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Demographics of Pakistan

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Demographics of Pakistan, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

Pakistan has an estimated population of over 169 million inhabitants in 2007. During 1951-98, Pakistan's urban population expanded sevenfold. And by the next decade the population is expected to exceed 176 million.[1] Non-governmental and international sources report that Pakistan's current population is estimated to be 165,803,560 (July 2006 est).[2] In the past, the country's population had a relatively high growth rate that has, however, been moderated by declining fertility and birth rates. Dramatic social changes have led to rapid urbanization and the emergence of megacities. During 1990-2003, Pakistan sustained its historical lead as the most urbanized nation in South Asia, with city dwellers making up 34% of its population.[3]

Pakistan has a multicultural and multi ethnical society and hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world as well as a young population.

Pakistan's next national census will take place in 2008.[4]

Historical populations
Census Population Urban
1951 33,816,000 17.80%
1961 42,978,000 22.46%
1972 65,321,000 25.40%
1981 84,254,000 28.28%
1998 130,580,000 32.51%

Population data

Geographic distribution

The majority of southern Pakistan's population lives along the Indus River. In the northern half, most of the population lives about an arc formed by the cities of Faisalabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Peshawar.

Population and growth

  • Population: 164,741,942 (July 2007 est.)
  • Growth rate: 1.828% (2007 est.)
  • Birth rate: 27.74 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
  • Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
  • Net migration rate: -1.24 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Pakistanis around the world

See Overseas Pakistani

Structure

Age structure

  • 0-14 years: 40% (male 33,293,428; female 31,434,314)
  • 15-64 years: 56.9% (male 48,214,298; female 46,062,933)
  • 65 years and over: 4.1% (male 3,256,065; female 3,542,522) (2006 est.)

Gender ratios

  • Sex ratio at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
  • under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
  • 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 0.92 male(s)/female
  • total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Human development

Mortality and life expectancy

  • Infant mortality rate: 68.84 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
  • Life expectancy at birth:
    • total population: 63.39 years
    • male: 62.4 years
    • female: 64.44 years (2006 est.)

Fertility

  • Total fertility rate: 4 children born/woman (2006 est.)
  • Fertility decline rate: 1.8 children per woman per decade (2nd fastest in world)[6]

Literacy

Definition: over the age of 15 and can read and write.

  • total population: 54% (2004 est.)
  • male: 66%
  • female: 42%

Nationality and ethnicity

Ethnic groups

Main article: Ethnic groups in Pakistan
Major ethnic groups in Pakistan, 1973

Pakistan's ethnic diversity is obvious and yet accurate numbers have been elusive. Most believe that the large majority of Pakistanis belong to the Indo-Aryan ancestral group. There are a substantial number of Iranic peoples and smaller numbers of Brahui. These are many ethnic groups: Pakistan's census and rough estimates vary, but the consensus is that the Punjabis are by far the largest group, and that Pukhtuns (also known as Pashtuns) and Sindhis are the next two largest groups[7] The Punjabi population is estimated to comprise 44.15% of the national total. The Pukhtuns are the second-largest group at roughly 15.42%, followed by Sindhis at 14.1%. Saraikis, a group seen as transitional between Punjabis and Sindhis, make up 10.53% of the population. The remaining groups that comprise large percentages include the Muhajirs(migrants from different parts of India) at 7.57% and the Balochis at 3.57%. The other main ethnic groups include the Brahui, Kashmiri, Hindko Pukhtuns, and the various peoples of the Northern Areas, who all together total roughly 4.66% of the total population. The Pukhtun and Baloch represent two of the major populations that are linguistically Iranic , while the Punjabis, Sindhis and Saraikis are the major linguistically Indic groups. Muhajir population is a multi ethnical group, and include mixed blood lines of Indians from India who claim Afghan, Persian, Turk, Mongol, and Arab admixture.

