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 aliations and other aspects of
the population. For a general overview of the citizens of
Pakistan, see Pakistani people.
Pakistan's estimated population in 2014 is over 199
million,[1][4][5] making it the worlds sixth-most-populous
country, behind Brazil and ahead of Nigeria. During
19502011, Pakistans urban population expanded over
sevenfold, while the total population increased by over
fourfold. In the past, the countrys population had a relatively high growth rate that has been changed by moderate
birth rates. In 2014, the population growth rate stands at
1.49%.[2]
Dramatic social changes have led to rapid urbanization
and the emergence of megacities. During 19902003,
Population density in Pakistan
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 Pak- 1.2 Population size and growth
istanis now reside in towns of 5,000 people or more.[7]
Population: 188,646,439 (December 2014 est.)[8]

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.

Growth rate: 1.49% (2014 est.)

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 modern region of Pakistan from Central Asia, Middle
East and Europe.

According to OECD/World Bank, the population in Pakistan increased by 23 million from 1990 to 2008, with a
54% growth in population compared to 34% growth in
India and 38% growth in Bangladesh.[9]
1.2.1 Yearly population increase

Population

Pakistans yearly population from 1950 to 2014.[10]

Main article: Census in Pakistan

1.3 UN estimates[11]
1.4 Gender ratios

1.1

Sex ratio at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

Geographic distribution

under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

The majority of southern Pakistans 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, Multan, Gujranwala,
Sialkot, Nowshera, Swabi, Mardan, and Peshawar.

1564 years: 1.09 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.92 male(s)/female
total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2011 est.)
1

4 NATIONALITY, ETHNICITY, AND LANGUAGE

Vital statistics[11]

3.2 Literacy[21]
denition: aged 10 and over and can read and write as of
2008-09

2.1

Vital statistics[12]

2.2

Fertility by region 2010-2012 (released

in 2012-13)[13]

Total population: 57%

2.3

Contraceptives usage (%) 20102012

(released in 201213)[13]

Female: 45%

2.4

Mortality and life expectancy

Maternal mortality ratio: 320 (2009 est.)[14]

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 65.5 years (2007 est.)[15]
male: 66.5 years (2009 est.)[14]
female: 67.2 years (2009 est.)[14]
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.[16]

Male: 69%

3.3 Educational institutions by kind[22]

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: 153[23]

4 Nationality, ethnicity, and language

4.1 Ethnic groups

3
3.1

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.[17]
Sources: Information on Pakistani regions:[4] Information on other countries:[18] All Estimated at three decimal
places.

Main article: Ethnic groups in Pakistan

Pakistans diversity is more visible along cultural dierences and less along linguistic, religious or genetic lines.
Almost all Pakistanis belong to the Indo-Iranian linguistic
group of the Indo-European branch. Pakistans rough estimates vary, but the consensus is that the Punjabis are the
largest ethnic group. Pashtuns (Pakhtuns) make up the
second largest group and Sindhi are the third-largest ethnic group.[24][25] Saraikis (a transitional group between
Punjabis and Sindhis) make up 10.53% of the total population. The remaining large groups include the Muhajirs
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 GilgitBaltistan,
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.

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 reects
the time when data was taken for Pakistan. Pakistan National Human Development Report gave Pakistan an HDI Descendents of Black Africans that were brought as
score of 0.541 whereas the Human Development Report slaves in the 15th to the 19th century are known as
2006 gave it a score of 0.539.
Sheedis. The Sheedis are Muslims and speak Balochi,
Sindhi and Urdu.
Sources:[19][20]

4.3

Languages

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.[26]

{* Saraiki was included with Punjabi in the 1951 and

1961 censuses.}

After the PakistanIndia war in 1971, thousands of

Biharis and Bengalis from Bangladesh arrived in the
Karachi, followed by Muslim Rohingya refugees[27] from
Burma, and Asians from Uganda. According to the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), approximately 1.7 million Afghan refugees remain in Pakistan as of 2009.[28] Many of them were born
and raised in Pakistan in the last 30 years but are still
counted as citizens of Afghanistan.[29] The majority of
Afghans in Pakistan are ethnic Pakhtuns from southeastern Afghanistan, who have settled in Pakistan due to civil
strife in their home country.[30]

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
ocial language is English and the national language is
Urdu, the census indicates that around 8% of the population speak Urdu as their rst 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, 37.2% 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 rst
language. Most Pakistanis, however, speak or understand
at least two to three languages and almost all Pakistanis
speak or understand the national language, Urdu.

