Demographics of Pakistan

Demographics of Pakistan
Pakistan population pyramid in 2017
Population	207,774,520 (2017) [1]
Growth rate	2.00 (2021)[2]
Birth rate	29.8 births / 1,000 population (2016)[2]
Death rate	7.5 deaths / 1,000 population (2016)[2]
Life expectancy	70.0 years (2020)[3]
• male	69.9 years (2020)[3]
• female	70.1 years(2020)[3]
Fertility rate	3.56 children born / woman (2016)[3]
Infant mortality rate	53.86 deaths / 1,000 live births (2016)[3]
Age structure
0–14 years	35.7% (male 36,000,000 / female 36,000,000)[2]
15–64 years	60.2% (male 61,120,000 / female 57,000,000)[2]
65 and over	4.1% (male 3,890,840 / female 4,325,538) (Jan. 2017)[2]
Sex ratio
At birth	1.05 male(s) / female (2016)[3]
Under 15	1.056 male(s) / female (2016)[2]
15–64 years	1.068 male(s) / female (2016)[2]
65 and over	0.9 male(s) / female (2016)[2]
Nationality
Nationality	noun: Pakistani
Major ethnic	See Ethnic groups of Pakistan
Language
Spoken	See Languages of Pakistan

Pakistan's estimated population (excluding Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan) was 207,774,520 according to the provisional results of the 2017 Census of Pakistan.^[1][4][5] 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 and 2017, the average population growth rate stood at 2.40%.^[1]

Dramatic social changes have led to rapid urbanisation 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.^[6] Furthermore, 50% of Pakistanis now reside in towns of 5,000 people or more.^[7]

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 Eurasia 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 (2017)^[1]
• Growth rate: 2.40% (2016)^[1]

According to OECD/World Bank, the population in Pakistan increased by 23 million from 1990 to 2008, with a 54% growth in population.^[8]

Yearly population increase[]

Pakistan's yearly population from 1950 to 2012, with estimation since last census (1998).

^[9]

showYear	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^[10]

	Total population (in thousands)	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^[11] are for 1 July 2010. 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 (PDS 2010).

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
0–20	32,130,198	30,220,789	62,350,987	41.61
21–50	41,951,884	40,618,318	82,570,202	55.10
60+	2,775,655	2,163,544	4,939,199	3.30

Gender ratios[]

• Sex ratio at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
• 15–64 years: 1.09 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 0.92 male(s)/female
• total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2011)

Population of cities^[12][]

Number	The name of the city	Population
1	Karachi	14,916,456
2	Lahore	11,126,285
3	Faisalabad	3,204,726
4	Rawalpindi	2,098,231
5	Multan	1,871,843
6	Gujranwala	2,027,001
7	Peshawar	1,970,042
8	Hyderabad	1,734,309
9	Islamabad	1,009,832
10	Quetta	1,001,205
11	Sargodha	659,862
12	Sialkot	655,852
13	Sukkur	499,900

Vital statistics^[10][]

Year	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR1	CDR1	NC1	TFR1	IMR1
1950–1955	1,652,000	937,000	715,000	42.0	23.8	18.2	6.60	176.6
1955–1960	1,873,000	907,000	966,000	43.0	20.9	22.1	6.60	156.3
1960–1965	2,128,000	894,000	1,233,000	43.5	18.3	25.2	6.60	139.5
1965–1970	2,407,000	887,000	1,520,000	43.2	15.9	27.3	6.60	125.7
1970–1975	2 738 000	890 000	1 848 000	42.8	13.9	28.9	6.60	114.8
1975–1980	3,197,000	935,000	2,262,000	42.9	12.6	30.3	6.60	106.6
1980–1985	3,746,000	1,019,000	2,726,000	42.6	11.6	31.0	6.44	101.5
1985–1990	4,367,000	1,120,000	3,247,000	42.1	10.8	31.3	6.30	96.7
1990–1995	4,566,000	1,166,000	3,400,000	38.2	9.7	28.5	5.67	90.1
1995–2000	4,674,000	1,201,000	3,473,000	34.4	8.8	25.6	5.00	83.2
2000–2005	4,387,000	1,213,000	3,175,000	30.3	8.4	21.9	4.23	76.8
2005–2010	4,666,000	1,277,000	3,390,000	30.3	8.0	22.3	3.98	70.9
2010–2015				29.7	7.5	22.2	3.72
2015–2020				27.4	7.2	20.2	3.38
2020–2025				24.7	7.0	17.7	3.10
2025–2030				22.4	6.9	15.5	2.88
2030–2035				20.9	7.0	13.9	2.69
2035–2040				20.0	7.2	12.8	2.54
1 CBR = crude birth rate (per 1,000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1,000); NC = natural change (per 1,000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1,000 births

