Demographics of Pakistan
's estimated population in 2017 was 207,774,520 according to the 2017 Census of Pakistan. Pakistan is the world's fifth-most-populous country.
During 1950–2012, 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 been changed by moderate birth rates. Between 1998–2017, the average population growth rate stood at 2.40%.
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.
The demographic history of Pakistan from the ancient Indus Valley Civilization to modern era includes the arrival and settlement of many cultures and ethnic groups in the modern region of Pakistan from Central Asia, Europe and the nearby Middle East.
Population
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, Sargodha, Islamabad, Multan, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Nowshera, Swabi, Mardan, and Peshawar.Population size and growth
- Population: 207,774,520
- Growth rate: 2.40%
Yearly population increase
Pakistan's yearly population from 1950 to 2012, with estimation since last census.| Year | Population | Absolute increase | Percentage increase |
| 1950 | 40,381,000 | - | - |
| 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 |
| 2012 | 190,284,285 | 2,941,285 | 1.57 |
| 2013 | 193,271,748 | 2,987,463 | 1.55 |
| 2014 | 196,228,805 | 2,957,057 | 1.53 |
Historic UN estimates
Source| Total population | Population aged 0–14 | Population aged 15–64 | Population aged 65+ | |
| 1950 | 37,547 | 40.3 | 54.1 | 5.6 |
| 1955 | 41,109 | 40.3 | 54.8 | 4.9 |
| 1960 | 45,920 | 40.4 | 55.3 | 4.3 |
| 1965 | 51,993 | 41.6 | 54.5 | 3.9 |
| 1970 | 59,383 | 42.6 | 53.6 | 3.8 |
| 1975 | 68,483 | 43.2 | 53.1 | 3.7 |
| 1980 | 80,493 | 43.4 | 52.9 | 3.7 |
| 1985 | 95,470 | 43.4 | 52.9 | 3.8 |
| 1990 | 111,845 | 43.7 | 52.5 | 3.8 |
| 1995 | 127,347 | 43.3 | 52.9 | 3.8 |
| 2000 | 142,344 | 42.0 | 54.0 | 4.0 |
| 2005 | 160,304 | 40.0 | 55.9 | 4.1 |
| 2010 | 179,425 | 37.7 | 58.1 | 4.2 |
| 2015 | 199,427 | 35.9 | 59.8 | 4.3 |
| 2020 | 220,892 | 34.8 | 60.8 | 4.3 |
Structure of population
The following statistics are for 1 July 2007. They exclude data for Azad Kashmir, the final status of which has not yet been determined. They are based on the results of the Pakistan Demographic Survey.The structure of the population by five-year age groups and gender is:
| Age group | Male | Female | Total | % |
| Total | 76,857,737 | 73,002,651 | 149,860,388 | 100 |
| 0–4 | 9,783,859 | 9,756,608 | 19,540,467 | 13.04 |
| 5–9 | 11,710,324 | 10,844,307 | 22,554,631 | 15.05 |
| 10–14 | 10,636,015 | 9,619,874 | 20,255,889 | 13.52 |
| 15–19 | 9,063,876 | 8,211,804 | 17,275,679 | 11.53 |
| 20–24 | 6,824,723 | 6,733,861 | 13,558,584 | 9.05 |
| 25–29 | 5,268,436 | 5,564,656 | 10,833,092 | 7.23 |
| 30–34 | 3,957,414 | 4,474,911 | 8,432,325 | 5.63 |
| 35–39 | 4,132,910 | 4,219,507 | 8,352,417 | 5.57 |
| 40–44 | 3,496,263 | 3,281,389 | 6,777,652 | 4.52 |
| 45–49 | 3,277,150 | 2,999,342 | 6,276,492 | 4.19 |
| 50–54 | 2,429,295 | 2,156,822 | 4,586,117 | 3.06 |
| 55–59 | 1,864,568 | 1,679,608 | 3,544,175 | 2.36 |
| 60–64 | 1,637,251 | 1,296,418 | 2,933,669 | 1.96 |
| 65–69 | 1,106,476 | 932,030 | 2,038,506 | 1.36 |