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.

4.2

Foreign-born population in Pakistan

Following are the major languages spoken in Pakistan.

The percentage of Pakistanis who are native speakers of
that language is also given.

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

Main article: Immigration to Pakistan

4.3.1 English
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 Muslim refugees from
Afghanistan, who have settled in Pakistan due to civil war
in their home country. There are also smaller groups
of Muslim immigrants from Burma, Bangladesh, Iraq,
Somalia, Iran, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, among others.

English is the ocial language, being widely used within

the government, by the civil service and the ocer ranks
of the military. Pakistans Constitution and laws are
written in English. Nearly all schools, colleges and
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 ocial language,
Pakistan is the third-most populous in the world.
4.3.2 Urdu

Mostly those born before 1947

Source:

4.3

[31]

Languages

Main article: Languages of Pakistan

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, the lingua

franca chosen to facilitate inter-provincial communication between the countrys diverse linguistic populations.
Although only about 7.5% of Pakistanis speak it as their
rst 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 Raj 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 many centuries, due to
admiration of local rulers for the foreign language. 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 inuence of Persia,

4 NATIONALITY, ETHNICITY, AND LANGUAGE

the Ottoman Empire, and Afghanistan had on this transitional region. Urdu is a relatively new language in the contemporary sense but has undergone considerable modications and development borrowing heavily on the traditions of older languages such as Persian, Arabic, Turkish
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 rst language of
most Muhajirs (Muslim refugees that arrived from dierent parts of India after the independence of Pakistan in
1947), that form nearly 8% of Pakistans population and
is an acquired language. But nearly all of Pakistans native
ethnic groups representing almost 92% of the population
making Pakistan a unique country in the choice of national languages. As Pakistans 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 avour to
it 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 modied 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' avour to it distinguishing itself from that spoken
in ancient times and in India. The rst poetry in Urdu was
by the poet Amir Khusro (12531325) and the rst Urdu
book Woh Majlis was written in 1728 and the rst time
the word Urdu was used by Sirajuddin Ali Khan Arzoo
in 1741.[32] The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir
(16581707) spoke Urdu (or Hindustani) uently as did
his descendents while his ancestors mostly spoke Persian
and Turkish.[33]
4.3.3

Punjabi

Punjabi is a provincial language spoken as a rst language

by more than 50% of Pakistanis, mostly in Punjab, as
well as by a large number of people in Karachi. It is
an important language since Punjabi dialects are spoken
by more than half of Pakistanis. However, Punjabi does
not have any ocial status in Pakistan. The exact number of Punjabi speakers in Pakistan is hard to determine
since there are many dialects such as Saraiki, which most
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 dialect is from Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala and
Sheikhupura districts of the Pakistani Punjab which was
used by Waris Shah (17221798) in his book Heer Ranjha and is also nowadays the language of Punjabi literature, lm and music, such as Lollywood. Other dialects
are Multani or Saraiki in the West and South, Pothowari
and 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 BC), Pali, and Apabhramsha in the Ashoka period
(273 BC 232 BC) and Hindvi, Lahori and Multani in the
Muslim period (711 AD 1857 AD). Punjabi literature
was principally spiritual in nature and has had a very rich
oral tradition. The great poetry written by Su saints has
been the folklore of the Punjab and is still sung with great
love in any part of the region.
4.3.4 Sindhi
Sindhi is a provincial language spoken as a second language by 15.5% of Pakistanis, mostly in Sindh. It has
a rich literature and is used in schools. It is an IndoAryan (Indo-European) 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 ocial 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. 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 (16891752) 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- a version of Saraiki language regarded as a dialect of Sindhi; spoken mainly in Upper Sindh.
Vicholi- in Vicholo, i.e. Central Sindh
Lari- in Laru, i.e. Lower Sindh
Lasi- in Lasa Belo, a part of Kohistan in
Baluchistan on the western side of Sindh

