in oases on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin of Xinjiang, is now extinct . </P> <P> Other language groups include the Tibetic languages, spoken by around six million people across the Tibetan Plateau and into Qinghai, Sichuan, Ladakh and Baltistan, and the Nuristani languages of northeastern Afghanistan . Dardic languages, such as Shina, Kashmiri, Pashayi and Khowar, are also spoken in eastern Afghanistan, the Gilgit - Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan and the disputed territory of Kashmir . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (November 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Should the modern-day states of afghanistan and iran be considered a part of central asia