| 70–74 | 857 310 | 606 846 | 1 464 156 | 0,98 |
| 75–79 | 358,255 | 295,833 | 654,088 | 0.44 |
| 80–84 | 250,734 | 177,547 | 428,280 | 0.29 |
| 85+ | 202,880 | 151,288 | 354,168 | 0.24 |
The structure of the population by coarse age groups and gender is:
| Age group | Male | Female | Total | Percent |
| 0–14 | 32,130,198 | 30,220,789 | 62,350,987 | 41.61 |
| 15–64 | 41,951,884 | 40,618,318 | 82,570,202 | 55.10 |
| 65+ | 2,775,655 | 2,163,544 | 4,939,199 | 3.30 |
Gender ratios
- Sex ratio at birth: 1.05 male/female
- under 15 years: 1.06 male/female
- 15–64 years: 1.09 male/female
- 65 years and over: 0.92 male/female
- total population: 1.07 male/female
Vital statistics
Vital statistics
Fertility rate (The Demographic Health Survey)
Fertility rate and CBR :| Year | CBR | TFR | CBR | TFR | CBR | TFR |
| 1990–1991 | 5.4 | 4.9 | 5.6 | |||
| 2006–2007 | 30.7 | 4.1 | 27.6 | 3.3 | 32.3 | 4.5 |
| 2012–2013 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 4.2 | |||
| 2017–2018 | 29 | 3.6 | 26 | 2.9 | 31 | 3.9 |
Fertility (wanted fertility) by region 2017–18
| Region | Fertility rate |
| Urban | 2.9 |
| Rural | 3.9 |
| Overall | 3.6 |
| ICT Islamabad | 3.0 |
| Punjab | 3.4 |
| Sindh | 3.6 |
| Azad Kashmir | 3.5 |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 4.0 |
| Balochistan | 4.0 |
| Gilgit-Baltistan | 4.7 |
| FATA | 4.8 |
Contraceptives usage (%) 2017–2018
| Region | Contraceptives usage |
| Urban | 42.5% |
| Rural | 29.4% |
| Overall | 34.2% |
| ICT Islamabad | 45.7% |
| Gilgit-Baltistan | 39% |
| Punjab | 38.3% |
| Sindh | 30.9% |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 30.9% |
| Azad Kashmir | 27.6% |
| FATA | 21.8% |
| Balochistan | 19.8% |
Mortality and life expectancy
- Maternal mortality ratio: 320
- Life expectancy at birth:
| Period | Life expectancy in Years | Period | Life expectancy in Years |
| 1950–1955 | 37.0 | 1985–1990 | 59.3 |
| 1955–1960 | 42.7 | 1990–1995 | 60.8 |
| 1960–1965 | 47.5 | 1995–2000 | 62.1 |
| 1965–1970 | 51.3 | 2000–2005 | 63.3 |
| 1970–1975 | 54.1 | 2005–2010 | 64.4 |
| 1975–1980 | 56.1 | 2010–2015 | 65.9 |
| 1980–1985 | 57.8 |
Source: UN World Population Prospects
Life expectancy in Pakistan by administrative unit
| Unit | 1990 | 1995 | 2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2012 | 2015 | 2018 |
| Azad Jammu & Kashmir | 55.86 | 58.50 | 61.03 | 63.25 | 65.72 | 66.80 | 66.74 | 66.33 |
| Balochistan | 63.93 | 65.42 | 66.82 | 68.02 | 66.07 | 64.41 | 65.82 | 67.01 |
| FATA | 68.65 | 70.26 | 71.76 | 73.05 | 74.38 | 74.92 | 74.04 | 73.00 |
| Gilgit-Baltistan | 61.14 | 62.57 | 63.91 | 65.06 | 66.24 | 66.73 | 65.94 | 65.01 |
| Islamabad | 62.62 | 64.09 | 65.46 | 66.63 | 70.38 | 72.61 | 71.77 | 70.77 |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 62.12 | 63.57 | 64.93 | 66.10 | 68.05 | 69.06 | 69.01 | 68.79 |
| Punjab | 59.27 | 60.65 | 61.95 | 63.06 | 64.41 | 65.02 | 65.75 | 66.29 |
| Sindh | 59.26 | 60.65 | 61.94 | 63.06 | 65.18 | 66.31 | 66.86 | 67.22 |
| Pakistan | 60.10 | 61.51 | 62.82 | 63.95 | 65.26 | 65.85 | 66.58 | 67.11 |
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.
