What are the official languages in Pakistan?
Languages of Pakistan
Bengali (بنگالی) is not an official language in Pakistan, but a significant number of Pakistani citizens have migrated from East Bengal and live in West Pakistan or East Pakistan prior to 1971. Bengali was recognised as the second official language of Pakistan on 29 February 1956, and article 214(1) of the constitution of Pakistan was reworded to "The state language of Pakistan shall be Urdu and Bengali". Others include illegal immigrants who migrated from Bangladesh after 1971. Most Pakistani Bengalis, are bilingual speaking both Urdu and Bengali, and are mainly settled in Karachi.
List of countries where Arabic is an official language
Historically Arabic was the official language (in the territory which form nowadays the state Islamic Republic of Pakistan) during the time when this region was a part of the Umayyad Caliphate between 651 and 750.
Tareen
The principal languages of Tareen is Pashto and while those living in Hazara Division of Pakistan have adopted Hindko. Persian was once used as a formal language for official records and correspondence. Until the late 1800s, tombstones were also inscribed in Persian. Tareen who have settled away from Pishin have adopted their local languages but some remain bilingual.
Daily Hilal Pakistan
The Daily Hilal is a newspaper published in Karachi, Pakistan. It is published in the Sindhi language, which is the third most spoken tongue in Pakistan, and the official language of the province of Sindh, home to the city and the paper. The Daily Hilal started publishing in 1946, making it the oldest running newspaper of Pakistan.
PTV National
PTV National a channel of regional languages of Pakistan has been the core source of providing Entertainment, Infotainment, and News etc. in all the provinces of Pakistan along with 52 Countries all around the world in respective regional languages of Pakistan.The programmes in all major languages of Pakistan, Sindhi, Punjabi/Saraiki, Pushto/Hindko, Baluchi/ Brahvi were telecast with a breakup of 2 Hrs for each province were allocated which were repeated two times in the 24 Hrs transmission.
Mohsin-ul-Mulk
Syed Ahmed Khan and Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk's patronage of Urdu led to its widespread use amongst Indian Muslim communities and following the Partition of India its adoption as the official language of Pakistan.
Demographics of Pakistan
Gujari or Gojri (گوجری زبان) is a language closely related to Rajasthani languages, and is spoken in Azad Kashmir, Gilgit–Baltistan and Punjab KPK provinces of Pakistan. There are over 500,000 Gujari speakers in Pakistan.
Linguistic rights
Pakistan uses English (Pakistani English) and Urdu as official languages. Although Urdu serves as the national language and lingua franca and is understood by most of the population, it is natively spoken by only 8% of the population. English is not natively used as a first language, but, for official purposes, about 49% of the population is able to communicate in some form of English. However, major regional languages like Punjabi (spoken by the majority of the population), Sindhi, Pashto, Saraiki, Hindko, Balochi, Brahui and Shina have no official status at the federal level.
Urdu
As Urdu and Hindi became means of religious and social construction for Muslims and Hindus respectively, each register developed its own script. According to Islamic tradition, Arabic, the language spoken by the prophet Muhammad and uttered in the revelation of the Qur'an, holds spiritual significance and power. Because Urdu was intentioned as means of unification for Muslims in Northern India and later Pakistan, it adopted an Arabic script.
Urdu continued its role in developing a Muslim identity as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was established with the intent to construct a homeland for Islamic believers. Several languages and dialects spoken throughout the regions of Pakistan produced an imminent need for a uniting language. Because Urdu was the symbol of Islamic identity in Northern India, it was selected as the national language for Pakistan. While Urdu and Islam together played important roles in developing the national identity of Pakistan, disputes in the 1950s (particularly those in East Pakistan), challenged the necessity for Urdu as a national symbol and its practicality as the lingua franca. The significance of Urdu as a national symbol was downplayed by these disputes when English and Bengali were also accepted as official languages in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
Urdu Defence Association
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk's patronage of Urdu led to its widespread use amongst Indian Muslim communities and following the partition of India its adoption as the official language of Pakistan.