4.3

Languages

Thari or Thareli- in Tharu, the desert region on the 4.3.7 Balochi

southeast border of Sindh and a part of the Jaisalmer
Balochi is a provincial language spoken as rst language
district in Rajasthan
by about 3.5% of Pakistanis, mostly in Balochistan.
Kachhi- in the Kutch region and in a part of Kathi- Sindh and southern Punjab. The name Balochi or Baluchi
is not found before the 10th century. It is believed that the
awar in Gujarat, on the southern side of Sindh
language was brought to its present location in a series of
migrations Aleppo, Syria. Rakshani is the major dialect
Vicholi is considered as the standard dialect by all Sindhi
group in terms of numbers. Sarhaddi, is a sub dialect of
speakers.
Rakshani. Other sub dialects are Qalati, Chagai Kharani, and Makrani. The Eastern Hill Balochi or Northern Balochi are distinct dialects.The Kethran language in
4.3.5 Pashto
North East Balochistan is also a variant of Balochi. It is
one of the 9 distinguished languages of Pakistan. Since
Pashto is a provincial language spoken as a rst language Balochi is a poetic and rich language and have a certain
by 37.2% (4958 millions) of Pakistanis, mostly in the degree of anity to Urdu, Balochi poets tend to be very
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in Balochistan as well as by good poets in Urdu as well as Ata Shaad, Gul Khan Nasir
immigrants to the eastern provinces who are often not and Noon Meem Danish are excellent examples of this.
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 4.3.8 Brahui
the various individual dialects may be classied; these are
Pakhto, which is the Northern (Peshawar) variety, and the Brahui (Urdu: ' ) is a regional language of uncersofter Pashto spoken in the southern areas. Khushal Khan tain origin despite the fact that the bulk of the language
Khattak (16131689) and Rahman Baba (16331708) shares lexical similarities to Balochi as well as Sindhi. In
were the most famous poets in the Pashto language. In colonial times, many British linguists tried to make the
the last part of 20th century, Pakhto or Pashto has pro- claim of a possible Dravidian language origin but this has
duced some great poets like Ghani Khan, Khatir Afridi not been conclusively proven despite ongoing research in
and Amir Hamza Shinwari. There are also many Pak- the language for a century now.[38] spoken in southern
istanis from the adjacent regions of Punjab, Sindh and Pakistan, may have evolved from the original languages
Balochistan who are conversant in Pashto and count it as of Indus valley civilizations at Mehrgarh . However it is
their second language. They are not included in the over- heavily inuenced by Balochi and Pashto. It is spoken in
central and east central Balochistan. The Mengals are a
all percentage.
famous Brahvi tribe. Around 11.5% of Pakistani popThe Pashtuns (Pakhtuns or Pathans), originally from
ulation has Brahui as their rst language. It is one of the
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA and northern Balochistan,
nine distinguished languages of Pakistan.
are now the citys second largest ethnic group in Karachi
after Muhajirs.[34][35] With as high as 7 million by The Brahui population of Balochistan has been taken by
some estimates, the city of Karachi in Pakistan has the some as the linguistic equivalent of a relict population,
largest concentration of urban Pakhtun population in the perhaps indicating that Dravidian languages were forworld, including 50,000 registered Afghan refugees in the merly much more widespread and were supplanted by the
city.[36] Karachi is the biggest Pashto speaking city in the incoming Indo-Aryan languages.[39] However it has now
world although the Pashto speakers constitute only about been demonstrated that the Brahui could only have migrated to Balochistan from central India after 1000 CE.
25% of Karachis population.[37]
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
4.3.6 Saraiki
western Iranian language like Kurdish, and moved to the
area from the west only around 1000 CE.[40]
See also Punjabi dialects
Saraiki, sometimes spelled Seraiki and Siraiki, is viewed
as a dialect of Punjabi language. Debate of language
or dialect is an ongoing phenomenon in Indo-Aryan (Indic) languages. It is spoken as a rst language mostly in
the southern districts of Punjab: Multan, Lodhran, Bahawalpur,Layyah, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaargarh and
Rahim Yar Khan. It is also spoken by majority of population of Dera Ismail Khan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
province, Kachi plain of Balochistan, northern parts of
Sindh, and cities of Hyderabad and Karachi.

4.3.9 Hindko
Hindko is an ancient regional 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 preBuddhist era in present day Pakistan, the language of the

4 NATIONALITY, ETHNICITY, AND LANGUAGE

masses was rened by the ancient grammarian Pini,

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 anity to Punjabi and the Lahnda sub-group of Indo-Aryan
tongues and can be sub-divided into a northern and southern dialects.
4.3.10

to Central Asia and Afghanistan, western Pakistani region of Waziristan principally around Kanigoram where
the Burki tribe dwells and in Pakistans 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 scholarships to large number of Pakistani students to study in Turkish universities.
The word Urdu is of Turkic origin, as Urdu was originally called Zaban-e-Ordu or language of the Army, Ordu
means army in many Turkic languages.