Human development
Human Development Index
Pakistan's Human Development Index value for 2018 is in the medium human development category with a score of 0.560 compared to 0.614 for Bangladesh and 0.647 for India. From 1990 to 2018, Pakistan's HDI increased 38.6% from 0.404 to 0.560.2018 Information on Pakistani provinces/regions, compared to other countries, estimated at three decimal places is provided below:
Literacy
definition: aged 10 and over with the “Ability to read and understand simple text in any language from a newspaper or magazine, write a simple letter and perform basic mathematical calculation .” as of 2018- Total population: 62.3%
- Male: 72.5%
- Female: 51.8%
Educational institutions by kind
- Primary schools: 156,592
- Middle schools: 320,611
- High schools: 23,964
- College of Arts and Sciences: 3,213
- Degree colleges: 1,202
- Technical and vocational institutions: 3,125
- Universities: 197
Nationality, ethnicity, and language
Ethnic groups
Pakistan's diversity is more visible along cultural differences and less along linguistic, religious or genetic lines. Almost all Pakistanis belong to the Indo-Iranian linguistic group of the Indo-European branch. Pakistan's rough estimates vary, but the consensus is that the Punjabis are the largest ethnic group. Pashtuns make up the second largest group and Sindhi are the third-largest ethnic group.< Saraikis speaking people make up 10.53% of the total population. The remaining large groups include the Muhajir people and the Baloch people, which make up 7.57% and 3.57% of the total population, respectively. Hindkowans and the Brahui, and the various peoples of the Gilgit–Baltistan, constitute roughly 4.66% of the total population. The Pakhtun and Baloch represent two of the major populations that are linguistically Iranian, while the majority Punjabis, Hindkowans, Sindhis and Saraikis are the major linguistically Indo-Aryan groups.Descendants of Black Africans that were brought as slaves in the 15th to the 19th century are known as Sheedis. The Sheedis are Muslims and speak Balochi, Sindhi and Urdu.
In 1850, the British started developing Karachi as a major port for trade and commerce, resulting in the arrival of a large number immigrants from Rajasthan, Gujarat and Goa. The Goan Catholics constitute the majority of the Christians in the city.
After the 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.
Approximately 1.4 million Afghan citizens reside in Pakistan on a temporary bases. Many of them were born and raised in Pakistan in the last 30 years. The majority of this group are ethnic Pakhtuns from southeastern Afghanistan.
All major ethnic groups in Pakistan, while categorized as separate entities, have thousands of years of shared history and inter-mingling. In addition, inter-marriages between ethnic groups within the country are not uncommon.
Foreign-born population in Pakistan
After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, many Muslims from India migrated to Pakistan and they are the largest group of foreign-born residents. This group is dwindling because of its age. The second-largest group of foreign-born residents consists of refugees from Afghanistan who are expected to leave Pakistan by the end of 2018. There are also smaller groups of Muslim immigrants from countries such as Burma, Bangladesh, Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, among others.| 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:
Languages
| Rank | Language | 2017 census | 1998 census | 1981 census | 1961 census | 1951 census |
| 1 | Punjabi* | 44.2% | 44.15% | 48.17% | 56.39% | 57.08% |
| 2 | Pashto | 15.4% | 14.42% | 13.35% | 8.47% | 8.16% |
| 3 | Sindhi | 14.1% | 14.1% | 12.7% | 12.59% | 12.85% |
| 4 | Saraiki* | 10.5% | 10.53% | 9.54% | ||
| 5 | Urdu | 7.6% | 7.57% | 7.60% | 7.57% | 7.05% |
| 6 | Balochi | 3.6% | 3.57% | 3.02% | 2.49% | 3.04% |
| 7 | Others | 4.6% | 4.66% | 5.62% | 12.49% | 11.82% |
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. Most Pakistanis 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:
English
English is the official language, is 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, colleges and most universities use English as the medium of instruction. Amongst the more educated 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 third-most populous in the world.Urdu
is the national language of Pakistan, the lingua franca chosen to facilitate 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.On the annexation of Sindh and Punjab, the British Raj encouraged its use as the lingua franca and subsequently banned the use of Persian, which had been the lingua franca of the region for centuries before. Persian had been introduced by Central Asian Turkic invaders who migrated into South Asia, and had been patronised by the Turko-Afghan Delhi Sultanate. This language change was designed to institute a universal language throughout the then British Raj in South Asia as well as minimize the influence that Persia, the Ottoman Empire and Afghanistan had on this transitional region.