List of countries where Arabic is an official language
The Arabic language is mentioned in the constitution of Pakistan. It declares in article 31 No. 2 that ""The State shall endeavour, as respects the Muslims of Pakistan (a) to make the teaching of the Holy Quran and Islamiat compulsory, to encourage and facilitate the learning of Arabic language ...""
Jhelum District
According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, the most widely spoken first languages are Punjabi (96.6%), Urdu (1.9%) and Pashto (1.2%). Urdu is spoken and understood by most of the population.
List of official languages
Urdu:
Hindustani language
Urdu is also the national language of Pakistan, where it shares official language status with English. Although English is spoken by many, and Punjabi is the native language of the majority of the population, Urdu is the "lingua franca".
Pakistani English
Although British rule in India lasted for almost two hundred years, the areas which lie in what is now Pakistan were amongst the last to be annexed: Sindh in 1843, Punjab (which initially included the North-West Frontier Province) in 1849, and parts of Baluchistan, including Quetta and the outer regions in 1879, while the rest of the Baluchistan region became a princely state within the British Indian Empire. As a result, English had less time to become part of local culture though it did become part of elite culture as it was used in elite schools and in higher education, as in the rest of British India. The colonial policies which made English a marker of elite status and the language of power—being used in such domains of power as the civil service, the officer corps of the armed forces, the higher judiciary, universities, prestigious newspapers, radio and entertainment—was due to British policies and the continuation of these policies by Pakistani Governments. In 1947 upon Pakistan's establishment, English became the de facto official language, a position which was formalised in the Constitution of Pakistan of 1973. Together with Urdu, the two languages are concurrently the official languages of the country. English language continues as the language of power and is also the language with the maximum cultural capital of any language used in Pakistan. It remains much in demand in higher education in Pakistan.
Hindi in Pakistan
Hindi is mutually intelligible with Urdu, the national and official language of Pakistan. Both languages are standard registers of Hindustani. As a result of linguistic and cultural similarities, Hindi has had notable influences in Pakistan and is taught as an academic subject in some institutions. Hindi uses more words closer to Sanskrit while Urdu incorporates more Arabic, Persian, and Turkish words. Most shairo shairy, ghazals, qawalis & lyrics use Urdu words.
Languages in censuses
Pashto and Dari (Persian) are the official languages of Afghanistan; bilingualism is very common. Both are Indo-European languages from the Iranian languages sub-family. Dari has always been the prestige language and a lingua franca for inter-ethnic communication. It is the native tongue of the Tajiks, Hazaras, Aimaks, and Kizilbash. Pashto is the native tongue of the Pashtuns, although many Pashtuns often use Dari and some non-Pashtuns are fluent in Pashto.
Punjab
The major language spoken in the Punjab is Punjabi. In the Indian Punjab this is written in the Gurmukhi script. Pakistan uses the Shahmukhi script, that is closer to Urdu script. Hindi, written in the Devanagri script, is used widely in the Indian states of Himanchal Pradesh and Haryana. Several dialects of Punjabi are spoken in the different regions. The Majhi dialect is considered to be textbook Punjabi and is shared by both countries.
Languages of Pakistan
Pashto has rich written literary traditions as well as an oral tradition. There are three 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 famous poets in the Pashto language. In the last part of 20th century, Pakhto or Pashto has produced some great poets like Ghani Khan, Khatir Afridi and Amir Hamza Shinwari. They are not included in the overall percentage.
