Demographics of Pakistan

Population Data

Geographic Distribution

The majority of southern Pakistan's population lives along the Indus River. In the northern half, most of the population lives about an arc formed by the cities of Faisalabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, and Peshawar.

Population and Growth

• Population: Over 154 million in 2004
• Growth rate: 1.96% (2004 est.)
• Birth rate: 32.11 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
• Death rate: 9.51 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
• Net migration rate: -0.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Structure

Age structure

• 0-14 years: 41% (male 29,880,574; female 28,145,247)
• 15-64 years: 55% (male 39,751,222; female 37,981,378)
• 65 years and over: 4% (male 2,856,305; female 2,939,049) (2000 est.)

Gender Ratios

• Sex ratio at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
• 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 0.97 male(s)/female
• total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Human Development

Mortality and Life Expectancy

• Infant mortality rate: 82.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
• Life expectancy at birth:
  • total population: 61.07 years
  • male: 60.27 years
  • female: 61.91 years (2000 est.)

Fertility

• Total fertility rate: 4.56 children born/woman (2000 est.)
• Fertility decline rate: 1.8 children per woman per decade (2nd fastest in world, )

Literacy

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write.

• In total population: 50% (provisional 2004 estimate)

Nationality and Ethnicity

Nationality

• Noun: Pakistani(s)
• Adjective: Pakistani

Ethnic groups

Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtun (Pathan), Baloch, Muhajir (immigrants from India at the time of partition and their descendants)

Religions

Muslim 97% (Sunni 77%, Shiite 20%), Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and other 3%

Languages

Prevalence

As a first language, Pakistanis spoke: Punjabi 48%, Sindhi 12%, Siraiki (a Punjabi variant) 10%, Pashtu 8%, Urdu (official) 8%, Balochi 3%, Hindko 2%, Brahui 1%, English (official and lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries), Burushaski, and other 8%.

The majority of Pakistanis can speak or understand two or more languages.

Major Languages

The official language of Pakistan is English. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca, although it is spoken as a first language by only 8% of the population. 48% speak Punjabi as a first language, 12% Sindhi, and 32% other languages such as (Pushto, Seraiki, Baloch, Hindko and Brahui.)

English

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.

Urdu

Urdu is the national language, the lingua franca of the people. 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.

Punjabi

Spoken as a first language by 48% of Pakistanis, mostly in Punjab, Pakistan.

Sindhi

Spoken as a first language by 12% of Pakistanis, mostly in Sindh.

Siraiki

Related to Punjabi (See Classification, below) Spoken as a first language by 10% of Pakistanis, mostly in southern districts of Punjab, Pakistan.

Pashto

Spoken as a first language by 8% of Pakistanis, mostly in the North-West Frontier Province.

Balochi

Spoken as a first language by 3% of Pakistanis, mostly in Balochistan.

Other 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 .

Classification

Indo-European

Nearly all of Pakistan's languages are Indo-European languages.

Lahnda Dialects

Punjabi, Hindko and Seraiki, all mutually intelligible, are classified by linguists as dialects of Iranian family of languages .

Elamo-Dravidian

Brahui is believed to have Elamo-Dravidian origins.

External Links

References

See also : Pakistan, Statistics Division