Vital statistics^[13][]

Year (1 July)	Population	Live births (in thousands)	Deaths (in thousands)	Natural change (in thousands)	Crude birth rate (per 1,000)	Crude death rate (per 1,000)	Natural change (per 1,000)	Fertility rates
2009	173,500,000	4,820	1,290	3,530	27.5	7.3	20.2	3.5
2010	177,100,000	4,820	1,290	3,530	27.5	7.3	20.2	3.5
2011	180,710,000	4,915	1,301	3,614	27.2	7.2	20.0	3.4
2012	184,350,000	4,941	1,291	3,650	26.8	7.0	19.8	3.3
2013	188,020,000	4,964	1,297	3,667	26.4	6.9	19.5	3.2
2014	191,710,000	5,003	1,303	3,700	26.1	6.8	19.3	3.2
2015	195,400,000	5,002	1,309	3,693	25.6	6.7	18.9	3.1
2016	199,710,000	5,033	1,318	3,715	25.2	6.6	18.6	3.0

Fertility rate (Demographic and Health Surveys)[]

CBR (Crude Birth Rate), Total Fertility Rate (TFR) and Wanted Fertility Rate (WFR):^[14]

Year	CBR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)		TFR (Total)	TFR (Urban)	TFR (Rural)		WFR (Total)	WFR (Urban)	WFR (Rural)
1990–1991					5.4	4.9	5.6		4.7	3.8	5.1
2006–2007	30.7	27.6	32.3		4.1	3.3	4.5		3.1	2.5	3.4
2012–2013					3.8	3.2	4.2		2.9	2.4	3.1
2017–2018	29	26	31		3.6	2.9	3.9		2.9	2.4	3.2

Fertility (wanted fertility) by region 2017–18^[14][]

Region	Fertility rate
Urban	2.9 (2.4)
Rural	3.9 (3.2)
Overall	3.6 (2.9)
ICT Islamabad	3.0 (2.2)
Punjab	3.4 (2.8)
Sindh	3.6 (3.0)
Azad Kashmir	3.5 (2.7)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	4.0 (3.2)
Balochistan	4.0 (3.1)
Gilgit-Baltistan	4.7 (3.7)
FATA	4.8

Population Pyramids[]

Population Pyramids of each Pakistani province and nationwide as of the 2017 Pakistan Census.

Contraceptives usage (%) 2017–2018^[14][]

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 (2009 est.)^[15]
• 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^[16]

Life expectancy in Pakistan by administrative unit[]

Unit[17]	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 (ICT)	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 (2010), 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.^[18]

Human development[]

Human Development Index[]

Pakistan's Human Development Index (HDI) value for 2018 is in the medium human development category with a score of 0.560 (152nd rank out of 189 countries and territories) compared to 0.614 (135th rank) for Bangladesh and 0.647 (129th rank) for India. From 1990 to 2018, Pakistan's HDI increased 38.6% from 0.404 to 0.560.^[19][20]

2018 Information on Pakistani provinces/regions, compared to other countries, estimated at three decimal places is provided below:^[21]

Rank	Region	HDI (2018)[21]	Comparable countries[22]
Medium human development
1	Islamabad Capital Territory	0.678	Morocco
2	Azad Jammu & Kashmir	0.611	São Tomé and Príncipe
3	Gilgit-Baltistan	0.593	Zambia
4	Punjab	0.567	Cameroon/ Zimbabwe
–	Pakistan (average)	0.561	Cameroon/ Zimbabwe
Low human development
5	Sindh	0.533	Nigeria
6	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	0.529	Tanzania/ Uganda
7	Balochistan	0.477	Ethiopia
8	FATA	0.466	Gambia/ Guinea

Literacy^[23][]

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 (ie, counting and addition/subtraction)." as of 2018

• Total population: 62.3%
• Male: 72.5%
• Female: 51.8%

Educational institutions by kind^[24][]

• 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^[25]

Nationality, ethnicity, and language[]

Ethnic groups[]

Pakistan's diversity is more visible along cultural differences, linguistic and genetic lines.

Almost all Pakistanis ethnic groups 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, forming nearly half of the national population. Pashtuns make up the second largest ethnic group and Sindhi are the third-largest ethnic group.^[27] Saraikis (a transitional group between Punjabis and Sindhis) speaking people make up 10.53% of the total population, while remaining large groups include the Muhajir people and the Baloch people, whom make up 7.57% and 3.57% of the total population, respectively. Lastly, smaller groups include Hindkowans and the Brahui, and the various peoples of the Gilgit–Baltistan, together constituting roughly 4.66% of the total population.

