Saturday, October 3, 2009

Demographics of Pakistan


Demographics of Pakistan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Pakistan, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Demographics of Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Pakistan-demography.png
Population of Pakistan, 1961-2003
Population:180,800,000 (2009 est)
Growth rate:2.2% (2009 est)
Birth rate:31 births/1,000 population (2009 est)
Death rate:8 deaths/1,000 population (2009 est)
Life expectancy:63.39 years (2009 est)
–male:62.4 years (2009 est)
–female:64.44 years (2009 est)
Fertility rate:3.58 children born/woman (2008 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:42% (male 33,293,428/female 31,434,314) (2006 est)
15-64 years:54.9% (male 48,214,298/female 46,062,933) (2006 est)
65-over:4.1% (male 3,256,065/female 3,542,522) (2006 est)
Sex ratio:
At birth:1.00 male(s)/female (2006 est)
Under 15:1.06 male(s)/female (2006 est)
15-64 years:1.05 male(s)/female (2006 est)
65-over:0.82 male(s)/female (2006 est)
Nationality:
Nationality:noun: Pakistani
Major ethnic:See Ethnic Groups of Pakistan
Language:
Official:See Languages of Pakistan
Spoken:See List of Pakistani languages by number of native speakers
Pakistan's estimated population in July 2009 is 180,800,000 and by 2010 the population is expected to reach 200,846,310.[1]. The population was 172,800,000 in July 2008.[2] During 1950-2008, Pakistan's urban population expanded over sevenfold, while the total population increased by over fourfold. By the end of this decade the population is expected to be nearly 180 million.[3] In the past, the country's population had a relatively high growth rate that has, however, been moderated by declining fertility and birth rates. Dramatic social changes have led to rapid urbanization and the emergence of megacities. During 1990-2003, Pakistan sustained its historical lead as the most urbanized nation in South Asia and Greater Middle East, with city dwellers making up 34% of its population.[4]
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.
Pakistan's national census was scheduled to take place in 2008[5] now it has been delayed to after Eid in 2009.[6]

Contents

 [hide]

[edit]Population data

Population density in Pakistan

[edit]Geographic distribution

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

[edit]Population and growth

Historical populations
CensusPopulationUrban
195133,816,00017.80%
196142,978,00022.46%
197265,321,00025.40%
198184,254,00028.28%
1998130,580,00032.51%
2008172,800,00032.34%
  • Population: 172,800,000 (July 2008 best estimation)
  • Growth rate: 2.2% (2008 estimation)
  • Birth rate: 31 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
  • Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
  • Net migration rate: -1.0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

[edit]Pakistanis around the world

Further information: Overseas Pakistani
 Saudi Arabia1,200,000
 United Kingdom1,000,000
 United Arab Emirates500,000  – 900,000
 United States210,410[7] – 600,000
 Canada250,000
 Kuwait100,000
 Oman85,000
 Germany52,668
 Qatar52,500
 France50,000
 Norway35,000

[edit]Structure

[edit]Age structure

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

[edit]Gender ratios

  • Sex ratio at birth: 1.00 male(s)/female
  • under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
  • 15–64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
  • total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

[edit]Human development

[edit]Human Development Index

ProvinceHuman Development IndexComparable County
Punjab0.557Comoros
Sindh0.540Pakistan
NWFP0.510Madagascar
Balochistan0.499Swaziland
RegionHuman Development IndexComparable County
Urban Sindh0.659Equatorial Guinea/South Africa
Urban Punjab0.657Equatorial Guinea/South Africa
Urban NWFP0.627Namibia
Urban Balochistan0.591Solomon Islands
Rural Punjab0.517Sudan
Rural NWFP0.489Zimbabwe/Kenya
Rural Balochistan0.486Mauritania
Rural Sindh0.456Eritrea
RegionHuman Development IndexComparable County
Urban Pakistan0.656Equatorial Guinea/South Africa
Rural Pakistan0.496Togo
Note: Information on Pakistan, taken from PAKISTAN NATIONAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2003 and for the countries of the world, information has been take from the Human Development Report 2006 as it best reflects the time when data was taken for Pakistan. Pakistan National Human Development Report gave Pakistan an HDI score of 0.541 where as the Human Development Report 2006 gave it a score of 0.539. So this is the MOST ACCURATE comparison.
Sources: [8][9]

