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| [[Yadgha language|Yadgha]] || Khyber Pakhtunkwa || Iranian
| [[Yadgha language|Yadgha]] || Khyber Pakhtunkwa || Iranian
|}
|}
== Statistics ==
[[File:Pakistan_Tehsil_wise_linguistic_map.jpg|thumb|Most spoken language in each Pakistani subdivision (''[[tehsil]]''){{NoteTag|The linguistic breakdown in the four provinces and ICT is as per 2023 census. For Azad Jammu and Kashmir, see the 2020 official survey.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.pndajk.gov.pk/uploadfiles/downloads/Statistical%20Year%20Book%202020.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.pndajk.gov.pk/uploadfiles/downloads/Statistical%20Year%20Book%202020.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live|access-date=3 March 2022|title=Statistical Year Book 2020| place = Muzaffarabad| publisher = AJ&K Bureau Of Statistics| pages = 131, 140}}</ref> For Gilgit Baltistan see {{harvnb|Backstrom|Radloff|1992}}. For Gilgit Baltistan specifically, see also the [[Gilgit-Baltistan#Languages|languages of Gilgit Baltistan]].}}|350x350px]]
{{Pie chart|thumb=right|caption=Languages of Pakistan (2023 census)<ref name="2023 census">{{cite web |title=Population by Mother Tongue, Sex and Rural/Urban, Census–2023 |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_11.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241220005033/https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_11.pdf |archive-date=20 December 2024|website=pbs.gov.pk |publisher=[[Pakistan Bureau Statistics]]}}</ref>|label1=[[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]|value1=36.98|color1=Red|label2=[[Pashto]]|value2=18.15|color2=Yellow|label3=[[Sindhi language|Sindhi]]|value3=14.31|color3=Purple|label4=[[Saraiki language|Saraiki]]|value4=12.00|color4=Orange|label5=[[Urdu]]|value5=9.25|color5=Green|label6=[[Balochi language|Balochi]]|value6=3.38|color6=Blue|label7=[[Hindko]]|value7=2.32|color7=Lime|label8=[[Brahui language|Brahui]]|value8=1.16|color8=Violet|label9=[[Mewati language|Mewati]]|value9=0.46|color9=Black|value10=0.43|label10=[[Kohistani language|Kohistani]]|value11=0.11|value12=0.05|label11=[[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]]|label12=[[Shina language|Shina]]|value13=0.02|label13=[[Balti language|Balti]]|value14=0.003|label14=[[Kalasha language|Kalasha]]|value15=1.38|label15=Others|color10=Brown|color11=Aqua|color12=Pink|color14=White|color15=Grey}}
[[File:Second Largest mother tongue in Pakistan by district.jpg|center|thumb|Second Largest mother tongue in Pakistan by district]]
[[File:Third Largest mother tongue in Pakistan by district.jpg|thumb|Third Largest mother tongue in Pakistan by district]]
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|+'''Census history of major languages'''
!Rank
!Language
!1951 census{{efn|name=1951 and 1961|Only include statistics for [[West Pakistan]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=India - Population, Vol-1, Pakistan - Census 1961 |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/31528 |access-date= |website=censusindia.gov.in |pages=30–39}}</ref>}}
!1961 census{{efn|name=1951 and 1961}}
!1972 census
!1981 census<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Division |first1=Population Census Organisation Statistics |url=https://repository.lahoreschool.edu.pk/xmlui/handle/123456789/14529 |title=1981 Census Report of Pakistan |last2=Pakistan |first2=Government of |last3=Islamabad |date=December 1981 |publisher= Population Census Organisation Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad |language=en}}</ref>
!1998 census<ref>{{Cite web |title=POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE |url=http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//tables/POPULATION%20BY%20MOTHER%20TONGUE.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916094308/http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//tables/POPULATION%20BY%20MOTHER%20TONGUE.pdf |archive-date=16 September 2016 |website=[[Pakistan Bureau of Statistics]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ilahi |first=Mazhar |date=2014 |title=Legislative Drafting in Plain Urdu Language for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan |url=https://www.elevenjournals.com/tijdschrift/ejlr/2014/3/EJLR_1387-2370_2014_016_003_005 |journal=European Journal of Law Reform |language=nl |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=597–609 |doi=10.5553/EJLR/138723702014016003005 |issn=1387-2370|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
!2017 census<ref>{{Cite web |title=TABLE 11 - POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE, SEX AND RURAL/ URBAN |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2017/tables/pakistan/Table11n.pdf |website=[[Pakistan Bureau of Statistics]]}}</ref>
!2023 census<ref name="2023 census" />
|-
|1
|[[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]
|67.08%
|66.39%
|...
|48.17%
|44.15%
|38.78%
|36.98%
|-
|2
|[[Pashto language|Pashto]]
|8.16%
|8.47%
|...
|13.15%
|15.42%
|18.24%
|18.15%
|-
|3
|[[Sindhi language|Sindhi]]
|12.85%
|12.59%
|...
|11.77%
|14.1%
|14.57%
|14.31%
|-
|4
|[[Saraiki language|Saraiki]]
|...
|...
|...
|9.84%
|10.53%
|12.19%
|12.00%
|-
|5
|[[Urdu language|Urdu]]
|7.05%
|7.57%
|...
|7.60%
|7.57%
|7.08%
|9.25%
|-
|6
|[[Balochi language|Balochi]]
|3.04%
|2.49%
|...
|3.02%
|3.57%
|3.02%
|3.38%
|-
|7
|[[Hindko]]
|...
|...
|...
|2.43%
|...
|2.44%
|2.32%
|-
|8
|[[Brahui language|Brahui]]
|0.70%
|0.93%
|...
|1.21%
|...
|1.24%
|1.16%
|-
|9
|[[Mewati language|Mewati]]
|...
|...
|...
|...
|...
|...
|0.46%
|-
|10
|[[Indus Kohistani|Kohistani]]
|...
|...
|...
|...
|...
|...
|0.43%
|-
|11
|[[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]]
|...
|...
|...
|...
|...
|0.17%
|0.11%
|-
|12
|[[Shina language|Shina]]
|...
|...
|...
|...
|...
|...
|0.05%
|-
|13
|[[Balti language|Balti]]
|...
|...
|...
|...
|...
|...
|0.02%
|-
|14
|[[Kalasha language|Kalasha]]
|...
|...
|...
|...
|...
|...
|0.003%
|-
|15
|Others
|1.12%
|1.56%
|...
|2.81%
|4.66%
|2.27%
|1.38%
|}
<small>&ast; Saraiki and Hindko were included with Punjabi until the 1981 census.</small>
<nowiki>*</nowiki><small>Census data for the Pakistani administered territories of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir not available as of 2024.</small>
==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
<references group="lower-alpha"/>
<references group="lower-alpha"/>