In addition, over five million Afghan refugees came to Pakistan during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and it is estimated that over three million remain, with a large proportion settling permanently in Pakistan. If added to the census, Afghan refugees would boost the percentage of the Pukhtuns and "others" categories. Also, there are considerably colonies of other refugees/migrants settled in Pakistan particularly in Karachi, Lahore as well as in the twin cities of Islamabad/Rawalpindi, these include a sizeable Iranian/Persian population, Tajiks from both Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

Religions

Main article: Religion in Pakistan
See also: Islam in Pakistan, Christianity in Pakistan, History of the Jews in Pakistan, Hinduism in Pakistan, and Sikhism in Pakistan

Census data[2] indicates that over 96% of the population are Muslims. The Muslims have different schools which are called Madhahib (singular: Madhhab) i.e, schools of jurisprudence (also 'Maktab-e-Fikr' (School of Thought) in Urdu). More than 75% of Pakistani Muslims are Sunni Muslims and there is sizeable minority 20% Shi'a Muslims. Nearly all Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school with a small Hanbali school represented by Wahabis and Ahle Hadith. The Hanafi school includes the Barelvis and Deobandis schools. Although the majority of Pakistani Shia Muslims belong to Ithna 'ashariyah school, there are significant minorities: Nizari Khoja Ismailis (Aga Khanis) and the smaller Mustaali Dawoodi Bohra and Sulaimani Bohra branches. By one estimate, in Pakistan, Muslims are divided into following schools:

The difference among Sunni schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi, and Hanbali) are small in practice, and they may pray together in any Sunni Masjid (Mosque). In Pakistan, adherents of the Barelvi and Deobandi schools also pray together in same Masjids.

There are small non-Muslim religious groups: Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Bahá'ís and others 3%.

Religious Population In Pakistan

Languages of Pakistan

Main article: Languages of Pakistan

Prevalence

According to the census, Pakistanis identified the following languages as their mother tongues [figures rounded to nearest percent]: Punjabi 44%, Pashto 15%, Sindhi 14%, Saraiki 11%, Urdu 8%, Balochi 4%, others 4%

The majority of Pakistanis can speak or understand two or more languages.

Major languages

The official language of Pakistan is Urdu (English is widely considered as one too). Urdu is the national language and lingua franca, although it is spoken as a first language by approximately 8% of the population. ~44% speak Punjabi as a first language, 15% Pashto, and 31% other languages such as (Sindhi, Saraiki, Balochi, Hindko and Brahui.)

English (Official Language)

English is the official language, being widely used within the government, by the civil service and the officer ranks of the military. Pakistan's Constitution and laws are written in English. Many schools, and nearly all colleges and universities, use English as the medium of instruction.

Urdu (National Language)

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, the lingua franca of the people. It is a standardised register of Hindustani and in its spoken form, is mutually intelligible with Hindi, the lingua franca of north India. It is widely used, both formally and informally, for personal letters as well as public literature, in the literary sphere and in the popular media. It is a required subject of study in all primary and secondary schools. It is the first language of most Muhajirs. As Pakistan's national language, Urdu has been promoted as a token of national unity. Although less than 8% of Pakistanis speak it as their first language, it is spoken as a second language by nearly all literate Pakistanis. It is written in a modified form of the Persian alphabet and its basically Indic vocabulary has been enriched by words from Arabic, Persian, and English. Urdu has drawn inspiration from Persian literature and has now an enormous stock of words from that language. In recent years, the Urdu spoken in Pakistan has gradually incorporated words from many of the native languages found there including Pushto, Punjabi and Sindhi to name a few. As such the language is constantly developing and has acquired a particularly 'Pakistani' flavour to it distinguishing itself from that spoken in ancient times. The first poetry in Urdu was by the Persian poet Amir Khusro (1253-1325) and the first Urdu book "Woh Majlis" was written in 1728 and the first time the word "Urdu" was used by Saraj-ud-din Aarzoo in 1751. An official language in British India since 1835 and in India since 1947, where it is spoken by Muslim population, Urdu is one of the 22 national languages recognized by the constitution of that country.