[edit]Mortality and life expectancy

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

[edit]Fertility

  • Total fertility rate: 4.00 children born/woman (2006 est.)
  • Total fertility rate: 3.77 children born/woman (2007 est.)
  • Total fertility rate: 3.58 children born/woman (2008 est.)
  • Fertility decline rate: 1.8 children per woman per decade (2nd fastest in world)[10]

[edit]Literacy

Definition: over the age of 10 and can read and write.
  • total population: 56.2%
  • male: 68.2%
  • female: 43.6%
Source: [11]

[edit]Educational Institutions by Kind

  • Primary schools: 157,157
  • Middle schools: 30,419
  • Secondary schools: 17,231
  • Arts & science colleges: 1174
  • Professional colleges: 408
  • Universities: 52
Source: [12]

[edit]Percentage Disbtribution of Employed Persons by Major Industry Division

    • Manufacturing: 13.84
  • Construction: 6.13
  • Electricity, gas, water and sanitary services: 0.66
  • Commerce: 14.67
  • Transport, storage and communication: 5.74
  • Financing, insurance, real estate and business services: 1.10
  • Services: 14.35
  • Activities not adequately described: 0.04
Source: [12]

[edit]Pakistan's Yearly Population

Pakistan's yearly population from 1950 to 2008.[13]
Year  ↓Population  ↓Absolute Increase  ↓Percentage Increase  ↓
195039,448,232
195140,382,206933,9742.37
195241,346,560964,3542.39
195342,342,412995,8522.41
195443,372,0631,029,6512.43
195544,434,4451,062,3822.45
195645,535,7111,101,2662.48
195746,679,9441,144,2332.51
195847,868,9321,188,9882.55
195949,104,1121,235,1802.58
196050,386,8981,282,7862.61
196151,718,5811,331,6832.64
196253,100,6711,382,0902.67
196354,524,4711,423,8002.68
196455,988,3851,463,9142.68
196557,494,9401,506,5552.69
196659,046,2031,551,2632.70
196760,641,8991,595,6962.70
196862,282,4961,640,5972.71
196963,969,9871,687,4912.71
197065,705,9641,735,9772.71
197167,491,3691,785,4052.72
197269,325,9211,834,5522.72
197371,121,0851,795,1642.59
197472,911,7801,790,6952.52
197574,711,5411,799,7612.47
197676,456,1211,744,5802.34
197778,152,6861,696,5652.22
197880,051,3001,898,6142.43
197982,374,3022,323,0022.90
198085,219,1172,844,8153.45
198188,417,0793,197,9623.75
198291,465,2093,048,1303.45
198394,154,7232,689,5142.94
198496,501,8062,347,0832.49
198599,076,2662,574,4602.67
1986102,065,7102,989,4443.02
1987105,208,4313,142,7213.08
1988108,407,7863,199,3553.04
1989111,528,3813,120,5952.88
1990114,606,6903,078,3092.76
1991117,684,2923,077,6022.69
1992120,098,1972,413,9052.05
1993122,523,6502,425,4532.02
1994125,531,4483,007,7982.45
1995128,733,6573,202,2092.55
1996132,194,1153,460,4582.69
1997135,616,3103,422,1952.59
1998139,062,9873,446,6772.54
1999142,520,1243,457,1372.49
2000146,404,9143,884,7902.73
2001150,399,5663,994,6522.73
2002153,470,7793,071,2132.04
2003156,196,4882,725,7091.78
2004159,266,3673,069,8791.97
2005162,490,3853,224,0182.02
2006165,873,9283,383,5432.08
2007169,340,5383,466,6102.09
2008172,800,0513,459,5132.04
2009174,579,0001,778,9491.60