The Pashtun and Baloch represent two of the only ethnics that speak an Iranian language (Pashto and Balochi), while the majority Punjabi, Hindkowan, Sindhi and Saraiki populations are linguistically Indo-Aryan.

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.^[28]

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.^[29]

After the Pakistan–India war in 1971, thousands of Biharis and Bengalis from Bangladesh arrived in the Karachi, followed by Muslim Rohingya refugees^[30] from Burma, and Asians from Uganda.

Approximately 1.4 million^[31] Afghan citizens (most being native Pashtuns) reside in Pakistan on a temporary basis.^[32][33] Many of them were born and raised in Pakistan in the last 30 years.^[34] The majority of this group are ethnic Pashtuns from southeastern Afghanistan.^[35]

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.^[32] There are also smaller groups of Muslim immigrants from countries such as Burma, Bangladesh, Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, among others.^{[citation needed]}

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: ^[36]

Languages[]

Census history of major 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%

• Saraiki was included with Punjabi in the 1951 and 1961 censuses.

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 co-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.^[39] Among countries that use English as an official language, Pakistan is third-most populous in the world.

Urdu[]

Urdu, or Lashkari (لشکری), 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 (1843) and Punjab (1849), 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,^[40] 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.^{[citation needed]}

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 (1253–1325) and the first Urdu book Woh Majlis was written in 1728; the first time the word "Urdu" was used was by in 1741.^[41] The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir (1658–1707) spoke what the locals called Lashkari Zaban^[42] or what the Mughals called Zaban-i-Ordu (both meaning "language of the Horde"; commonly known as Hindustani back then) fluently as did his descendants while his ancestors mostly spoke Persian and a language related to Turkish.^[43]

Punjabi[]

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, Potohari 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[]

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 (Peshawar) 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.^[44][45] With as high as 7 million by some estimates, the city of Karachi in Pakistan has the largest concentration of urban Pashtun population in the world, including 50,000 registered Afghan refugees in the city.^[46] Karachi is the biggest Pashto speaking city in the world although the Pashto speakers constitute only about 25% of Karachi's population.^[47]

Sindhi[]

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 (Indo-European) language. 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. 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 (1689–1752) 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

Vicholi is considered as the standard dialect by all Sindhi speakers.

Saraiki[]

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[]

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. According to Baloch Folklore, the language was brought to its present location in a series of migrations from Aleppo, Syria. Ethnologists and Linguists however propose that the original Balochi Language arrived from the Caspian Sea Region, perhaps from Balasagan. is the major dialect group in terms of numbers. , is a sub dialect of Rakshani. Other sub – dialects are , , 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 has a certain degree of affinity to Urdu, Balochi poets tend to be very good poets in Urdu as well. Atta Shad, Gul Khan Nasir and Noon Meem Danish are excellent examples of this.

Brahui[]

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.^[48] 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.^[49] 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.^[50]

Hazaragi[]

Hazaragi is an eastern variety of Persian that is 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.^[51]

Hindko[]

Hindko is spoken in areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (including Hazara), Peshawar city, Punjab and Azad Kashmir, by an estimated 4.65 million people.^[52] 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. There is a literary tradition based on Peshawari, the urban variety of Peshawar in the northwest, and another one based on the language of Abbottabad in the northeast. Hindko is mutually intelligible with Punjabi and Saraiki, and has more affinities with the latter than with the former. Differences with other Punjabi varieties are more pronounced in the morphology and phonology than in the syntax. A speaker of Hindko may be referred to as Hindkowan (Hindkuwan).

Kashmiri[]

Kashmiri is a Dardic language spoken in Azad Kashmir, Gilgit–Baltistan and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. Kashmiri is spoken primarily in the territory of Azad Kashmir, where the speakers are mostly concentrated in the Neelam and Leepa valleys and in the district of Haveli. There are over 100,000^[53] Kashmiri speakers in Pakistan.

Shina[]

Shina is a language from the Dardic sub-group of the Indo-Aryan family spoken by the Shina people, a plurality of the people in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral (Arandu, Damel, Biol, Asuret and adjoining areas) of Pakistan. Dialects of the Shina language are Gilgiti (the prestige dialect), Astori, Chilasi, Kohistani, Drasi, Gurezi, Jalkoti, Kolai, Palasi and in Chitrali (Dameli, Dangariki, Arandui etc). Related languages spoken by ethnic Shina are Brokskat, Palula, Savi, and Ushojo.

Wakhi[]

Wakhi is an Indo-European language in the Eastern Iranian branch of the language family spoken today in Wakhan District, Northern Afghanistan and also in Tajikistan, Northern Pakistan and China. Wakhi is one of several languages that belong to the areal Pamir language group. Its relationship to the other Iranian languages is not clear; in certain features Wakhi shows affinity to the extinct Saka language in particular. The Wakhi people are occasionally called Pamiris and Guhjali. It is spoken by the inhabitants of the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan, parts of Gilgit–Baltistan of Pakistan, Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan, and Xinjiang in western China.