Revision as of 11:15, 7 June 2026


Languages of Pakistan
Dominant mother tongue in the districts of Pakistan as of the Census of Pakistan 2017
Official
NationalUrdu[lower-alpha 3]
RegionalOver 70 regional languages
SignedPakistani Sign Language
Keyboard layout
QWERTY and Urdu keyboard

Pakistan is a linguistically diverse country where over 70 languages serve as mother tongues.[2][3] Most of these languages fall under the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family.[4][5] While Urdu holds the status of national language, it shares official recognition with English and functions as the primary medium for communication across different ethnic communities. Several regional languages also serve as first languages for Pakistan’s various ethnolinguistic groups. The 2023 census records languages with over a million speakers each as Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Saraiki, Urdu, Balochi, Hindko, Brahui, and the Kohistani languages. The census, however, does not include data from the Pakistan-occupied Kashmi (Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, which may affect the reported figures for Shina and Balti). Approximately 60 local languages have fewer than 10 lakh speakers.[6][7]

List of languages

Ethnologue's 2022 edition documents 80 established languages in Pakistan, comprising 68 indigenous and 12 non-indigenous varieties. Language vitality assessments classify four as 'institutional', twenty-four as 'developing', thirty as 'vigorous', fifteen as 'in trouble', and four as 'dying'.[6]