[edit]Foreign Born Population in Pakistan

Mostly those born pre 1947
Year  ↓Population  ↓Foreign Born  ↓Percentage Foreign Born  ↓
196046,259,0006,350,29613.73%
197059,565,0005,105,5568.57%
198079,297,0005,012,5246.32%
1990111,698,0006,555,7825.87%
2000142,648,0004,242,6892.97%
2005157,935,0003,254,1122.06%
Source: [14]

[edit]Nationality and ethnicity

[edit]Ethnic groups

Main article: Ethnic groups in Pakistan
Major ethnic groups in Pakistan, 1973.
Biggest Group by Region
Though most Pakistanis speak Indo-Iranic, Pakistan's diversity is more visible along minor cultural differences and less along linguistic and religious lines. Most believe that almost all Pakistanis belong to the Indo-Iranic ancestral group. There are many ethnic groups: Pakistan's census and rough estimates vary, but the consensus is that the Punjabis are the largest ethnic group, Sindhi are the third largest ethnic group[15][16][17], Pathan are the second largest ethnic group. Saraikis, a group seen as transitional between Punjabis and Sindhis, make up 10.53% of the population. The remaining groups that comprise large percentages include the Muhajirs(migrants from different parts of India) at 7.57% and the Baloch people at 3.57%. The other main ethnic groups include Hindkowans and the Brahui, and the various peoples of the Northern Areas, who all together total roughly 4.66% of the total population. The Pakhtun and Baloch represent two of the major populations that are linguistically Iranic, while the majority Punjabis, Hindkowans, Sindhis and Saraikis are the major linguistically Indo-Aryan groups. Muhajir population is a multi-ethnical group, and include mixed blood lines of people from the rest of South Asia who claim Afghan, Persian, Turk, Mongol, and Arab admixture such as the RohillaPashtun. People of Black African descent are known in Pakistan as Sheedis.
Approximately 1.7 million Afghan refugees remain in Pakistan.[18] Nearly half of this population actually was born and grew up in Pakistan during the last 30 years, so they have never seen Afghanistan.[19][20] They are not counted in the national census, even the ones born in Pakistan, because they are still considered citizens of Afghanistan. In addition, there are some pockets of other refugees/migrants including but not limited to Iraqis, Iranians, Tajikistanis,Somalis, Burmese, and possibly others who can be found living in the major cities of Pakistan.

[edit]Religions

Main article: Religion in Pakistan
See also: Islam in Pakistan, Christianity in Pakistan, History of the Jews in Pakistan,Hinduism in Pakistan, and Sikhism in Pakistan
The latest Census data[21] indicates that over 96% of the population is Muslim. The Muslimsbelong to different schools which are called Madhahib (singular: Madhhab) i.e, schools ofjurisprudence (also 'Maktab-e-Fikr' (School of Thought) in Urdu). More than 70% of Pakistani Muslims are Sunni Muslims and there is sizeable minority of 30% Shi'a Muslims. Nearly all Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafischool with a small Hanbali school represented by Wahabis and Ahle Hadith. The Hanafi school includes the Barelvis and Deobandis schools. Although the majority of Pakistani Shia Muslims belong to Ithna 'ashariyah school, there are significant minorities: Ismailis (Aga Khanis) and the smaller Mustaali Dawoodi Bohra and Sulaimani Bohra branches.
The difference among Sunni schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi, and Hanbali) are small in practice, and they may pray together in any Sunni Masjid. In Pakistan, adherents of the Barelvi and Deobandi schools also pray together in same Masjids.
The Shia Ithna 'ashariyah school has its own Masjids and Hussainias. Mustaali Dawoodi Bohra and Sulaimani Bohra also have their ownMasjids. While the Ismaili pray in Jama'at Khanas.
There are small non-Muslim religious groups: Christians, Jews, Hindus, Ahmadis (Qadianis), Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis, Bahá'ís, Zoroastrians(Parsis) and others 4%.