Urdu movement
In Pakistan, Urdu has been so far, the National language and the Lingua franca, while English holds the status of the official language of the state. However, this policy caused considerable political turmoil in East Bengal, which was home to Bengali-speaking population who constituted the majority of the population of Pakistan. Jinnah, most West Pakistani politicians emphasised that only Urdu would be recognised officially. This intensified the cultural and political gulf between West Pakistan and East Pakistan. The East Pakistan Awami Muslim League (the predecessor of the Awami League), established by A. K. Fazlul Huq, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1949 would lead the demand for the recognition of Bengali. Intensifying protests and strikes led by political groups, unions and students groups would lead to the imposition of martial law. The killing of protesting students by police in 1952 triggered a massive wave of protests in the province, which would come to be known as the Bengali Language Movement. Although politicians like Khwaja Nazimudin supported the cause of Urdu, a vast majority of Bengali nationalists saw the government policy as a symbol of racial discrimination. This wedge in Pakistani society would ultimately lead to the Bangladesh Liberation War and the establishment of Bangladesh in 1971.
Languages of Pakistan
Although Urdu is not a dialect continuum, it is a major dialect of Hindustani and somewhat differs from Hindi, another dialect of Hindustani which is not spoken in Pakistan.
Demographics of Pakistan
Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, the "lingua franca" chosen to facilitate communication between the country's diverse linguistic populations. Although only about 7.5% of Pakistanis speak it as their first language, it is spoken as a second and often third language by nearly all Pakistanis.
Dubbing (filmmaking)
In Pakistan "foreign films", and cartoons are not normally dubbed locally. Instead, foreign films, anime and cartoons, such as those shown on Nickelodeon Pakistan and Cartoon Network Pakistan, are dubbed in Hindi in India, as Hindi and Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, are mutually intelligible.
However, soap operas from Turkey are now dubbed in Urdu and have gained increased popularity at the expense of Indian soap operas in Hindi. This has led to protests from local producers that these are a threat to Pakistan's television industry, with local productions being moved out of peak viewing time or dropped altogether. Similarly, politicians leaders have expressed concerns over their content, given Turkey's less conservative culture.
Kakazai
Consequently, the Kakazai Pashtuns not residing in Pashto-speaking areas, despite practicing Pashtunwali and maintaining dress, cuisine and martial legacy as per their Pashtun traditions, do not exclusively speak Pashto but may speak other languages indigenous to Pakistan such as Urdu, Punjabi, Siraiki, Hindko and Balochi.
Pakistan studies
In Pakistan, the subject is one of the three compulsory courses (along with the Urdu and English language courses) at the Secondary School and Higher Secondary school levels of education. It is also taught as a degree course at most of the Social Science departments in many universities. There are also university departments dedicated to the education and research in Pakistan Studies.
Bengali nationalism
After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the central government under Muhammad Ali Jinnah ordained Urdu to be the sole national language, even though the Bengali-speaking peoples formed a majority of the national population. He did so because Urdu was a neutral language – it was not the mother tongue of any one of Pakistan's ethnicities. The policy, compounded by sectional tensions served as a major provocation of political conflict. Despite protests in 1948, the policy was enshrined into law and reaffirmed by national leaders, including several Bengali politicians.
Language Movement Day
After the partition of India in 1947, Bengali-speaking people in East Bengal, the non-contiguous eastern part of the Dominion of Pakistan, made up 44 million of the newly formed Dominion of Pakistan's 69 million people. The Dominion of Pakistan's government, civil services, and military, however, were dominated by personnel from the western wing of the Dominion of Pakistan. In 1947, a key resolution at a national education summit in Karachi advocated Urdu as the sole state language, and its exclusive use in the media and in schools. Opposition and protests immediately arose. Students from Dhaka rallied under the leadership of Abul Kashem, the secretary of Tamaddun Majlish, a Bengali Islamic cultural organisation. The meeting stipulated Bengali as an official language of the Dominion of Pakistan and as a medium of education in East Bengal. However, the Pakistan Public Service Commission removed Bengali from the list of approved subjects, as well as from currency notes and stamps. The central education minister Fazlur Rahman made extensive preparations to make Urdu the only state language of the Dominion of Pakistan. Public outrage spread, and a large number of Bengali students met on the University of Dhaka campus on 8 December 1947 to formally demand that Bengali be made an official language. To promote their cause, Bengali students organised processions and rallies in Dhaka.
