Demographics of Pakistan

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Pakistan, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Pakistanis

Regions with significant populations
Primarily Pakistan
Languages
Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi, Saraiki and others
Religion
Islam 97% (75-90% Sunni, 10-20% Shia) with Hindu, Sikh and Christian minorities

Demographics of {{{place}}}
Population of Pakistan, 1961-2003
Population	187,343,000 (2011 est.)
Growth rate	1.6%
Birth rate	31 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death rate	8 deaths/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Life expectancy	63.39 years (2009 est.)
• male	62.4 years (2009 est.)
• female	64.44 years (2009 est.)
Fertility rate	3.58 children born/woman (2008 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	36.7% (male 33,037,943/female 31,092,572)
15–64 years	59.1% (male 53,658,173/female 49,500,786)
65 and over	4.2% (male 3,495,350/female 3,793,734) (2009 est.)
Sex ratio
At birth	1.00 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Under 15	1.06 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
15–64 years	1.05 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
65 and over	0.82 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Nationality
Nationality	noun: Pakistani
Major ethnic	See Ethnic Groups of Pakistan
Language
Official	See Languages of Pakistan
Spoken	See List of Pakistani languages by number of native speakers

Pakistan's estimated population in 2011 is over 187 million making it the world's sixth most-populous country, behind Brazil and ahead of Bangladesh. While compared to India, Pakistan's population is less than one Indian state, Uttar Pradesh whose population is 200 million. During 1950-2011, Pakistan's urban population expanded over sevenfold, while the total population increased by over fourfold. In the past, the country's population had a relatively high growth rate that has, however, been moderated by declining fertility and birth rates. The population growth rate now stands at 1.6%.

Dramatic social changes have led to rapid urbanization and the emergence of megacities. During 1990-2003, Pakistan sustained its historical lead as the second most urbanized nation in South Asia with city dwellers making up 36% of its population. Furthermore, 50% of Pakistanis now reside in towns of 5,000 people or more.

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

Population data

Population density in Pakistan.

Geographic distribution

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

Population and growth

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%
2008	172,800,000	32.34%

• Population: 172,800,000 (July 2008 best estimation)
• Growth rate: 2.2% (2008 estimation)
• Birth rate: 31 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
• Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
• Net migration rate: -1.0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Pakistanis around the world

Further information: Pakistani diaspora

Structure

Age structure

• 0–14 years: 42% (male 33,293,428; female 31,434,314)
• 15–64 years: 54.9% (male 48,214,298; female 46,062,933)
• 65 years and over: 4.1% (male 3,256,065; female 3,542,522) (2006 est.)

• 0–14 years: 36.7% (male 33,037,943/female 31,092,572)
• 15–64 years: 59.1% (male 53,658,173/female 49,500,786)
• 65 years and over: 4.2% (male 3,495,350/female 3,793,734) (2009 est.)

Gender ratios

• Sex ratio at birth: 1.10 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
• 15–64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
• total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Human development

Human Development Index

Further information: List of Pakistani Districts by Human Development Index

According to the 2009 Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 60.3% of Pakistanis live on less than $2 a day.[5]

Saudi Arabia	1,500,000
United Kingdom	1,400,000
United Arab Emirates	700,000 – 1,000,000
United States	600,410– 1,000,000
Canada	350,000
Kuwait	100,000
Oman	85,000
Germany	52,668
Qatar	52,500
France	50,000
Norway	35,000
Ireland	9500

Province || Human Development Index || Comparable Country

Medium human development
Punjab	0.670	Tajikistan
Sindh	0.628	India
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	0.607	Solomon Islands
Balochistan	0.556	Ghana

Sources: Information on Pakistani regions: Information on other countries: All Estimated at 3 decimal points.