[edit]Religious population In Pakistan

Sources: [21] [22][23]

[edit]Languages of Pakistan

Main article: Languages of Pakistan
Following are the major languages spoken in Pakistan. The percentage of Pakistanis who are native speakers of that language is also given.
Numbers of speakers of larger languages
Language2008 estimate1998 censusMain areas spoken
1Punjabi76,367,36044.17%58,433,43144.15%Punjab
2Pashto26,692,89015.44%20,408,62115.42%NWFP
3Sindhi24,410,91014.12%18,661,57114.10%Sindh
4Seraiki18,019,61010.42%13,936,59410.53%South Punjab
5Urdu13,120,5407.59%10,019,5767.57%Karachi
6Balochi6,204,5403.59%4,724,8713.57%Balochistan
7Others8,089,1503.59%6,167,5154.66%
Total172,900,000100%132,352,279100%Pakistan
There are around 75 to 80 known Pakistani languages although, in practice, there are primarily six major languages in Pakistan spoken by 95% of the population: Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Saraiki, Urdu and Balochi. The official language is English and the national language is Urdu, although the census indicates that only around 8% of the population speak Urdu as their first language. However, due to rapid urbanization and modernization, the use of Urdu as a first language is increasing, especially amongst the growing urbanized middle class of Pakistan. Around 44% speak Punjabi, 15% speak Pashto, 14% speak Sindhi, 10% Saraiki, 8% Urdu, 4% Balochi and 5% other languages (Hindko, Brahui etc.) as their first language. Most Pakistanis, however, speak or understand at least two 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:


[edit]English (official language)

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

[edit]Urdu (national language)

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, the lingua franca chosen to facilitate inter-provincial communication between the country's diverse linguistic populations. Its introduction as the lingua franca was encouraged by the British upon the capitulation and annexation of Sindh (1843) and Punjab (1849) with the subsequent ban on the use of Persian, the lingua franca of the region for the last 1,000 years, probably since the time the area was part of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The decision to make the language change was to institute a universal language throughout the then British Raj in South Asia as well as minimize the influence of Persia, Ottoman Empire, Afghanistan and Central Asia had on this transitional region. Urdu is a relatively new language in the contemporary sense but has undergone considerable modifications and development borrowing heavily on the traditions of other more mature and ancient languages like Persian, Arabic, or it's parent, Sanskrit and local South Asian languages all of which can be found in its vocubulary. It began as a standardised 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 from other parts of South Asia that migrated to Pakistan) but is an acquired language but nearly all of Pakistan's native ethnic groups representing almost 92% of the population making Pakistan a unique country in the choice of national languages. As Pakistan's national language, Urdu has been promoted as a token of national unity. Although less than 8% of Pakistanis speak it as their first language, it is spoken as a second and often third language by nearly all literate Pakistanis. In recent years, the Urdu spoken in Pakistan has undergone further evolution and acquired a particularly Pakistani flavour to it often absorbing local native terminology and adopting a strong Punjabi 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 basically local vocabulary has been enriched by words from Persian, Arabic, Turkic languages and English. Urdu has drawn inspiration from Persian literature and has now an enormous stock of words from that language. In recent years, the Urdu spoken in Pakistan has gradually incorporated words from many of the native languages found there including Pashto, Punjabi and Sindhi to name a few. As such the language is constantly developing and has acquired a particularly 'Pakistani' flavour to it distinguishing itself from that spoken in ancient times. The first poetry in Urdu was by the Persian poet Amir Khusro (1253-1325) and the first Urdu book "Woh Majlis" was written in 1728 and the first time the word "Urdu" was used by Saraj-ud-din Aarzoo in 1751.