Established languages[6]
Language Province[lower-alpha 4] Language group
Aer Sindh Indo-Aryan
Badeshi Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian
Bagri Punjab, Sindh Indo-Aryan
Balochi, Makrani Balochistan Iranian
Balochi, Rakhshani Balochistan Iranian
Balochi, Sulaimani Balochistan, Punjab, Sindh Iranian
Balti Gilgit-Baltistan Sino-Tibetan
Bateri Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Bhaya Sindh Indo-Aryan
Brahui Balochistan, Sindh Dravidian
Burushaski Gilgit-Baltistan Isolate
Chilisso Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Dameli Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Dari Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian
Dehwari Balochistan Iranian
Dhatki Sindh Indo-Aryan
Domaaki Gilgit-Baltistan Indo-Aryan
English Federal co-official Germanic
Gawar-Bati Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Gawri Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Ghera Sindh Indo-Aryan
Goaria Sindh Indo-Aryan
Gowro Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Gujarati Sindh Indo-Aryan
Gujari Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan,
Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab		 Indo-Aryan
Gurgula Sindh Indo-Aryan
Haryanvi aka Rangri Sindh, Punjab Indo-Aryan
Hazaragi Balochistan Iranian
Hindko, Northern Azad Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Hindko, Southern Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab Indo-Aryan
Jadgali Balochistan, Sindh Indo-Aryan
Jandavra Sindh Indo-Aryan
Jogi Sindh Indo-Aryan
Kabutra Sindh Indo-Aryan
Kacchi Sindh Indo-Aryan
Kalasha Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Kalkoti Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Kamviri Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian
Kashmiri Azad Kashmir Indo-Aryan
Kati Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian
Khetrani Balochistan Indo-Aryan
Khowar Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Kyrgyz Chitral, Hunza Turkic
Kohistani, Indus Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Koli, Kachi Sindh Indo-Aryan
Koli, Parkari Sindh Indo-Aryan
Koli, Wadiyari Sindh Indo-Aryan
Kutchi Sindh Indo-Aryan
Kundal Shahi Azad Kashmir Indo-Aryan
Lasi Balochistan Indo-Aryan
Loarki Sindh Indo-Aryan
Mankiyali Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Marwari Punjab, Sindh Indo-Aryan
Mewati Punjab, Sindh Indo-Aryan
Memoni Sindh Indo-Aryan
Oadki Punjab, Sindh Indo-Aryan
Ormuri Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian
Pahari-Pothwari Azad Kashmir, Punjab Indo-Aryan
Pakistan Sign Language Throughout Indo-Pakistani Sign Language
Palula Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Pashto, Central Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab Iranian
Pashto, Northern Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab Iranian
Pashto, Southern Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab Iranian
Punjabi Punjab, Sindh Indo-Aryan
Saraiki Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab, Sindh Indo-Aryan
Sarikoli Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Gilgit-Baltistan Iranian
Savi Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Shina Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Shina, Kohistani Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Sindhi Sindh, Balochistan Indo-Aryan
Sindhi Bhil Sindh Indo-Aryan
Torwali Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Urdu Sindh, Punjab, Azad Kashmir , Islamabad Indo-Aryan
Ushojo Khyber Pakhtunkwa Indo-Aryan
Vaghri Sindh Indo-Aryan
Wakhi Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian
Waneci Balochistan Iranian
Waziri Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian
Yadgha Khyber Pakhtunkwa Iranian

Statistics

Most spoken language in each Pakistani subdivision (tehsil)[note 1]

Languages of Pakistan (2023 census)[9]