Region	Human Development Index	Comparable Country
Medium human development
Urban Sindh	0.659	Equatorial Guinea/South Africa
Urban Punjab	0.657	Equatorial Guinea/South Africa
Urban Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	0.627	India
Urban Balochistan	0.591	Solomon Islands
Rural Punjab	0.517	Sudan
Low human development
Rural Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	0.489	Zimbabwe/Kenya
Rural Balochistan	0.486	Mauritania
Rural Sindh	0.456	Eritrea

Region	Human Development Index	Comparable Country
Medium human development
Urban Pakistan	0.656	Equatorial Guinea/South Africa
Low human development
Rural Pakistan	0.496	Togo

Note: Regarding the above two tables, information on Pakistan has been taken from the PAKISTAN NATIONAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2003 and for the countries of the world, information has been take from the Human Development Report 2006 as it best reflects the time when data was taken for Pakistan. Pakistan National Human Development Report gave Pakistan an HDI score of 0.541 where as the Human Development Report 2006 gave it a score of 0.539. So this is the MOST ACCURATE comparison.

Sources:

Mortality and life expectancy

• Infant mortality rate: 62 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
• Maternal mortality rate: 320 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
• Life expectancy at birth:
  • total population: 65.5 years (2007 est.)
  • male: 66.5 years (2009 est.)
  • female: 67.2 years (2009 est.)

As adultery is a crime punishable by death in Pakistan, just in the main cities 1,210 infants were killed or abandoned to die, 90% of them girls and most less than a week old according to conservative estimates by the Edhi Foundation, a charity working to reverse this increasing trend.

Fertility

Source:

• Total fertility rate: 3.17 children born/woman (2011 est.)

Fertility by region (2007)

Region	Fertility Rate
Urban	3.3
Rural	4.5
Punjab	3.9
Sindh	4.3
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	4.3
Balochistan	4.1

Source:

Fertility by level of Education (2007)

Level of Eucation	Fertility Rate
None	4.8
Primary	4.0
Middle	3.2
Secondary	3.1
Higher	2.3

Source:

• Contraceptive Prevalence (%) (2009 est.)
  • Any method: 30%
  • Modern methods: 22%

Literacy

definition: aged 10 and over and can read and write

• Total population: 57%
• Male: 69%
• Female: 45% (2009 est.)

Source:

Educational institutions by kind

• Primary schools: 156,592
• Middle schools: 320,611
• High schools: 23,964
• Arts & science colleges: 3,213
• Degree colleges: 1,202
• Technical and Vocational Institutions: 3,125
• Universities: 132

Source:

Employment by industry

Percentage of total employment:

• Manufacturing: 13.84%
• Construction: 6.13%
• Electricity, gas, water and sanitary services: 0.66%
• Commerce: 14.67%
• Transport, storage and communication: 5.74%
• Financing, insurance, real estate and business services: 1.10%
• Services: 14.35%
• Activities not adequately described: 0.04%

Source:

Health

Public expenditure was at 0.4 % of the GDP in 2004, whereas private expenditure was at 1.8 %. Health expenditure per capita was at US$ 48 (PPP) in 2004. There were 74 physicians per 100,000 persons in the early 2000s. Fertility rate was at 4 births per woman in the early 2000s. Pakistan has a high infant mortality rate of 70 per thousand births.

Pakistan's yearly population

Pakistan's yearly population from 1950 to 2011.