Khowar[]

Khowar is an Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic group spoken in Chitral and Gilgit region of Pakistan. Khowar is spoken by the Kho people in the whole of Chitral, as well as in the Gupis-Yasin and Ghizer districts of Gilgit, and in parts of Upper Swat (Mateltan Village).

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.^[54] Other languages include Balti, Kalami, Marwari, Memoni, Kutchi, Gujari, Potohari 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[]

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 (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, Seraiki, Pothwari and Hindko all mutually intelligible, are classified by linguists as dialects of an Indo-Aryan speech called Lahnda,^[55] 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.

Iranic[]

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.^[56] 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.

Dardic[]

The Dardic languages are spoken in the northern Pakistan. They include Shina (spoken in Gilgit, Chilas and Diamar), Khowar (spoken in Chitral, Ghizer, Swat), Kalami (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 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.

Dravidian[]

Brahui may or may not be a language isolate and many origins have been hypothesized for it including Iranian and Dravidian.^[48] 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.^[49] 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.^[50]

Tibetic[]

Balti is the only Tibetic language in Pakistan spoken by the Balti people in the Baltistan region of Gilgit-Baltistan. It is quite different from Standard Tibetan. Many sounds of Old Tibetan that were lost in Standard Tibetan are retained in the Balti language. It also has a simple pitch accent system only in multi-syllabic words while Standard Tibetan has a complex and distinct pitch system that includes tone contour.

Burushaski[]

Burushaski is a language isolate, spoken by Burusho people who reside almost entirely in the Hunza-Nagar District, northern Gilgit District, the Yasin valley in the Gupis-Yasin District and the Ishkoman valley of the northern Ghizer District.

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.^[58][59][60] 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 Ahl-e-Hadees. The majority of Shia Muslims belong to the Ithnā‘Ashariyyah branch,^[58] while a smaller number practice Ismailism. There are small non-Muslim religious groups, including Christians, Ahmadis, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Baháʼís and Zoroastrians (Parsis),^{[citation needed]}

The religious breakdown of the Pakistani population as of Pakistan Census 2017 is as follows:

• Muslims: 200,362,718
• Hindus: 4,444,870
• Christians: 2,642,048
• Ahmadiyya: 191,737
• All Others (including Zoroastrians, Sikhs, and Buddhists): 43,253

Recent changes and detailed demographic data[]

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics released religious data of Pakistan Census 2017 on 19 May 2021.^[61] 96.47% are Muslims, followed by 2.14% Hindus, 1.27% Christians, 0.09% Ahmadis and 0.02% others.

These are some maps of religious minority groups. The 2017 census showed an increasing share in Hinduism, mainly caused by a higher birth rate among the impoverished Hindus of Sindh province. This census also recorded Pakistan's first Hindu-majority district, called Umerkot District, where Muslims were previously the majority.

On the other hand, Christianity in Pakistan, while increasing in raw numbers, has fallen significantly in percentage terms since the last census. This is due to Pakistani Christians having a significantly lower fertility rate than Pakistani Muslims and Pakistani Hindus as well as them being concentrated in the most developed parts of Pakistan, Lahore District (over 5% Christian), Islamabad Capital Territory (over 4% Christian), and Northern Punjab.

The Ahmadiyya movement shrunk in size (both raw numbers and percentage) between 1998 and 2017, while remaining concentrated in Lalian Tehsil, Chiniot District, where approximately 13% of the population is Ahmadiyya.

Here are some maps of Pakistan's religious minority groups as of the 2017 census by district:

Virtually all people not belonging to one of these minority groups were Sunni or Shia Muslim, with the most religiously homogeneous areas found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Pakistanis around the world[]

Saudi Arabia	4,000,000
United Arab Emirates	1,600,000
United Kingdom	1,200,000
United States	600,410[62]
Canada	156,300[63]
Kuwait	190,000
South Africa	180,000[64]
Oman	385,000
Australia	61,913[65]
Germany	179,668
Qatar	52,500
France	50,000
Norway	35,000
Denmark	21,000
New Zealand	10,000
Ireland	9,501

See also[]

• Overseas Pakistani
• Minorities in Pakistan
• Ethnic groups of Pakistan
• Languages of Pakistan
• Indo-Iranians

References[]

External links[]

• Pakistan Bureau of Statistics
• infopak.gov.pk – Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
• Population Reference Bureau
• statpak.gov.pk – Population by mother tongue
• US Census: International Data Base (IDB)