Urdu is a relatively new language but has undergone considerable modification and development, with many borrowings from older languages such as Persian, Arabic, Chagatai and other South Asian languages. It is a standardized register of Hindustani 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 arrived from different parts of India after the independence of Pakistan in 1947, and that form nearly 8% of Pakistan's population – and is an acquired language by nearly all of Pakistan's native ethnic groups. It is spoken by almost 92% of the population, making Pakistan a unique country in its choice of a 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", often absorbing local native terminology and adopting a strong Punjabi, Sindhi 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.
The first poetry in Urdu was by the poet Amir Khusro and the first Urdu book Woh Majlis was written in 1728; the first time the word "Urdu" was used was by Sirajuddin Ali Khan Arzoo in 1741. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir spoke what the locals called Lashakri Zaban or what the Mughals called Zaban-i-Ordu fluently as did his descendants while his ancestors mostly spoke Persian and a language related to Turkish.
Punjabi
is a provincial language spoken mostly in Punjab, as well as by a large number of people in Karachi. Punjabi does not have any official status in Pakistan. The exact number of Punjabi speakers in Pakistan is hard to determine since the boundaries with the closely related Hindko and Saraiki are not always clear-cut. The standard Punjabi variety is from Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala and Sheikhupura districts of Pakistani Punjab, and is also nowadays the language of Punjabi literature, film and music, such as Lollywood.Pashto
is a provincial language spoken as a first language by about 15% of Pakistanis, mostly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in Balochistan as well as by immigrants to the eastern provinces. There are two major dialect patterns within which the various individual dialects may be classified; these are Pakhto, which is the Northern variety and the softer Pashto spoken in the southern areas. There are also many Pakistanis 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.The Pashtuns, originally from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA and northern Balochistan, are now the city's second largest ethnic group in Karachi after Muhajirs. With as high as 7 million by some estimates, the city of Karachi in Pakistan has the largest concentration of urban Pakhtun population in the world, including 50,000 registered Afghan refugees in the city. Karachi is the biggest Pashto speaking city in the world although the Pashto speakers constitute only about 25% of Karachi's population.
Sindhi
is a provincial language spoken as a first language by 16% of Pakistanis, mostly in Sindh. It has a rich literature and is used in schools. It is an Indo-Aryan language, derived from Sanskrit. 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, many areas of the Naseerabad and Jafarabad districts of Balochistan, and by the Sindhi diaspora abroad. The Sindhi language has six major dialects: Sireli, Vicholi, Lari, Thari, Lasi and Kachhi. 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, Mirpur Khas, Thatta, Badin and Nawabshah. Sindhi literature is also spiritual in nature. Shah Abdul Latif Bhita'i is one of its greatest poets, and wrote Sassi Punnun and Umar Marvi, folk stories, in his famous book Shah Jo Risalo.Sindhi dialects:
- Sindhi Saraiki – spoken mainly in Upper Sindh
- Vicholi – in Vicholo, i.e. Central Sindh
- Lari – in Laru, i.e. Lower Sindh
- Lasi – in Lasa B’elo, a part of Kohistan in Baluchistan on the western side of Sindh
- Thari or Thareli – in Tharu, the desert region on the southeast border of Sindh and a part of the Jaisalmer district in Rajasthan
- Kachhi – in the Kutch region and in a part of Kathiawar in Gujarat, on the southern side of Sindh
Saraiki
, sometimes spelled Seraiki and Siraiki, is spoken as a first language by about 20 million people, mostly in the southern districts of Punjab: Multan, Lodhran, Bahawalpur, Layyah, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh and Rahim Yar Khan. It is also spoken by the majority of the population of Dera Ismail Khan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Kachi plain of Balochistan, northern parts of Sindh, and cities of Hyderabad and Karachi.Balochi
is a provincial language spoken as the first language by about 3.5% of Pakistanis, mostly in Balochistan. Sindh and southern Punjab. 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 Aleppo, Syria. 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 poetic and rich language and have a certain degree of affinity to Urdu, Balochi poets tend to be very good poets in Urdu as well as Ata Shaad, Gul Khan Nasir and Noon Meem Danish are excellent examples of this.Brahui
is a regional language 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 the Pakistani population has Brahui as their first language. It is one of the nine distinguished languages of Pakistan.The Brahui population of Balochistan has been taken by some as the linguistic equivalent of a relict population, perhaps indicating that Dravidian languages were formerly much more widespread and were supplanted by the incoming Indo-Aryan languages. However it has now been demonstrated that the Brahui could only have migrated to Balochistan from central India after 1000 CE. The absence of any Avestan, an older Iranian language, loanwords in Brahui supports this hypothesis. The main Iranian contributor to Brahui vocabulary, Balochi, is a western Iranian language like Kurdish, and moved to the area from the west only around 1000 CE.