Year	Population	Absolute Increase	Percentage Increase
1950	40,382,000
1951	41,347,000	965,000	2.39
1952	42,342,000	995,000	2.41
1953	43,372,000	1,030,000	2.43
1954	44,434,000	1,062,000	2.45
1955	45,536,000	1,102,000	2.48
1956	46,680,000	1,144,000	2.51
1957	47,869,000	1,189,000	2.55
1958	49,104,000	1,235,000	2.58
1959	50,387,000	1,283,000	2.61
1960	51,719,000	1,332,000	2.64
1961	53,101,000	1,382,000	2.67
1962	54,524,000	1,423,000	2.68
1963	55,988,000	1,464,000	2.69
1964	57,495,000	1,507,000	2.69
1965	59,046,000	1,551,000	2.70
1966	60,642,000	1,596,000	2.70
1967	62,282,000	1,640,000	2.70
1968	63,970,000	1,688,000	2.71
1969	65,706,000	1,736,000	2.71
1970	67,491,000	1,785,000	2.72
1971	69,326,000	1,835,000	2.72
1972	71,121,000	1,795,000	2.59
1973	72,912,000	1,791,000	2.52
1974	74,712,000	1,800,000	2.47
1975	76,456,000	1,744,000	2.33
1976	78,153,000	1,697,000	2.22
1977	80,051,000	1,898,000	2.43
1978	82,374,000	2,323,000	2.90
1979	85,219,000	2,845,000	3.45
1980	88,097,000	2,878,000	3.38
1981	90,975,000	2,878,000	3.27
1982	94,096,000	3,121,000	3.43
1983	96,881,000	2,785,000	2.96
1984	99,354,000	2,473,000	2.55
1985	102,079,000	2,725,000	2.74
1986	105,240,000	3,161,000	3.10
1987	108,584,000	3,344,000	3.18
1988	112,021,000	3,437,000	3.17
1989	115,419,000	3,398,000	3.03
1990	118,816,000	3,397,000	2.94
1991	122,248,000	3,432,000	2.89
1992	124,962,000	2,714,000	2.22
1993	127,563,000	2,601,000	2.08
1994	130,746,000	3,183,000	2.50
1995	134,185,000	3,439,000	2.63
1996	137,911,000	3,726,000	2.78
1997	141,445,000	3,534,000	2.56
1998	144,885,000	3,440,000	2.43
1999	148,379,000	3,494,000	2.41
2000	152,429,000	4,050,000	2.73
2001	156,795,000	4,366,000	2.86
2002	160,269,000	3,474,000	2.22
2003	163,166,000	2,897,000	1.81
2004	166,224,000	3,058,000	1.87
2005	169,279,000	3,055,000	1.84
2006	172,382,000	3,103,000	1.83
2007	175,495,000	3,113,000	1.81
2008	178,479,000	2,984,000	1.70
2009	181,457,000	2,978,000	1.67
2010	184,405,000	2,948,000	1.62
2011	187,343,000	2,938,000	1.59

Foreign born population in Pakistan

Most of Pakistan's foreign born population consists of Muslim refugees that fled from genocide and pograms in India to Pakistan after independence in 1947. The second biggest group of foreign born population consists of Muslim refugees from Afghanistan that have settled in Pakistan due to civil war in Afghanistan. The smaller groups consist of Muslim refugees from Myanmar, Bangladesh, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, etc.

Mostly those born pre 1947

Year	Population	Foreign Born	Percentage Foreign Born
1960	46,259,000	6,350,296	13.73%
1970	59,565,000	5,105,556	8.57%
1980	79,297,000	5,012,524	6.32%
1990	111,698,000	6,555,782	5.87%
2000	142,648,000	4,242,689	2.97%
2005	157,935,000	3,254,112	2.06%

Source:

Nationality and ethnicity

Ethnic groups

Main article: Ethnic groups in Pakistan

Major ethnic groups in Pakistan, 1973.

File:Biggest Group by Region.jpg

Biggest Group by Region

Though most Pakistanis speak Indo-Iranic, Pakistan's diversity is more visible along cultural differences and less along linguistic, religious or genetic lines. Almost all Pakistanis belong to the Indo-Iranic ancestral group. There are many ethnic groups: Pakistan's census and rough estimates vary, but the consensus is that the Punjabis are the largest ethnic group. Though it is worth mentioning that Punjab province in Pakistan is extremely diverse with many ethnic groups dwelling within Punjab as well such as Seraikis, Punjabi Pathans, Hindkowans, Potohari etc. Furthermore, specific regions within Punjab that are highlighted as Punjabi regions have a majority Pashtun or Pathan populations (e.g. district of Mianwali in Punjab). Pashtuns make up the second largest and Sindhi are the third largest ethnic group. Saraikis, (a group seen as transitional between Punjabis and Sindhis or Punjabis and Hindkowans/Pashtuns), make up 10.53% of the population. The remaining groups that comprise large percentages include the Muhajirs (migrants from different parts of South Asia - Bangladesh, Burma, India etc.) at 7.57% and the Baloch people at 3.57%. The other main ethnic groups include Hindkowans and the Brahui, and the various peoples of the Northern Areas, who all together total roughly 4.66% of the total population, while significant Shia Muslims of Pakistan are of Ethnic Persian descent. The Pakhtun and Baloch represent two of the major populations that are linguistically Iranic, while the majority Punjabis, Hindkowans, Sindhis and Saraikis are the major linguistically Indo-Aryan groups. Note that, due to thousands of years of shared history, migrations and conquests many Punjabi, Hindkowans and Seraikis, though linguistically Indo-Aryan, are racially and ethnically of (recent) Persian, Turk or Afghan descent. Present Prime Minister of Pakistan, Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani is one such example who hails from southern Punjab's Saraiki belt, but whose family is originally from Gilan in Iran.