Kashmiri

Kashmiri ( )is an ancient Dardic language spoken in 4.3.14 Other Pakistani languages
Azad Kashmir, GilgitBaltistan and Punjab provinces of
Pakistan. There are over 100,000[41] Kashmiri speakers Numerous other languages are spoken by relatively small
in Pakistan.
numbers of people, especially in some of the more remote
and isolated places in, for example, the Northern Areas
of Pakistan.[42] Other Indo-European languages spoken in
4.3.11 Dari and Tajiki
Pakistan include Pothohari, Shina,Balti, Gujjari, Kutchi,
Wakhi, Kashmiri, Marwari, Memoni, Khowar, and Dari
Many Dari speakers and Tajiks, from Afghanistan have
Persian. Non-Indo-European languages include Brahui
settled in Pakistan permanently. There are also Tajiks
and Burushaski, a language isolate.
refugees from Tajikistan that have settled in Pakistan.
There are some languages that are spoken by less than a
thousand people, such as Aer.
4.3.12 Arabic
Main article: ArabPakistan relations

4.4 Classication

Arabic is considered to be the 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. Nearly
all of Pakistans Muslim population has had some form
of education in the reading, writing and pronunciation of
the Arabic language.

4.4.1 Indo-European

Many Arabs who took part in 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.
4.3.13

Turkic

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

Most of Pakistans languages are Indo-European languages and within the smaller Indo-Iranian sub-branch.

Indo-Aryan languages Around 80% of Pakistans

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 inuenced 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 countrys national language, is an Indo-Aryan
tongue. Punjabi, Hindko and Seraiki, all mutually intelligible, are classied by linguists as dialects of an IndoAryan speech called Lahnda,[43] also spelled as Lehnda.
These are also, to a lesser extent, mutually intelligible
with Urdu. Added together, speakers of these mutuallyintelligible languages make up nearly two-thirds of Pakistans population. Sindhi is the common language of the

7
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 classied by many linguists as belonging
to the Indo-Aryan family. Other Indo-Aryan languages
include Gujarati, Kutchi, Memoni and others.

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

SHINA Shina the largest language spoken in GilgitBaltistan in diamer,ghizer,some areas of baltistan, district
Dardic languages The Dardic languages are spoken in gilgit and Nagar district.
the northern Pakistan. They include Shina (spoken in
Gilgit, Chilas and Diamar), Khowar (spoken in Chitral,
Ghizer, Swat and the balti language (spoken in [baltistan] 5 Religion
including [skardu] district and [Ghanche] district. Majority of population living in the valley of Hunza, Nagar Main article: Religion in Pakistan
and Yasin speak Mishaski. Kalam Valley of upper Swat),
Kalash (spoken by Kalash tribe), Kohistani (spoken in upper Swat and Kohistan) and Kashmiri mostly by Immi- According to the CIA World Factbook, Library of
grants from Kashmir valley and by a few in the Neelum Congress, Oxford University, over 97% of the population of Pakistan is Muslim and the remaining 3% is ChrisDistrict.
tian, Hindu and others.[45][46][47] Majority of the Muslims
Kashmiri spoken in north east Azad Kashmir and the ad- practice Sunni with a signicant minority of Shi'as.
jacent Kashmir valley, (not to be confused with Pahari
language spoken in the lower Azad Kashmir) is one of Nearly all Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hana
the Dardic languages that has a literary tradition that goes school, although there are some Hanbalis and Ahlul
well back into the history whereas other Dardic languages Hadeeth. The majority of Shia Muslims belong to
[45]
while a smaller number
spoken in northern Pakistan, do not have written litera- the IthnAshariyyah branch,
practice
Ismailism.
The
Ahmadi
Muslims make up apture. It is believed to be the result of the northern areas
proximately
2.2%
of
the
Muslim
population.
There are
of Pakistan having remained isolated in the mountain valsmall
non-Muslim
religious
groups,
including
Christians,
leys from the others for centuries.
Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis, Bah's and
Zoroastrians (Parsis).
Iranian Pashto, Yidgha and Wakhi are Eastern Iranian
The religious breakdown of the Pakistani population is as
languages spoken in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan
follows:
and the GilgitBaltistan region of Pakistan. Balochi spoken in Balochistan is classied as a members of the
Muslims: 181,723,000
Northwestern Iranian languages.[44] If combined, Iranian
peoples who speak Pashto, Balochi, Yidgha and Wakhi
Christians: 2,700,000 (approx. 1.8%)
comprise about 18% of the population of Pakistan, and
Hindus: 1,800,000 (approx. 1.6%[47] )
are concentrated in the northwest and west of Pakistan.
Ahmadiyya in Pakistan
4.4.2