[edit]Punjabi (provincial language)

Punjabi is spoken as a first language by more than 44% of Pakistanis, mostly in Punjab as well as by a large number of people in Karachi. It is an important language since Punjabi is spoken by about half of Pakistanis. However, Punjabi does not have any official status in Pakistan. The exact numbers of Punjabi speakers in Pakistan is hard to find since there are many dialects / languages, such as Saraiki, which some regard as part of Punjabi and others regard as separate language. When taking into account Hindko, Potwari, Pahari, Saraiki, Punjabi dialects are thus spoken by almost 60% of the population in Pakistan. The standard Punjabi dialects is from Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala and Sheikhupuradistricts of the Pakistani Punjab which was used by Waris Shah (1722-1798) in his famous book Heer Ranjha and is also now days the language of Punjabi literature, film and music; such as Lollywood. Other dialects are Multani or Saraiki in the West and South, Pothowari & Hindko in the North, Dogri in the mountain areas and Shahpuri in the Sargodha district.
Punjabi is descended from Sanskrit in the Vedic period (1700 B.C.), Pali, Prakrit and Apabhramsha in the Ashoka period (273 B.C. - 232 B.C.) and Hindvi, Lahori and Multani in the Muslim period (711 A.D. - 1857 A.D.). Punjabi literature was principally spiritual in nature and has had a very rich oral tradition. The Great poetry written by Sufi saints has been the folklore of the Punjab and is still sung with great love in any part of Punjab.

[edit]Pashto (provincial language)

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Pashto is spoken as a first language by 15% of Pakistanis, mostly in the North-West Frontier Province and inBalochistan as well as by immigrants to the eastern provinces who are often not counted due to census irregularities. The Pashto has rich written literary traditions as well as an oral tradition. There are two major dialect patterns within which the various individual dialects may be classified; these are Pakhto, which is the Northern (Peshawar) variety, and the softer Pashto spoken in the southern areas. Khushal Khan Khattak(1613-1689) and Rahman Baba (1633-1708) were the most famous poets in the Pashto language. In the last part of 20th century, Pakhto / Pashto has produced some great poets like Ghani Khan, Khatir Afridi and Amir Hamza Shinwari.

[edit]Sindhi (provincial language)

Sindhi is spoken as a first language by 14% of Pakistanis, mostly in Sindh. Sindhi has very rich literature and is used in schools. Sindhi language contains Arabic words and is influenced by Arabic language to a great extent. The reason being that the Arabs ruled Sindh for more than 150 years. Muhammad bin Qasim entered Sindh and conquered it in 712 AD. He remained here for three years and set up Arab rule in the area. According to historians, the social fabric of Sindh comprises elements of Arabic society. Sindhi is spoken by over 25 million people in Pakistan. Sindhi is official language of province of Sindh, it is widely spoken inLasbela District of Balochistan, where the Lasi tribe speaks a dialect of Sindhi, many areas of Naseerabadand Jafarabad districts of Balochistan and by the Sindhi diaspora who have migrated abroad. It written in the Arabic script with several additional letters to accommodate special sounds. The largest Sindhi-speaking city is Hyderabad. Sindhi literature is also spiritual in nature and Shah Abdul Latif Bhita'i (1689-1752) is one of its greatest poet who wrote Sassi Punnun, Umar Marvi (the great folk stories) in his famous book "Shah Jo Risalo".

[edit]Saraiki (regional language)

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

[edit]Balochi (provincial language)

Balochi and Brahui together are spoken as first language by less than 4% of Pakistanis, mostly in Balochistan. Sindh and southern Punjab. Balochi language is very close to the Persian itself. The name Balochi or Baluchi is not found before the 10th Century. It is believed that the language was brought to its present location in a series of migrations from northern Iran region of Caspian Sea. Rakshani is the major dialect group in terms of numbers. Sarhaddi, is a sub dialect of Rakshani. Other sub - dialects are Qalati, Chagai Kharani, and Makrani. The Eastern Hill Balochi or Northern Balochi are distinct dialects.The Kethran language in North East Baluchistan is also a variant of Baluchi.It is one of the 9 distinguished languages of Pakistan.Since Baluchi is a very poetic and rich language and have a certain degree of affinity to persian and urdu, Baluchi poets tend to be very good poets in Urdu as well and Ata Shaad, Gul Khan Nasir and Noon Meem Danish are excellent examples of this.