The Muhajir population is a multi-ethnical group. It is believed to have mixed blood lines of people from the rest of South Asia who claim Afghan people, Persians,Turks, Mughals, and Arabs ancestry such as the Rohilla Pashtuns. People of Black African descent are known in Pakistan as Sheedis.

After Pakistan-India war in 1971, thousands of Biharis and Bengalis from Bangladesh arrived in the Karachi, followed by Muslim Rohingya refugees from Burma, and Asians from Uganda. According to the UNHCR and the local law enforcement, approximately 50,000 registered Afghan refugees live in Karachi. Many other refugees from Iran and Tajikistan have also settled in the city.

Ethnics groups from Afghanistan, Central Asia and Iran] include Hazara, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Tajiks, Kyrgyzs, Nuristanis, Pashais, Pamiris, Brahuis, Dards, Baltis, Burushos, Uyghurs and Wakhis. Approximately 2.7 million Afghan refugees remain in Pakistan, though the exact number can be higher. Nearly half of this population actually was born and grew up in Pakistan during the last 30 years, so they have never seen Afghanistan. They are not counted in the national census, even the ones born in Pakistan, because they are still considered citizens of Afghanistan. In addition, there are some pockets of other refugees/migrants including but not limited to Iraqis, Iranians, Tajikss, Somalis, Rohingyas, and possibly others who can be found living in the major cities of Pakistan.

All major ethnic groups in Pakistan, while categorized as separate entities, have thousands of years of shared history and inter-mingling. Thus, as can be expected, the genetic (as well as cultural and linguistic) differences between ethnic groups in Pakistan and those of its neighbors (Iran, Afghanistan, North-Western India etc.) are insignificant. In particular, inter-marriages between ethnic groups within Pakistan are becoming quite common today. The rate of intermarriage between peoples claiming Muhajirs, Sindhis, Saraikis, Punjabis, Brahui, Balochi, Pashtuns, Memons, etc. origin has reached its peaks in this and the previous century.

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

According to the CIA World Factbook, Library of Congress, Oxford University and others, over 97% of the population of Pakistan is Muslim and the remaining 3% is Christian, Hindu and others. Majority of the Muslims practice Sunni Islam while the Shi'a make up 10-20%.

The Muslims belong to different Islamic law schools which are called Madhahib (singular: Madhhab) i.e., schools of jurisprudence (also 'Maktab-e-Fikr' (School of thought) in Urdu). Sunnis accept all four of their schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali) and can pray in each others' mosques without any problems. In Pakistan, nearly all Sunnis belong to Hanafi school. The Hanafis in Pakistan are subdivided into Barelvi and Deobandi schools. These Islamic law schools are not to be confused with sects or divisions. The majority of Pakistani Shia Muslims belong to the Ithnā‘Ashariyyah branch, while there are some who practice Ismailism, which insludes Agha Khanis, Mustaali, Dawoodi Bohra, Sulaymani and others. Although the Ithnā‘ashariyyah have their own mosques, they encourage their members to pray in all mosques regardless of the associated madhab. While the Ismailis pray in Jama'at Khanas. The Ahmadiyya sect also has a sizeable minority of about 4 million adherents.

There are small non-Muslim religious groups, including Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis, Bahá'ís and Zoroastrians (Parsis).