  Punjabi (36.98%)
  Pashto (18.15%)
  Sindhi (14.31%)
  Saraiki (12.00%)
  Urdu (9.25%)
  Balochi (3.38%)
  Hindko (2.32%)
  Brahui (1.16%)
  Mewati (0.46%)
  Kohistani (0.43%)
  Kashmiri (0.11%)
  Shina (0.05%)
  Balti (0.02%)
  Kalasha (0.003%)
  Others (1.38%)
Second Largest mother tongue in Pakistan by district
Third Largest mother tongue in Pakistan by district
Census history of major languages
Rank Language 1951 census[lower-alpha 5] 1961 census[lower-alpha 5] 1972 census 1981 census[11] 1998 census[12][13] 2017 census[14] 2023 census[9]
1 Punjabi 67.08% 66.39% ... 48.17% 44.15% 38.78% 36.98%
2 Pashto 8.16% 8.47% ... 13.15% 15.42% 18.24% 18.15%
3 Sindhi 12.85% 12.59% ... 11.77% 14.1% 14.57% 14.31%
4 Saraiki ... ... ... 9.84% 10.53% 12.19% 12.00%
5 Urdu 7.05% 7.57% ... 7.60% 7.57% 7.08% 9.25%
6 Balochi 3.04% 2.49% ... 3.02% 3.57% 3.02% 3.38%
7 Hindko ... ... ... 2.43% ... 2.44% 2.32%
8 Brahui 0.70% 0.93% ... 1.21% ... 1.24% 1.16%
9 Mewati ... ... ... ... ... ... 0.46%
10 Kohistani ... ... ... ... ... ... 0.43%
11 Kashmiri ... ... ... ... ... 0.17% 0.11%
12 Shina ... ... ... ... ... ... 0.05%
13 Balti ... ... ... ... ... ... 0.02%
14 Kalasha ... ... ... ... ... ... 0.003%
15 Others 1.12% 1.56% ... 2.81% 4.66% 2.27% 1.38%

* Saraiki and Hindko were included with Punjabi until the 1981 census.

*Census data for the Pakistani administered territories of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir not available as of 2024.

References

  1. ↑ "Article: 251 National language". Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  2. ↑ Ashraf, Hina (22 March 2022). "The ambivalent role of Urdu and English in multilingual Pakistan: a Bourdieusian study". Language Policy. 22 (1): 25–48. doi:10.1007/s10993-022-09623-6. ISSN 1573-1863. PMC 8939399. PMID 35340722.
  3. ↑ Ashraf, Muhammad Azeem; Turner, David A.; Laar, Rizwan Ahmed (January 2021). "Multilingual Language Practices in Education in Pakistan: The Conflict Between Policy and Practice". SAGE Open. 11 (1): 215824402110041. doi:10.1177/21582440211004140. ISSN 2158-2440. S2CID 232484396.
  4. ↑ Rengel, Marian (15 December 2003). Pakistan: A Primary Source Cultural Guide. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-8239-4001-1.
  5. ↑ Kachru, Braj B.; Kachru, Yamuna; Sridhar, S. N. (27 March 2008). Language in South Asia. Cambridge University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-139-46550-2.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Eberhard, Simons & Fennig 2022.
  7. ↑ "Endangered Languages Project - Torwali - Challenges to the linguistic diversity of North Pakistan". www.endangeredlanguages.com. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  8. ↑ Statistical Year Book 2020 (PDF). Muzaffarabad: AJ&K Bureau Of Statistics. pp. 131, 140. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Population by Mother Tongue, Sex and Rural/Urban, Census–2023" (PDF). pbs.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau Statistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2024.
  10. ↑ "India - Population, Vol-1, Pakistan - Census 1961". censusindia.gov.in. pp. 30–39.
  11. ↑ Division, Population Census Organisation Statistics; Pakistan, Government of; Islamabad (December 1981). 1981 Census Report of Pakistan. Population Census Organisation Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad.
  12. ↑ "POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2016.
  13. ↑ Ilahi, Mazhar (2014). "Legislative Drafting in Plain Urdu Language for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan". European Journal of Law Reform (in Nederlands). 16 (3): 597–609. doi:10.5553/EJLR/138723702014016003005. ISSN 1387-2370.
  14. ↑ "TABLE 11 - POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE, SEX AND RURAL/ URBAN" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Urdu and English have official status all around the country under the provisions of the Pakistani constitution
  2. ↑ Sindh's official language is Sindhi. It is the only province in the country that has its own official language, alongside the nationally official languages Urdu and English
  3. ↑ Under the provisions of the Pakistani constitution, Urdu has status as the 'national language'[1]
  4. ↑ Excluding large urban centres
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Only include statistics for West Pakistan[10]


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