Brahui

Buddhists: 106,989[48]

Sikhs: 30,000
Brahui may or may not be a language isolate and many
origins have been hypothesized for it including Iranian
Zoroastrian/Parsis: 25,000 (many are undocuand Dravidian.[38] spoken in southern Pakistan, primarmented migrants from Iran)
ily in Kalat in Balochistan. The Brahui population
of Balochistan has been taken by some as the linguis Jews: 200
tic equivalent of a relict population, perhaps indicat Animists, Baha'i, Atheists: n/a
ing that Dravidian languages were formerly much more
widespread and were supplanted by the incoming IndoAryan languages.[39] However it has now been demonstrated that the Brahui could only have migrated to 6 Pakistanis around the world
Balochistan from central India after 1000 CE. The absence of any Avestan, an older Iranian language, loanwords in Brahui supports this hypothesis. The main Ira- 7 Sux of regions and towns
nian contributor to Brahui vocabulary, Balochi, is a western Iranian language like Kurdish, and moved to the area Main article: Geography of Pakistan
from the west only around 1000 CE.[40]

Parts of region and settlement names:

REFERENCES

9 References

-abad (Urdu: ) means settlement or town. Example: Islamabad.

[1]

Dera- (Urdu: ) means settlement or town. Example: Dera Ghazi Khan.

[3] CIA The World Factbook: Infant Mortality Rate.

Archived from the original on 18 December 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2012.

-garh (Urdu: ) means settlement or town. Example: Islamgarh.

[4] Pakistan Census

-goth (Urdu:
) means settlement or town. Example: Yousuf Goth.
-istan (Urdu:

) means land. Example: Pakistan.

[2] CIA The World Factbook: Population growth rate

[5] Information on other countries: http://hdr.undp.org/en/

media/HDR_20072008_EN_Complete.pdf
[6] The World Factbook. Cia.gov. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
[7] Burke, Jason (17 August 2008). Pakistan looks to life
without the general. The Guardian (London).

-kot (Urdu: ) means settlement or town. Example: Sialkot.

[8] Pakistan Population Clock, December 2014

-nagar (Urdu:
) means settlement or town. Example: Islamnagar.

[9] CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion Population 19712008 (pdf pages 83-85) IEA (OECD/ World Bank) (original population ref OECD/ World Bank, e.g. in IEA Key
World Energy Statistics 2010 page 57)

-pur (Urdu: ) means settlement or town. Exam- [10] US Census:International Data Base (IDB)
ple: Khanpur.
-wal (Urdu: ) means settlement or town. Example: Khanewal.
-garhi means settlement or town. Example: Garhi
Khuda Bakhsh.
-wala (Urdu: ) means settlement or town. Example: Gujranwala.

See also
Pakistan
Punjab

[11] Population Division of the Department of Economic and

Social Aairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World
Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
[12] http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_12/
highlights.pdf
[13] http://measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/PR35/PR35.pdf
[14] United Nations Population Fund. UNFPA. Retrieved
10 July 2013.
[15] World Bank, World Development Indicators - Google
Public Data Explorer. Google.com. Retrieved 10 July
2013.
[16] Hasan Mansoor (18 January 2011). Killings of newborn
babies on the rise in Pakistan. AFP. Retrieved 19 January 2011.

Balochistan

[17] Hosain, Maha (6 April 2010). How to Warm Ties

Among Indians and Pakistanis. Businessweek. Retrieved 10 July 2013.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

[18] Human Development Reports

Sindh

[19] NHDRs 2003. Un.org.pk. Retrieved 10 July 2013.

[20]

GilgitBaltistan

[21] untitled

Azad Kashmir

[22]

FATA

[23] HEC recognized Universities

Pakistani people
Demography of Central Asia

[24] Taus-Bolstad, Stacy (2003). Pakistan in Pictures. Visual

geography series (Revised ed.). Minneapolis: TwentyFirst Century Books. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-8225-4682-5.
Retrieved 11 August 2010.