Religious population In Pakistan

• Muslims: 181,723,000 (Over 97%; Sunnis are the majority while Shi'as make up 10-22% and Ahmadiyya 4 million (approx 2.3%))
• Hindus: 2,700,000 (approx. 1.5%)
• Christians: 2,700,000 (approx. 1.5%)
• Buddhists: 20,000
• Sikhs: 20,000
• Zoroastrian/Parsis: 5,000
• Others (included Animists, Baha'i, Atheists, Jews, etc.): unknown

Languages of Pakistan

Main article: Languages of Pakistan

Census History of Major languages

Rank	Language	1998 census	1982 census	1961 census	1951 census
1	Punjabi*	44.15%	48.17%	66.39%	67.08%
2	Pashto	15.42%	13.35%	8.47%	8.16%
3	Sindhi	14.1%	12.7%	12.59%	12.85%
4	Seraiki	10.53%	9.54%	--	--
5	Urdu	7.57%	7.60%	7.57%	7.05%
6	Balochi	3.57%	3.02%	2.49%	3.04%

{* Seraiki was included with Punjabi in the 1951 and 1961 censuses.}

Following are the major languages spoken in Pakistan. The percentage of Pakistanis who are native speakers of that language is also given.

Numbers of speakers of larger languages

Language			2008 estimate			1998 census			Main areas spoken
1	Punjabi		76,367,360	44.17%		58,433,431	44.15%		Punjab
2	Pashto		26,692,890	15.44%		20,408,621	15.42%		Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
3	Sindhi		26,410,910	15.35%		18,661,571	14.10%		Sindh
4	Seraiki		18,019,610	10.42%		13,936,594	10.53%		South Punjab
5	Urdu		13,120,540	7.59%		10,019,576	7.57%		Karachi
6	Balochi		6,204,540	3.59%		4,724,871	3.57%		Balochistan
7	Others		8,089,150	3.59%		6,167,515	4.66%
Total			172,900,000	100%		132,352,279	100%		Pakistan

There are around 75 to 80 known Pakistani languages although, in practice, there are primarily six major languages in Pakistan spoken by 95% of the population: Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Saraiki, Urdu and Balochi. The official language is English and the national language is Urdu, the census indicates that around 8% of the population speak Urdu as their first language. However, due to rapid urbanization and modernization, the use of Urdu as a primary language is increasing, especially amongst the growing urbanized middle class of Pakistan. Around 44% speak Punjabi, 15.5% speak Pashto, 15.5% speak Sindhi, 10.5% Saraiki, 7.5% Urdu, 3.5% Balochi and 3.5% other languages (Hindko, Brahui etc.) as their first language. Most Pakistanis, however, speak or understand at least two to three languages and almost all Pakistanis speak or understand the national language, Urdu.

The most prevalent native languages appear in bold below, with the percentage of the population speaking them as their first language rounded to the nearest percentage point:

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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. Amongst the more eduacated social circles of Pakistan, English is seen as the language of upward mobility and its use is becoming more prevalent in upper social circles often spoken alongside native Pakistani languages. Among countries that use English as an official language, Pakistan is the third most populous in the world.

Urdu (national language)