Languages of Pakistan
Arabic is the religious language of Muslims. The Quran, Sunnah, Hadith and Muslim theology is taught in Arabic with Urdu translation. The Pakistani diaspora living in the Middle East 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. A majority of Pakistan's Muslim population has had some form of formal or informal education in the reading, writing and pronunciation of the Arabic language as part of their religious education.
Pakistan Movement
During this time, Lord Macaulay's radical and influential educational reforms led to the numerous changes to the introduction and teaching of Western languages (e.g. English and Latin), history, and philosophy. Religious studies and the Arabic, Turkish, and Persian languages were completely barred from the state universities. In a short span of time, the English language had become not only the medium of instruction but also the official language in 1835 in place of Persian, disadvantaging those who had built their careers around the latter language.
Traditional Hindu and Islamic studies were no longer supported by the British Crown, and nearly all of the "madrasah"s lost their "waqf" (lit. financial endowment).
Demographics of Pakistan
Pashto is a provincial language spoken as a first language by about 15% of Pakistanis, mostly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in Balochistan as well as by immigrants to the eastern provinces. There are two major dialect patterns within which the various individual dialects may be classified; these are Pakhto, which is the Northern (Peshawar) variety, and the softer Pashto spoken in the southern areas. There are also many Pakistanis from the adjacent regions of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan who are conversant in Pashto and count it as their second language. They are not included in the overall percentage.
Pakistani English
Pakistani English or Paklish or Pinglish is the group of English language varieties spoken and written in Pakistan. It was first so recognised and designated in the 1970s and 1980s. Pakistani English (PE) is slightly different in respect to vocabulary, syntax, accent, spellings of some words and other features.
Dina, Pakistan
The main languages spoken in Dina are Punjabi and Urdu. English is widely understood.
Demographics of Pakistan
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 Pakistan's Muslim population has had some form of education in the reading, writing and pronunciation of the Arabic language.
Pakistani Americans
Many Pakistanis in the United States speak some of Pakistan's various regional languages such as Punjabi, Saraiki, Sindhi, Balochi, Pashto and Kashmiri.
Daily Pakistan
The Daily Pakistan () is a daily newspaper in Pakistan, published both in Urdu language and in English. Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami is its chief editor. "Daily Pakistan" is currently published from Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Multan and Peshawar simultaneously.
Pakistani English
Pakistani English (PE) shares many similarities with Indian English, but since the independence of Pakistan, there have been some very obvious differences. Rahman argues that PE is an interference variety of English created by the use of the features of Urdu, Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and other languages spoken in Pakistan. He further divides PE into Anglicised English, which is very similar to the speech and writing of the speakers of British Standard English (BSE), acrolect PE, which is used by Pakistanis educated in English-medium schools, mesolectal PE, which is used by ordinary, Urdu-educated Pakistanis and basilect PE, which is used by people of little formal education, such as guides and waiters.
Pakistani literature
During the early Muslim period, foreign Persian language became the lingua franca of the South Asia, adopted and used by most of the educated and the government. Urdu, Pakistan's national language and lingua franca, draws heavy influences from the Persian language (see Persian and Urdu). Although Persian literature from Persia itself was popular, several figures in South Asia, and later Pakistan, became major poets in Persian, the most notable being Allama Iqbal. For a time, Persian remained the court language of the Mughals, soon to be replaced by Urdu and English. Persian still held its status, despite the spread of Urdu, well into the early years of the British rule in the South Asia.
Languages of Bangladesh
Urdu (اردو‬) was an official language in East Pakistan. It is still spoken by the Bihari community, Muhajirs from Uttar Pradesh, and in Old Dhaka.
Chachran
Saraiki is the major language that is widely spoken. Other national languages of Pakistan, Urdu and English, and Punjabi are also fluently spoken and understood, especially at formal events. Some people can speak, write or understand the Arabic language as well.