Hazaragi
, spoken by the Hazaras in Pakistan, is similar to Dari. It is spoken in parts of the Quetta district of Karachi, Islamabad, and in parts of Ziarat. There are estimated to be 900,000 to 1,000,000 Hazaragi-speakers.Hindko
is similar to the northern dialects of Punjabi. It is spoken in areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Peshawar city, Punjab and Azad Kashmir, by an estimated 2 million people. 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.Kashmiri
is a Dardic language spoken in Azad Kashmir, Gilgit–Baltistan and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. There are over 100,000 Kashmiri speakers in Pakistan.Gujari
or Gojri is a language closely related to Rajasthani languages, and is spoken in Azad Kashmir, Gilgit–Baltistan and Punjab KPK provinces of Pakistan. There are over 500,000 Gujari speakers in Pakistan.Arabic
is considered to be a religious language in Pakistan. The Qur'an, 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. Nearly all of Pakistan's Muslim population has had some form of education in the reading, writing and pronunciation of the Arabic language.Many Arabs who took part in the Afghanistan war have now settled in Pakistan permanently with their families. Millions of Pakistanis that have worked in Middle East also speak Arabic as a second language.
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, Balti, Gujjari, Kutchi, Wakhi, Kashmiri, Marwari, Memoni, 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.
Classification
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 invaders and are later heavily influenced by the languages of the later Muslim arrivals, 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, Khowar, Kalash, Kohistani 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, is one of the Dardic languages that has a literary tradition that goes well back into the history whereas 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.
Iranian
, 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, Iranian 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
may or may not be a language isolate and many origins have been hypothesized for it including Iranian and Dravidian. spoken in southern Pakistan, primarily in Kalat in Balochistan. The Brahui population of Balochistan has been taken by some as the linguistic equivalent of a relict population, perhaps indicating that Dravidian languages were formerly much more widespread and were supplanted by the incoming Indo-Aryan languages. However it has now been demonstrated that the Brahui could only have migrated to Balochistan from central India after 1000 CE. The absence of any Avestan, an older Iranian language, loanwords in Brahui supports this hypothesis. The main Iranian contributor to Brahui vocabulary, Balochi, is a western Iranian language like Kurdish, and moved to the area from the west only around 1000 CE.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.Religion
According to the World Factbook, Library of Congress, Oxford University, over 96% of the population of Pakistan is Muslim and the remaining 4% is Hindu, Christian, and others. Majority of the Muslims practice Sunni with a significant minority of Shi'as.Nearly all Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school, although there are some Hanbalis and Ahlul Hadeeth. The majority of Shia Muslims belong to the Ithnā‘Ashariyyah branch, while a smaller number practice Ismailism. There are small non-Muslim religious groups, including Christians, Ahmadis, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Bahá'ís and Zoroastrians,
The religious breakdown of the Pakistani population is as follows:
- Muslims: 205,500,000
- Ahmadiyya in Pakistan: 2,000,000
- Christians: 4,000,000
- Hindus: 4,500,000
- Buddhists: 106,989
- Sikhs: 30,000
- Zoroastrian/Parsis: 6,000
- Animist s, Baha'i, Atheists:
Pakistanis around the world
| 2,800,000 | 1,600,000 | 1,200,000 | 600,410 | 156,300 | 190,000 | 180,000 | 385,000 | 261,913 | 179,668 | 52,500 | 50,000 | 35,000 | 21,000 | 10,000 | 9,501 |