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, the lingua franca chosen to facilitate inter-provincial communication between the country's diverse linguistic populations. Although only about 7.5% of Pakistanis speak it as their first language, it is spoken as a second and often third language by nearly all Pakistanis. Its introduction as the lingua franca was encouraged by the British upon the capitulation and annexation of Sindh (1843) and Punjab (1849) with the subsequent ban on the use of Persian, the lingua franca of the region for the last 1,000 years, probably since the time the area was part of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The decision to make the language change was to institute a universal language throughout the then British Raj in South Asia as well as minimize the influence of Persia, Ottoman Empire, Afghanistan and Central Asia had on this transitional region. Urdu is a relatively new language in the contemporary sense but has undergone considerable modifications and development borrowing heavily on the traditions of older languages like Persian, Arabic and local South Asian languages all of which can be found in its vocabulary. It began as a standardized register of Hindi and in its spoken form. 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 (Muslim refugees that fled from genocide and pograms from different parts of India after independence of Pakistan in 1947) that form nearly 8% of Pakistan's population and is an acquired language. But nearly all of Pakistan's native ethnic groups representing almost 92% of the population making Pakistan a unique country in the choice of national languages. As Pakistan's national language, Urdu has been promoted as a token of national unity. In recent years, the Urdu spoken in Pakistan has undergone further evolution and acquired a particularly Pakistani flavour to it often absorbing local native terminology and adopting a strong Punjabi and Pashto leaning in terms of intonations and vocabulary. It is a modern language which is constantly evolving from its original form. It is written in a modified form of the Perso-Arabic script, Nastaliq, and its basic Hindi-based vocabulary has been enriched by words from Persian, Arabic, Turkic languages 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 Pashto, 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 and in India. 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 Sirajuddin Ali Khan Arzoo in 1741. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir (1658-1707) spoke Urdu (or Hindustani) fluently as did his descendents while his ancestors mostly spoke Persian and Turkish.

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. When taking into account Hindko, Potwari, Pahari, Saraiki, Punjabi dialects are thus spoken by almost 60% of the population in Pakistan. The standard Punjabi dialects is from Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala and Sheikhupura districts of the Pakistani Punjab which was used by Waris Shah (1722–1798) in his famous book Heer Ranjha and is also now days the language of Punjabi literature, film and music; such as Lollywood. Other dialects are Multani or Saraiki in the West and South, Pothowari & Hindko in the North, Dogri in the mountain areas and Shahpuri in the Sargodha district.

Punjabi is descended from Prakrit in the Vedic period (1700 B.C.), Pali, Old Persian and Apabhramsha in the Ashoka period (273 B.C. - 232 B.C.) and Hindvi, Lahori and Multani in the Muslim period (711 A.D. - 1857 A.D.) Punjabi literature was principally spiritual in nature and has had a very rich oral tradition. The Great poetry written by Sufi saints has been the folklore of the Punjab and is 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, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala and Sialkot.
• Pothowari - The area where Pothowari is spoken extends in the north from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Mirpur) to as far south as Jhelum, Gujar Khan, Chakwal and Rawalpindi. The language in the Dhani area of Chakwal is a mix of Pothowari, Saraiki and jhangi

Pashto (provincial language)

Pashto is spoken as a first language by 15.5% (28-30 millions) of Pakistanis, mostly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in Balochistan as well as by immigrants to the eastern provinces who are often not counted due to census irregularities. The Pashto has rich written literary traditions as well as an 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 the southern areas. Khushal Khan Khattak (1613–1689) and Rahman Baba (1633–1708) were the most famous poets in the Pashto language. In the last part of 20th century, Pakhto / Pashto has produced some great poets like Ghani Khan, Khatir Afridi and Amir Hamza Shinwari. There are also many Pakistani's from the adjacent regions of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan who are conversant in Pashto and count it as their second language. They are not included in the overall percentage.

Sindhi (provincial language)

Sindhi is spoken as a first language by 15.5% of Pakistanis , mostly in Sindh. It has a rich literature and is used in schools. It is an Indo-Iranian (Indo-European) language, derived from Sanskrit and heavily influenced by Dravidian (South Indian) and Arabic languages. The reason for the latter is that the Arabs ruled Sindh for more than 150 years after Muhammad bin Qasim conquered it in 712 AD, remaining there for three years to set up Arab rule. Consequently, the social fabric of Sindh contains elements of Arabic society. Sindhi is spoken by over 36 million people in Pakistan, and is the official language of Sindh province. It is widely spoken in the Lasbela District of Balochistan (where the Lasi tribe speaks a dialect of Sindhi), many areas of the Naseerabad and Jafarabad districts of Balochistan, and by the Sindhi diaspora abroad. It is written in the Arabic script with several additional letters to accommodate special sounds. The largest Sindhi-speaking cities are Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Shikarpur, Dadu, Jacobabad, Larkana and Nawabshah. Sindhi literature is also spiritual in nature. Shah Abdul Latif Bhita'i (1689–1752) is one of its greatest poets, and wrote Sassi Punnun and Umar Marvi, folk stories, in his famous book "Shah Jo Risalo".