Demographics of Pakistan
The most prevalent native languages appear in bold below, with the percentage of the population speaking them as their first language rounded to the nearest percentage point:
English 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. 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 official language, Pakistan is the third-most populous in the world.
Punjabi language
Hafiz Saeed, chief of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah (JuD) has questioned Pakistan's decision to adopt Urdu as its national language in a country where majority of people speak Punjabi language, citing his interpretation of Islamic doctrine as encouraging education in the mother-tongue. The list of thinktanks, political organisations, cultural projects, and individuals that demand authorities at the national and provincial level to promote the use of the language in the public and official spheres includes:
Pakistanis in the United Arab Emirates
The Pakistani community in the UAE celebrates Independence Day with much fervour. Urdu, being the national language of Pakistan, is a principal language of the community.https://web.archive.org/web/20100419172840/http://www.ycpdubai.com/
http://www.iba.edu.pk
https://web.archive.org/web/20110203100802/http://pakassociationdubai.com/
Languages of Pakistan
Balochi and Pashto are written in Perso-Arabic script. The Shahmukhī script, a variant of the Urdu alphabet, is used to write the Punjabi language in Pakistan.
Punjabis
The main language of the Punjabi people is Punjabi and its associated dialects, which differ depending on the region of Punjab the speaker is from; there are notable differences in the Lahnda languages, spoken in the Pakistani Punjab. In the Pakistani Punjab, the vast majority still speak Punjabi, even though the language has no governmental support. In the Indian Punjab, most people speak Punjabi. English is sometimes used, and older people who lived in the undivided Punjab may be able to speak and write in Urdu. The Punjabi languages have always absorbed numerous loanwords from surrounding areas and provinces (and from English).
Languages of Pakistan
Usually, bare transliterations of Urdu into Roman letters, Roman Urdu, omit many phonemic elements that have no equivalent in English or other languages commonly written in the Latin script. The National Language Authority of Pakistan has developed a number of systems with specific notations to signify non-English sounds, but these can only be properly read by someone already familiar with Urdu.
Pakistani English
Urdu and English are Pakistan's official languages. All government documents, many street signs, many shop signs, business contracts and other activities use English. The language of the courts is also English.
Pakistani literature
Pakistan literature is a distinct literature that gradually came to be defined after Pakistan gained nationhood status in 1947, emerging out of literary traditions of the South Asia. The shared tradition of Urdu literature and English literature of British India was inherited by the new state. Over a period a body of literature unique to Pakistan has emerged in nearly all major Pakistani languages, including Urdu, English, Punjabi, Seraiki, Balochi, Pushto and Sindhi.
Demographics of Pakistan
In recent years, the Urdu spoken in Pakistan has undergone further evolution and acquired a particularly "Pakistani flavour", often absorbing local native terminology and adopting a strong Punjabi, Sindhi and Pashto leaning in terms of intonations and vocabulary. It is a modern language which is constantly evolving from its original form. It is written in a modified form of the Perso-Arabic script, Nastaliq, and its basic Hindi-based vocabulary has been enriched by words from Persian, Arabic, Turkic languages and English. Urdu has drawn inspiration from Persian literature and has now an enormous stock of words from that language.
Punjabi Language Movement
The Punjabi Language Movement (PLM) is a linguistic movement in Punjab, Pakistan aimed at reviving the Punjabi language, art, culture and literature in Pakistan. The Punjabi people constitute the largest ethnic group in Pakistan though Urdu is the national language and unlike Indian Punjab (where reading/writing Punjabi language is compulsory at every level from 2008 alongside a special Punjabi University at Patiala), Punjabi itself does not have an official status. 
The PLM's ideologies are based on Punjabi nationalism.
British Pakistanis
Most British Pakistanis speak English, and those who were born in the UK consider British English to be their first language. Pakistani English is spoken by first-generation and recent immigrants. Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, is understood and spoken by many British Pakistanis at a native level, and is the fourth-most commonly spoken language in the UK. Urdu is taught in some secondary schools and colleges for GCSEs and A Levels. It is also offered in madrassas along with Arabic.