[edit]Brahui (provincial language)

Brahui is of uncertain origin despite the fact that the bulk of the language shares lexical similarities to Balochi as well as Sindhi. In colonial times, many British linguists tried to make the claim of a possible Dravidian language origin but this has not been conclusively proven despite ongoing research in the language for a century now.[24] spoken in southern Pakistan, may have evolved from the original languages of Indus valley civilizations at Mehrgarh . However it is heavily influenced by Baluchi and Pashto. It is spoken in central and east central Baluchistan. The Mengals are a famous Brahvi tribe. Around 1-1.5% of Pakistani population has Brahui as their first language. It is one of the 9 distinguished languages of Pakistan.

[edit]Hindko (regional language)

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

[edit]Persian (cultural language)

There is a sizeable population of Pakistani's who speak Persian. Although Persian has no official status since being banned by the British during their colonial rule of the region, it had for long been the lingua franca, for a thousand years and a preferred language amongst the educated Muslim elite and was the official and cultural language of the Mughal Empire and various Muslim princely states based in Pakistan.Persian was officially abolished from the region with the arrival of the British to the province of Sindh in 1843 and Punjab in 1849 to minimize the influence of Persia and Afghanistan on the provinces and integrate these regions with the rest of South Asia under a common Urdu language. Nevertheless, Persian and Persian culture continues to influence the country to this day, despite a ban in 2006 during the Musharaff regime, nevertheless it has influenced Urdu immensely, and is still appreciated as a literary and prestigious language among the educated elite, especially in fields of music (Qawwali) and art.

[edit]Arabic (religious language)

Arabic is considered to be religious language of Pakistan. The Quran, Sunnah, Hadith and Muslim theology is taught in Arabic with Urdutranslation. The large numbers of Pakistanis living in the Gulf region and in other Middle Eastern countries has further increased the number of people who can speak Arabic in Pakistan.

[edit]Turkic (cultural language)

Turkic languages were used by the ruling Turco-Mongols (or Mughals) and earlier Sultans of South Asia many of whom have settled inPakistan. There are pockets of Turkic speakers found throughout the country, notably in the valleys in the countries northern regions which lie adjacent to central asia, western Pakistani region of Waziristan principally around Kanigoram where the Burki tribe dwell and in Pakistan's urban centres of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. The autobiography of Mughal emperor Babur, Tuzk Babari was also written in Turkish. The word Urdu is of Turkish origin, as Urdu was originally called Zaban-e-Ordu or language of the Army, Ordu means army' in Turkish.

[edit]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.[25] Other Indo-European languages spoken in Pakistan include Pothohari, Shina, Wakhi, Kashmiri,Marwari, Khowar, and Dari Persian. Non-Indo-European languages include Brahui and Burushaski, a language isolate.
There are some languages that are spoken by less than a thousand people, such as Aer.
Arabic and Persian are also taught in schools and religious institutions.