[25] Joshua Project. Sindhi of Afghanistan Ethnic People

Prole. Joshuaproject.net. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
[26] Goans of Pakistan
[27] From South to South: Refugees as Migrants: The Rohingya in Pakistan
[28] UNHCR and Pakistan sign new agreement on stay of
Afghan refugees. United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees. 13 March 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
[29] PAKISTAN: Tolerance wanes as perceptions of Afghan
refugees change. Irin. 27 February 2012. Retrieved 28
February 2012.
[30] Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. page 27 (Security Concern about home link
[31] )
[32] Urdu/Hindi: an articial divide:
Mesopotamian roots

[47] Country Prole: Pakistan. Library of Congress Country

Studies on Pakistan. Library of Congress. February 2005.
Retrieved 1 September 2010. Religion: The overwhelming
majority of the population (97 percent) is Muslim, of whom
approximately 85 percent are Sunni and 15 percent Shi'a.
[48] Most Buddhist Nations (2010) | QuickLists | The Association of Religion Data Archives
[49] American FactFinder

10 External links
infopak.gov.pk Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting
Population Reference Bureau
statpak.gov.pk Population by mother tongue

African heritage,

[33] Bonds of Culture

[34] Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (17 July 2009). Karachis Invisible Enemy. PBS. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
[35] In a city of ethnic friction, more tinder. The National.
24 August 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
[36] UN body, police baed by ministers threat against
Afghan refugees. Dawn Media Group. 10 February
2009. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
[37] , thefridaytimes
[38] Vogelsang, Wilhelm The Afghans Wiley-Blackwell 2002
ISBN 978-0-631-19841-3 pp.6162
[39] (Mallory 1989)
[40] J. H. Elfenbein, A periplous of the Brahui problem, Studia Iranica vol. 16 (1987), pp. 215233.
[41] Pakistan | Ethnologue
[42] Ethnologue report for Pakistan: Languages of Pakistan
[43] Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Northwestern
zone, Lahnda: Language Tree
[44] Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian: Language Tree
[45] Pakistan, Islam in. Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.
Oxford University Press. Retrieved 29 August 2010. Approximately 97 percent of Pakistanis are Muslim. The
majority are Sunnis following the Hana school of Islamic law. Between 10 and 15 percent are Shias, mostly
Twelvers.
[46] Religions: Muslim 95% (Sunni 75%, Shia 20%), other
(includes Christian and Hindu) 5%". Central Intelligence
Agency. The World Factbook on Pakistan. 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.

US Census: International Data Base (IDB)

10

11

11
11.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Demographics of Pakistan Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics%20of%20Pakistan?oldid=647252014 Contributors:

