text: who is the hazara people in afghanistan what is their bage-ground and what is their population?   the hazara ethnic group resides mainly in the central afghanistan mountain region called 'hazarajat or hazaristan'. they make up anywhere between 19-25% of afghanistan's population, but an accurate census has not been taken in decades so there is little information to verify at present. there are also significant populations of hazaras in pakistan and iran.