[edit]Classification

[edit]Indo-European
Most of Pakistan's languages are Indo-European languages and within the smaller Indo-Iranian sub-branch.
[edit]Indo-Aryan languages
Around 80% of Pakistan's population speak one or more of the various Indo-Aryan languages. Usually concentrated in the heavily populated areas east of the Indus river, the Indo-Aryan languages and their cultures form the predominant cultural group in the country. They derive their roots from the Sanskrit language of Aryan invadors and are later heavily influenced by the languages of the later Muslim arrivals (i.e., Turkish,Persian, and Arabic), and are all written in a variant of either the Arabic or Nastaliq script. Urdu, the country's national language, is an Indo-Aryan tongue. Punjabi, Hindko and Seraiki, all mutually intelligible, are classified by linguists as dialects of an Indo-Aryan speech calledLahnda,[26] 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 theNorthern Areas, Azad Kashmir and the northwestern mountains are sometimes classified by many linguists as belonging to the Indo-Aryan family. Other Indo-Aryan languages include Gujarati, Kutchi, and others.
Dardic languages
The Dardic languages are spoken in the northern Pakistan. They include Shina (spoken in Gilgit, Chilas and Diamar) , Khowar (spoken inChitral), 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 lowerAzad Kashmir) is one of the Dardic languages that has a literary tradition that goes well back into the history where as other Dardic languages spoken in northern Pakistan, do not have written literature. It is believed to be the result of the northern areas of Pakistan having remained isolated in the mountain valleys from the others for centuries.
[edit]Iranic family of languages
Pashto, Yidgha and Wakhi are Eastern Iranic languages spoken in the North-West Frontier Province, Balochistan and the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Balochi spoken in Balochistan is classified as a members of the Northwest Iranic languages.[27] If combined, Iranic peoples who speak Pashto, Balochi, Yidgha and Wakhi comprise about 18% of the population of Pakistan, and are concentrated in the northwest and west of Pakistan.
[edit]Brahui
Brahui may or may not be a language isolate and many origins have been hypothesized for it including Iranic and Dravidian.[24] spoken in southern Pakistan, primarily in Kalat in Balochistan.
[edit]Burushaski
Burushaski is a language isolate, spoken by Burusho people in Hunza, Nagar, Yasin, and parts of the Gilgit valleys in the Northern Areas of Pakistan.

[edit]See also

[edit]References

  1. ^ 2009 World Population Data Sheet - Population Reference Bureau
  2. ^ 2008 World Population Data Sheet - Population Reference Bureau
  3. ^ Urban Research Centre, Population table (1901-98)
  4. ^ World Bank Group, Urbanization (urban population table)
  5. ^ Plan to hold census in 2008 By Ahmed Hassan
  6. ^ http://www.pakistantimes.net/pt/detail.php?newsId=3730 Population, housing census in Pakistan after Eid
  7. ^ American FactFinder
  8. ^ http://www.un.org.pk/nhdr/htm_pages/cp_1.htm
  9. ^ http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr06-complete.pdf
  10. ^ Feeney and Alam, 2003)
  11. ^ http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/fbs/publications/lfs2007_08/results.pdf
  12. ^ a b [1])
  13. ^ Pakistan's Total Midyear Population
  14. ^ [http:http://gstudynet.org/gum/Pakistan.htm])
  15. ^ http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=K9QbtVadL_gC&pg=PA41&lpg=PA41&dq=sindhi+largest+ethnic+group&source=bl&ots=78JRCu10Ir&sig=fsDNnoitoSUbA93JcnOWbr_3FnE&hl=en&ei=grItSpvVN4egkQW_p7iPCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4
  16. ^ http://www.joshuaproject.net/peopctry.php?rop3=109027&rog3=AF
  17. ^ http://sindh.net/Sindh/Pakistan/
  18. ^ UNHCR and Pakistan sign new agreement on stay of Afghan refugees, March 13, 2009.
  19. ^ Voice of America, Pakistan Extends Deadline for Afghan Refugees
  20. ^ Government of Pakistan - National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA), NADRA Has Registered 2.15 Million Afghan Refugees, February 15, 2007.
  21. ^ a b http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_religion.pdf
  22. ^ CIA Factbook - Pakistan
  23. ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2007 - Pakistan
  24. ^ a b Vogelsang, Wilhelm The Afghans Wiley-Blackwell 2002 ISBN 9780631198413 pp.61-62 [2]
  25. ^ Ethnologue report for Pakistan: Languages of Pakistan
  26. ^ Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Northwestern zone, Lahnda: Language Tree
  27. ^ Indo-European, Indo-Iranic, Iranic: Language Tree
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