Saraiki (regional language)

Saraiki is closely related to Punjabi (See Classification, below). Many argue that it is merely a regional dialect of Punjabi. It is spoken as a first language by 10.5% of Pakistanis, mostly in the southern districts of Punjab, Pakistan (see Saraikis). 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 Punjabi. 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.

Balochi (provincial language)

Balochi is spoken as first language by about 3.5% 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 Makrani. The Eastern Hill Balochi or Northern Balochi are distinct dialects.The Kethran language in North East Balochistan is also a variant of Balochi.It is one of the 9 distinguished languages of Pakistan. Since Balochi is a very poetic and rich language and have a certain degree of affinity to Persian and Urdu, Balochi poets tend to be very good poets in Urdu as well and Ata Shaad, Gul Khan Nasir and Noon Meem Danish are excellent examples of this.

Brahui (regional language)

Brahui is of uncertain origin despite the fact that the bulk of the language shares lexical similarities to Balochi as well as Sindhi. In colonial times, many British linguists tried to make the claim of a possible Dravidian language origin but this has not been conclusively proven despite ongoing research in the language for a century now. spoken in southern Pakistan, may have evolved from the original languages of Indus valley civilizations at Mehrgarh . However it is heavily influenced by Balochi and Pashto. It is spoken in central and east central Balochistan. The Mengals are a famous Brahvi tribe. Around 1-1.5% of Pakistani population has Brahui as their first language. It is one of the nine distinguished languages of Pakistan.

Hindko (regional language)

Hindko is an ancient Indo-Aryan language spoken by Hindkowans in Pakistan. It is very similar to northern dialects of Punjabi. The language is spoken in the areas of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (including Hazara), local people of Peshawar Punjab and Azad Kashmir by an estimated 2.2 to 4 million people. 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.

Persian (cultural language)

A sizeable proportion of Pakistanis speak Persian. Although Persian has no official status, it had been the lingua franca for a thousand years and a preferred language amongst the educated Muslim elite, and was the official and cultural language of the Mughal Empire, Afghan Empire and various Muslim princely states based in Pakistan. 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 regions that now make up Pakistan and integrate these regions with the rest of South Asia under a common Urdu language. Nevertheless Persian culture continues to influence the country to this day. It has influenced and formed the base for many of Pakistan's native languages, and has greatly influenced Urdu in more recent times. It is still spoken and understood by the educated elite as a literary and prestigious language, especially in the fields of music (Qawwali) and art. The National Anthem of Pakistan is in Persian.

Many Persian speaking refugees, Dari and Tajiks, from Afghanistan have settled in Pakistan permanently. There are also Tajiks refugees from Tajikistan that have settled in Pakistan.

Arabic (religious language)

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 Pakistanis living in the Persian Gulf region and in other Middle Eastern countries has further increased the number of people who can speak Arabic in Pakistan. Arabic is taught as a religious language in Mosques, Schools, Colleges, Universities and Madrassahs and nearly all of Pakistan's Muslim population has had some form of training in the reading, writing and pronunciation of the Arabic language.

Many Arabs who take part in Afghanistan war have settled in Pakistan permanently. Millions of Pakistanis that have worked in Middle East also speak Arabic.

Turkic (cultural language)

Turkic languages were used by the ruling Turco-Mongols (or Mughals) and earlier Sultans of India many of whom have settled in Pakistan. There are pockets of Turkic speakers found throughout the country, notably in the valleys in the countries northern regions which lie adjacent to Central Asia, western Pakistani region of Waziristan principally around Kanigoram where the Burki tribe dwell and in Pakistan's urban centres of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. The autobiography of Mughal emperor Babur, Tuzk Babari was also written in Turkish.

Many Turkic speaking refugees, Uzbeks and Turkmens, from Afghanistan have settled in Pakistan permanently. They are also Uzbeks and Turkmen refugees that have moved from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and settled in Pakistan. Turkey also provides scolarships to large number of Pakistani students to study in Turkish universities. President Pervez Musharraf studied in Turkey and spoke Turkish fluently.