Sindhi (Provincial Language)

Sindhi is spoken as a first language by 14% of Pakistanis, mostly in Sindh. Sindhi has very rich literature and is used in schools. Sindhi language contains Arabic words and is affected by Arabic language to a great extent. The reason being Arab ruled Sindh for more than 150 years. Muhammad bin Qasim entered Sindh and conquered it in 712 AD. He remained here for three years and set up Arabic rule in the area. According to historians, the social fabric of Sindh comprises elements of Arabic society. Sindhi is spoken in Pakistan and is also one of the constitutional languages of India. It is spoken by about 20 million people in the southern Pakistani province of Sindh, Southern Pakistan, and by about 2½ million more across the border in India. In Pakistan it is written in the Arabic script with several additional letters to accommodate special sounds. The largest Sindhi-speaking city is Hyderabad, Pakistan. Sindhi literature is also spiritual in nature and Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (1689-1752) is one of its Greatest poet who wrote Sassi Punnu, Umar Marwi (the great folk stories of the civilization) in his famous book "Shah jo Rasalo".

Punjabi (Provincial Language)

Punjabi is spoken as a first language by more than 44% of Pakistanis, mostly in Punjab as well as by a large number of people in Karachi. It is an important language since Punjabi is spoken by about half of Pakistanis. However, Punjabi does not have any official status in Pakistan. The exact numbers of Punjabi speakers in Pakistan is hard to find since there are many dialects/languages, such as Saraiki, which some regard as part of Punjabi and others regard as separate language. Punjabi is spoken by almost 60% of the population in Pakistan. The standard Punjabi dialects is from Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala and Sheikupura districts of the Pakistani Punjab which was used by Waris Shah (1722-1798) in his famous book "Heer" and is also now days langueage of Punjabi literature, film and music; such as Lollywood. Other dialects are Multani or Saraiki in West and South, Pothowari in North, Dogri in the mountain areas and Shahpuri in Sargodha area.

Punjabi is a very old language and it has been related to Sanskrit in Vedic-period (ca 1700 B.C.), Pali, Prakart and Upbharnash in Ashok-period (273-32 B.C.) and Hindvi, Lahori and Multani under Muslim period (711-1857). Punjabi literature was principally spiritual in nature and has had a very rich oral tradition. The Great Sufi/Saint poetry has been the folklore of the Punjab and still sung with great love in any part of Punjab.

  • Punjabi dialects
    • Lahori - "The standard Punjabi language" and spoken in the heart of Punjab where most of the Punjabi population lives. The main districts are Lahore, Multan, Sheikhupura, Gujaranwala and Sialkot.
    • Jhangvi or Jangli - Spoken in the central Pakistani Punjab, stretches from districts Khanewal to Jhang and includes Faisalabad and Chiniot.
    • Shahpuri - Spoken in Sargodha, Khushab and Mandi Bahawaldin districts.
    • Pothowari - The area where Pothowari is spoken extends in the north from Azad Kashmir (Mirpur) to as far south as Jhelum, Gujar Khan, Chakwal and Rawalpindi. The language in Dhani area of Chakwal is a mix of Pothowari, saraiki and jhangwi

Pashto (Provincial Language)

Pashto is spoken as a first language by 15% of Pakistanis, mostly in the North-West Frontier Province and in Balochistan as well as by immigrants to the eastern provinces who are often not counted due to census irregularities. Additionally, Afghan refugees are often outside the census count, but appear to be largely Pashto speakers from Afghanistan. Pashto speakers are almost 15% of Pakistani population and more than 30% in Afghanistan. Pashto has rich written literary traditions as well as oral tradition. There are two major dialect patterns within which the various individual dialects may be classified; these are Pakhto, which is the northern (Peshawar) variety, and the softer Pashto spoken in southern areas. Khushal Khan Khattak (1613-1689) and Rahman Baba (1633-1708) were most famous poets in Pashto language. In the last part of 20th century, Pukhto/pashto has produced some great poets like Ghani Khan, Khatir Afridi and Amir Hamza Shinwari.

Saraiki

Saraiki is related to Punjabi (See Classification, below) It is spoken as a first language by 11% of Pakistanis, mostly in the southern districts of Punjab, Pakistan (see Saraikis). Almost 10% of the population of Pakistan speak the Saraiki language. Dialects tend to blend into each other, with Punjabi to the east, and Sindhi to the south. Until recently it was considered to be a dialect of Punajbi. The Saraiki language has an 85% lexical similarity with Sindhi and 68% similarity with Odki and Sansi. Dialects are Derawali, Khatki, Jangli or Jatki and Riasti or Bahawalpuri. Saraiki or Multani (also Lehndi by some) differs from Punjabi more than any other dialect. Multani becomes more and more different as you move down south, as the influence of Sindhi increases, it is also known as Saraiki there. Saraiki itself is Sindhi word and means northern.