Koyaanis Qatsi, SimonP, Sannse, Usedbook, Ghewgill, AWhiteC, Fvw, Altenmann, Nurg, DHN, Aalahazrat, Ragib, Utcursch, Alexf,
Syedali, BozMo, Al-Andalus, Huaiwei, Hillel, Mike Rosoft, Sdrawkcab, Metron, CALR, Discospinster, Egalitus, JoeSmack, Kwamikagami, Bobo192, Chirag, RussBlau, Halsteadk, Snowolf, Velella, Suruena, SteinbDJ, Woohookitty, Benbest, Je3000, Tabletop, Optichan,
Taivo, Rjwilmsi, Koavf, Jake Wartenberg, Tombseye, Titoxd, Sasanjan, Ground Zero, CalJW, Hottentot, Quuxplusone, Roboto de Ajvol,
Wavelength, Shimirel, Vuvar1, RussBot, Shell Kinney, Gaius Cornelius, CambridgeBayWeather, Bullzeye, Wiki alf, Siddiqui, Welsh,
CaliforniaAliBaba, Bhola, FargomeD, Alian, Jwissick, Ketsuekigata, Vino s, Mercenary2k, Aeon1006, Schajee, Tajik, Sardanaphalus,
SmackBot, TestPilot, WookieInHeat, Spasage, Peloneous, Paxse, JFHJr, Brianski, M.Imran, Anwar saadat, Moshe Constantine Hassan
Al-Silverburg, Hongooi, Vanis314, Huon, Maurice45, Khoikhoi, Pepsidrinka, Ohconfucius, SashatoBot, Afghan Historian, Ser Amantio
di Nicolao, Kuru, Khazar, Danial2011, Fast track, Benesch, Kashmiri, Woer$, Green Giant, Aleenf1, JHunterJ, Meco, Ryulong, Cadaeib,
Dasreich12, Geog, Afghana, CmdrObot, Van helsing, Virgule82, Dgw, Neelix, Beh-nam, Ntsimp, JFreeman, Spylab, Verdy p, Dougweller,
Gnfnrf, Pirus, Gimmetrow, , JamesAM, Thijs!bot, Epbr123, Barticus88, Anupam, Ahmed27, JustAGal, Mokkan88, Nick Number,
Stevvvv4444, ArnoldPlaton, EarthPerson, THEunique, Alphachimpbot, Storkk, Teejay83, Berkland, MER-C, Zaindy87, B.S. Lawrence,
Burhan Ahmed, Farooqtirmizi, AtticusX, Hullaballoo Wolfowitz, Animum, IkonicDeath, Talon Artaine, Media anthro, JaGa, Drshenoy,
MartinBot, STBot, Autocratique, CommonsDelinker, AgarwalSumeet, Creol, EastBayer, J.delanoy, DrKiernan, Altes, Skumarlabot, Thaurisil, Lt. penguin, Acalamari, Dispenser, Ncmvocalist, Nomi887, S, Davecrosby uk, Idioma-bot, Al-minar, VolkovBot, Thomas.W, Toddy1,
WOSlinker, Philip Trueman, Pahari Sahib, Suprah, Bk2006, Anna Lincoln, Srsiddiq, Noor Aalam, Jeeny, Cosmos416, CarlosTevez,
Feudonym, Isit love100, Dark Tea, Najafhaider, Mansoorulhaq, SieBot, RJaguar3, Smsarmad, Flyer22, Oxymoron83, Vmrgrsergr, Lightmouse, Poindexter Propellerhead, Aadeel, Fratrep, Capitalismojo, Owlmonkey, Varanwal, EmanWilm, Angelo De La Paz, CJ5112, Umerrehman1, ClueBot, Edwardsharman, Binksternet, Hashmi, Usman, Danish47, The Thing That Should Not Be, Julianhall, N9indentity, Mild
Bill Hiccup, Watti Renew, Charres, Malik07, Shabih-PK, Jusdafax, Indicoid, Gtstricky, TheGreenEditor, Lartoven, Coinmanj, NuclearWarfare, Raaid, Tahmasp, SyedNaqvi90, Thehelpfulone, Chrono1084, Aitias, Ranjithsutari, Azamishaque, Apparition11, DumZiBoT,
XLinkBot, Atomicdor, MystBot, Airplaneman, UnknownForEver, RyanCross, MatthewVanitas, Basilicofresco, Altetendekrabbe, Some
jerk on the Internet, Kiyura, Misaq Rabab, Razimpatel, CanadianLinuxUser, Mnmazur, Talha, AnnaFrance, Favonian, Mystier-1, Xanstheman, Nolelover, Pakroot, Schmelly1, Paknur, Tide rolls, Samuel Pepys, Aarsalankhalid, Gopeople, Legobot, Middayexpress, Yobot,
H123456789, II MusLiM HyBRiD II, Ata Fida Aziz, Dostyar, Pk5abi, Suppiesman1234, Tempodivalse, Qaatil, AnomieBOT, 1exec1,
Zahameed, Kingpin13, Samk108, Materialscientist, ImperatorExercitus, OllieFury, Eumolpo, Frankenpuppy, LilHelpa, TinucherianBot
II, A Fantasy, Estlandia, Nadia arty, Chrishy, Jahaddow, Inferno, Lord of Penguins, J04n, Crashdoom, Grinofwales, FrescoBot, Devoreppa, Ironboy11, VS6507, MuhammadOsamaQadri, Advil123, Srk420, Marisella, Hussainhssn, Mullaji, DrilBot, Taeyebaar, Elockid,
LittleWink, Ailliro, OneFiveFive, Askhan311, NaughtyMan, ItsZippy, DarkWiki45, RoadTrain, JimmytwoM, Hari7478, Samitus mallicus, Historyismyname, Khu84, Hkrclu, RjwilmsiBot, Venustas 12, Peaceworld111, Wahaj.sethi, LoopyCootiebrain, John of Reading,
Orphan Wiki, Otvis, Themastertree, Az29, AlphaGamma1991, Dewritech, We hope, AsceticRose, John Cline, Ebonny eyes, Mar4d,
Veikk0.ma, Love 2 B Fair, QadeemMusalman, Highvale, , Coasterlover1994, AllahLovesYou, Drustaz, Loansbreak, Danyal Adam Khan,
Pun, Ddmas, ChuispastonBot, Iketsi, Art wart1234, Haseem1, Ahmad Nauman, ClueBot NG, ClaretAsh, Justlettersandnumbers, Wdchk, Doormajorth, S.ali.khan.19, Frietjes, ChristopherGregory, Proudemon333, PakistaniAhsan, Jk2q3jrklse, North Atlanticist Usonian,
Mightymights, Helpful Pixie Bot, Shikhor nadia, AnsarParacha, Khan.uzair, BG19bot, Sindhi91, Sahara4u, PhnomPencil, Pakistani47,
Mark Arsten, Compfreak7, Emma May Smith, Aqeel.anwar54, Hipityhopity, SD5bot, Counterstrikke, Johnzaib1, Makecat-bot, Delljvc,
Saehry, Krakkos, Vanamonde93, Rybec, LouisAragon, Macedonish, Jianhui67, Medic84, Bladesmulti, Aneesaa, UteForLife, Nestwiki,
MuHammad Farman Khan, , RastogiProf, Esatesa and Anonymous: 524