The word Urdu is of Turkic origin, as Urdu was originally called Zaban-e-Ordu or language of the Army, Ordu means army' in Turkish.

Other Pakistani 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. Other Indo-European languages spoken in Pakistan include Pothohari, Shina, Gujjari, Kutchhi, Wakhi, Kashmiri, Marwari, Khowar, and Dari Persian. Non-Indo-European languages include Brahui and Burushaski, a language isolate.

There are some languages that are spoken by less than a thousand people, such as Aer.

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

Indo-European

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

Indo-Aryan languages

Around 80% 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 predominant cultural group in the country. They derive their roots from the Sanskrit language of Aryan invadors and are later heavily influenced by the languages of the later Muslim arrivals (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. Punjabi, Hindko and Seraiki, all mutually intelligible, are classified by linguists as dialects of an Indo-Aryan speech called Lahnda, 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 arrivals. The Dardic languages of Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and the northwestern mountains are sometimes classified by many linguists as belonging to the Indo-Aryan family. Other Indo-Aryan languages include Gujarati, Kutchi, Memoni and others.

Dardic languages

The Dardic languages are spoken in the northern Pakistan. They include Shina (spoken in Gilgit, Chilas and Diamar) , Khowar (spoken in Chitral, Ghizer and the Kalam Valley of upper Swat), Kalasha (spoken by Kalash tribe) , Kohistani (spoken in upper Swat and Kohistan) and Kashmiri mostly by Immigrants from Kashmir valley and by a few in the Neelum District.

Kashmiri spoken in north east Azad Kashmir and the adjacent Kashmir valley, (not to be confused with Pahari language spoken in the lower Azad Kashmir) is one of the Dardic languages that has a literary tradition that goes well back into the history where as other Dardic languages spoken in northern Pakistan, do not have written literature. It is believed to be the result of the northern areas of Pakistan having remained isolated in the mountain valleys from the others for centuries.

Iranic family of languages

Pashto, Yidgha and Wakhi are Eastern Iranian languages spoken in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. Balochi spoken in Balochistan is classified as a members of the Northwestern Iranian languages. If combined, Iranic peoples who speak Pashto, Balochi, Yidgha and Wakhi comprise about 18% of the population of Pakistan, and are concentrated in the northwest and west of Pakistan.

Brahui

Brahui may or may not be a language isolate and many origins have been hypothesized for it including Iranic and Dravidian. spoken in southern Pakistan, primarily in Kalat in Balochistan.

Burushaski

Burushaski is a language isolate, spoken by Burusho people in Hunza, Nagar, Yasin, and parts of the Gilgit valleys in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan.

Suffix of regions and towns

Parts of region and settlement names:

• -abad (Template:Lang-ur) means settlement or town. Example: Islamabad.
• Dera- (Template:Lang-ur) means settlement or town. Example: Dera Ghazi Khan.
• -garh (Template:Lang-ur) means settlement or town. Example: Islamgarh.
• -goth (Template:Lang-ur) means settlement or town. Example: Yousuf Goth.
• -istan (Template:Lang-ur) means land. Example: Pakistan.
• -kot (Template:Lang-ur) means settlement or town. Example: Islamkot.
• -nagar (Template:Lang-ur) means settlement or town. Example: Islamnagar.
• -pur (Template:Lang-ur) means settlement or town. Example: Alipur.
• -wal (Template:Lang-ur) means settlement or town. Example: Khanewal.
• -wala (Template:Lang-ur) means settlement or town. Example: Gujranwala.

See also

• Pakistan
• Punjab
• Balochistan
• Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
• Sindh
• Gilgit-Baltistan
• Azad Kashmir
• Pakistani people
• Persian people
• Demography of Central Asia

External links

• infopak.gov.pk - Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
• Population Reference Bureau
• statpak.gov.pk - Population by mother tongue
• US Census: International Data Base (IDB)
• infoPakistan.pk - All about Pakistan
• The Gujaratis of Pakistan