Hindko

Hindko is an ancient Indo-Aryan language spoken by Hindkowans (Punjabi Pathans) in Pakistan. The language is spoken in the areas of the North West Frontier Province (including Hazara), Punjab and Kashmir by an estimated 2.2 to 4 million people.[citation needed] During the pre-Buddhist era in present day Pakistan, the language of the masses was refined by the ancient grammarian Pāṇini, who set the rules of a structurally rigorous language called Sanskrit which was used principally for scriptures (analogous to Latin in the Western world). Meanwhile, the vernacular language of the masses, Prakrit developed into many tongues and dialects which spread over the northern parts of South Asia. Hindko is believed to be closely related to Prakrit. Due to the geographic isolation of the regions, it has undergone very little grammatical corruption, but has borrowed considerable vocabulary from its neighbours, in particular Pashto. It shows close affinity to Punjabi and the Lahnda sub-group of Indo-Aryan tongues and can be sub-divided into a northern and southern dialects.

Balochi (Provincial Language)

Balochi is spoken as a first language by over 5% of Pakistanis, mostly in Balochistan. Sindh and southern Punjab. Balochi language is very close to the Persian itself. The name Balochi or Baluchi is not found before the 10th Century. It is believed that the language was brought to its present location in a series of migrations from northern Iran region of Caspian Sea. Rakshani is the major dialect group in terms of numbers. Sarhaddi, is a sub dialect of Rakshani. Other sub - dialects are Qalati, Chagai Kharani, and Makurani. The Eastern Hill Balochi or Northern Balochi are distinct dialects.

Persian

Persian is considered to be a cultural language of Pakistan. Although Persian has neither official status, it had for long been the lingua franca of the Indian subcontinent and was the official and cultural language of the Mughal Empire. Persian was officially abolished from the region with the arrival of the British to the province of Sindh in 1843 and Punjab in 1849 to minimize the influence of Persia and Afghanistan on the subcontinent. Nevertheless, Persian has influenced Urdu immensely, and is still appreciated as a literary and prestigious language among the educated elite, especially in fields of music (Qawwali) and art. Persian is mainly spoken by the inhabitants of Chitral in Pakistan. Dari (a variant of Persian) is also the native tongue of many Afghan refugees (some 3-5 million) currently residing in Pakistan.

Arabic

Arabic is considered to be religious language of Pakistan. The Quran, Sunnah, Hadith and Muslim theology is taught in Arabic with Urdu translation. The large numbers of Pakistani's living in the Gulf region and in other Middle Eastern Countries has further increased the number of people who can speak Arabic within Pakistan.

Minor Pakistani Languages

Aer: Population: 100 to 200 (1998). Women are monolingual. Region Lower Sindh, Jikrio Goth near Kunri around Deh 333, Hyderabad, and at Jamesabad. Others are reported to have migrated to India at Partition in 1947, living in the Kutch Bhuj area in Gujarat. Dialects Jikrio Goth Aer, Jamesabad Aer. Lexical similarity 78% with Katai Meghwar and Kutchi Bhil, 75% to 77% with Rabari, 76% with Kutchi Koli. Classification Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Central zone, Language use All ages. They also speak Sindhi (adult men only for common topics), Panjabi (adult men of Jikrio Goth only for common topics), and Gujarati. 100% of boys and 25% of girls attend Sindhi medium schools. Language development Literacy rate in second language: 15% in Sindhi. Sindhi-based script.

Comments: Unusual interrogative word suggests possible historical connection with Western Rajasthani group. Speakers in Pakistan are running out of marriage possibilities and may have to move to India. The group in India is the most influential. Other Aer people in Nawabshah, Sindh are reported to speak a different language, dress differently, and do not intermarry with this Hindu group.

