Turkmen

The Turkmen language (ISO 639-3 [tuk]), also known as Southern Turkmen in Afghanistan, Turkmencha, and Turkmeni, is spoken in several provinces, including Jawzjan, Faryab, Sar-e Pul, Badghis, and Herat. There are an estimated 1.5-3 million Southern Turkmen speakers.

The spoken form of the Turkmen language has a very long history, but since 2001, the Turkmen people have been developing a written form of their language. The Academy of Science of Afghanistan approved the official alphabet for the Turkmen Language in 2020.

The Turkmen people are using their language for education, literacy, recording cultural information, and for composing stories and poetry.