11.2

Images

File:Commons-logo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original

artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Canada.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cf/Flag_of_Canada.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Denmark.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Flag_of_Denmark.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: User:Madden
File:Flag_of_Equatorial_Guinea.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Flag_of_Equatorial_Guinea.svg
License: CC0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Eritrea.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Flag_of_Eritrea.svg License: CC0 Contributors:
From the Open Clip Art website. Original artist: user:
File:Flag_of_France.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/Flag_of_France.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Germany.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/ba/Flag_of_Germany.svg License: PD Contributors: ?
Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Ghana.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Flag_of_Ghana.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_India.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/41/Flag_of_India.svg License: Public domain Contributors:
? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Ireland.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Flag_of_Ireland.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: Drawn by User:SKopp Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Kenya.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Flag_of_Kenya.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: http://www.kenyarchives.go.ke/flag_specifications.htm Original artist: User:Pumbaa80

11.3

Content license

11

File:Flag_of_Kuwait.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Flag_of_Kuwait.svg License: Public domain

Contributors: Own work Original artist: SKopp
File:Flag_of_Mauritania.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Flag_of_Mauritania.svg License: Public
domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Norway.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Flag_of_Norway.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: Own work Original artist: Dbenbenn
File:Flag_of_Oman.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Flag_of_Oman.svg License: CC0 Contributors:
? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Pakistan.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Flag_of_Pakistan.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: The drawing and the colors were based from agspot.net. Original artist: User:Zscout370
File:Flag_of_Qatar.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Flag_of_Qatar.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Drawn by User:SKopp Original artist: (of code) cs:User:-xfi File:Flag_of_Saudi_Arabia.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Flag_of_Saudi_Arabia.svg License:
CC0 Contributors: the actual ag Original artist: Unknown
File:Flag_of_South_Africa.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Flag_of_South_Africa.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Per specications in the Constitution of South Africa, Schedule 1 - National ag Original artist: Flag design by
Frederick Brownell, image by Wikimedia Commons users
File:Flag_of_Sudan.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Flag_of_Sudan.svg License: Public domain Contributors: www.vexilla-mundi.com Original artist: Vzb83
File:Flag_of_Tajikistan.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Flag_of_Tajikistan.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Togo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Flag_of_Togo.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Zimbabwe.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Flag_of_Zimbabwe.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work after www.flag.de Original artist: User:Madden
File:Flag_of_the_Solomon_Islands.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Flag_of_the_Solomon_Islands.
svg License: Public domain Contributors: Drawn by User:SKopp Original artist: User:SKopp
File:Flag_of_the_United_Arab_Emirates.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Flag_of_the_United_
Arab_Emirates.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_the_United_States.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg License:
PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg License: Cc-bysa-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Pakistan_population_density.png Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Pakistan_population_density.
png License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Transferred from en.wikipedia
Original artist: nomi887 (talk).
File:Percentage_Foreign_Born_-_Pakistan.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d3/Percentage_Foreign_Born_-_
Pakistan.jpg License: PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Portal-puzzle.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fd/Portal-puzzle.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ?
Original artist: ?

11.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0