Other Languages

Numerous other languages are spoken by relatively small numbers of people, especially in some of the more remote and isolated places in, for example, the Northern Areas of Pakistan.[8] Other Indo-European languages spoken in Pakistan include Pothohari, Shina, Wakhi, Kashmiri, Marwari, Khowar, Dari Persian, Brahui, a Dravidian language, and Burushaski, a language isolate.

Arabic and Persian are also taught in schools and religious institutions.

Classification

Indo-European

Nearly all of Pakistan's languages are Indo-European languages and within the smaller Indo-Iranian sub-branch.

Indo-Aryan languages

Around 4/5 of Pakistan's population speak one or more of the various Indo-Aryan languages. Usually concentrated in the heavily populated areas east of the Indus river, the Indo-Aryan languages and their cultures form the predominate cultural group in the country. They derive their roots from the Sanskrit language that was once the pre-eminent tongue of learning and high culture in South Asia but are heavily influenced by the languages of the later Muslim invaders (i.e., Turkish, Persian, and Arabic), and are all written in a variant of either the Arabic or Nastaliq script. Urdu, the country's national language, is an Indo-Aryan tongue, closely related to the Hindi of neighboring India. Punjabi, Hindko and Saraiki, all mutually intelligible, are classified by linguists as dialects of an Indo-Aryan speech called Lahnda,[9] also spelled as Lehnda. These are also, to a lesser extent, mutually intelligible with Urdu. Added together, speakers of these mutually-intelligible languages make up nearly two-thirds of Pakistan's population. Sindhi is the common language of the people of Sindh in southern Pakistan and has a rich literary history of its own, traced back to the era of the early Arab invasions. The Dardic languages of the Northern Areas, Azad Kashmir and the northwestern mountains are sometimes classified by many linguists as belonging to the Indo-Aryan family. Other Indo-Aryan languages include those spoken by Pakistan's Muhajirs, including Bengali (formerly the dominant language of the erstwhile East Pakistan and consequently the largest-spoken language in the nation at the time), Gujarati, Kutchi, and other north Indian dialects.

Iranian family of languages

Pashto and Balochi are classified as members of the Iranian family of languages.[10] If combined, Iranian peoples who speak Pashto, Balochi, Dari-Persian (Afghan refugees speak both Pashto and Dari-Persian) and Wakhi comprise over 1/5 of the population of Pakistan.

Dardic Languages

Dardic languages are spoken in the northern Pakistan. They include Shina (spoken in Gilgit, chilas and diamar) , Khowar (spoken in chitral), kalasha (spoken by kalash tribe) , kohistani (spoken in upper swat and kohistan) and kashmiri (spoken primarily in the valley of kashmir, muzaffarabad and by kashmiri refugees in Pakistan controlled Kashmir).

Kashmiri spoken in kashmir valley (not confuse with pahari language spoken in azad kashmir) is the only dardic language that has literary tradition that goes well back into the history where as other dardic languages spoken in northern Pakistan, unfortunately, do not have literatur like kashmiri. This is because the people in the northern areas of Pakistan have remained isolated from the others for centuries (if not for thousands of years) in the course of their history.

Non-Indo-European languages

Dravidian

Brahui language belongs to the Dravidian language family. Brahui is a minority language of Balochistan.[11] Brahui is heavily influenced by Baluchi, Persian and Sindhi, languages in which many Brahui speakers are necessarily bilingual. Although its Dravidian descent is still obvious, Brahui now has rather few inherited Dravidian words in its lexicon.

References

  1. ^ Urban Research Centre, Population table (1901-98)
  2. ^ a b Pakistan in the CIA World Factbook
  3. ^ World Bank Group, Urbanization (urban population table)
  4. ^ Plan to hold census in 2008 By Ahmed Hassan
  5. ^ http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201PR&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201T&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201TPR&-ds_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_&-reg=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201:045;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201PR:045;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201T:045;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201TPR:045&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format=
  6. ^ Feeney and Alam, 2003)
  7. ^ Population by mother tongue and Pakistan Statistics
  8. ^ Ethnologue report for Pakistan: Languages of Pakistan
  9. ^ Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Northwestern zone, Lahnda: Language Tree
  10. ^ Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian: Language Tree
  11. ^ Dravidian Language Tree

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