Demographics of Pakistan
Punjabi is a provincial language spoken mostly in Punjab, as well as by a large number of people in Karachi. Punjabi does not have any official status in Pakistan. The exact number of Punjabi speakers in Pakistan is hard to determine since the boundaries with the closely related Hindko and Saraiki are not always clear-cut. The standard Punjabi variety is from Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala and Sheikhupura districts of Pakistani Punjab, and is also nowadays the language of Punjabi literature, film and music, such as Lollywood.
Languages of Pakistan
The country also has several regional languages, including Punjabi, Saraiki, Pashto, Sindhi, Balochi, Kashmiri, Hindko, Brahui, Shina, Balti, Khowar, 
Dhatki, Haryanvi, Marwari, Wakhi and Burushaski. Four of these are provincial languages – Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, and Balochi.
Nuristani languages
Many Nuristani people now speak other languages, such as Dari and Pashto (two official languages of Afghanistan) and Chitrali in Pakistan.
Languages of Pakistan
Urdu () is the national language (), "lingua franca" and one of two official languages of Pakistan (the other currently being English). Although only about 8% of Pakistanis speak it as their first language, it is widely spoken and understood as a second language by the vast majority of Pakistanis and is being adopted increasingly as a first language by urbanized Pakistanis. It was introduced as the lingua franca upon the capitulation and annexation of Sindh (1843) and Punjab (1849) with the subsequent ban on the use of Persian. According to the linguistic historian Tariq Rahman, however, the oldest name of what is now called Urdu is Hindustani or Hindvi and it existed in some form at least from the 14th century if not earlier (Rahman 2011). It was probably the Indo-Aryan language of the area around Delhi that absorbed words of Persian, Arabic, and Chagatai (a Turkic language)—in a process like the one that created modern English. This language, according to Rahman, is the ancestor of both modern Hindi and Urdu. These became two distinct varieties when Urdu was first Persianized in the 18th century and then Hindi was Sanskritized from 1802 onwards.
Languages of Pakistan
In the history, Arabic (عربي) was the official language when the territory of the modern state Islamic Republic of Pakistan was a part of the Umayyad Caliphate between 651 and 750.
Demographics of 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, the census indicates that around 8% of the population speak Urdu as their first language. However, due to rapid urbanization and modernization, the use of Urdu as a primary language is increasing, especially amongst the growing urbanized middle class of Pakistan. Most Pakistanis speak or understand at least two to three languages and almost all Pakistanis speak or understand the national language, Urdu.
Language secessionism
The national language of Pakistan and official languages in many parts of India, the Khariboli dialect has become the chief language variety for use in Hindi and Urdu. Grammatically, Hindi and Urdu are the same but differ in their lexicons. Hindi tends to revitalize its Sanskrit words and purges words borrowed from Persian and Arabic while Urdu does the opposite. In essence, apart from their scripts, the lexicon is what distinguishes Urdu and Hindi. Also, there are other Indo-Aryan languages that are classed as Hindi but are not necessarily the same as Hindi and Urdu. Their dialects are close to the Khariboli dialect, which sets the grammatical standard over other Indo-Aryan languages both far and near. These languages will tend to diverge, especially through the influence and accents of surrounding native languages in the communities.
Lists of Pakistani films by language
The following pages indicate list of films produced in Pakistan by languages.
Postage stamps and postal history of Pakistan
When stamps were initially issued, the name of the country was in two languages i.e. English and Urdu. Bengali, which was the first language for more than half the population, was not depicted on stamps until 1956. The first set aptly commemorated the first session of the National Assembly in the eastern wing. From then until 1973 when Pakistan officially recognised Bangladesh, three languages were depicted on the country's stamps. After 1973, it reverted to using Urdu and English again.
Languages of Pakistan
Some of the important languages in the Indo-Aryan group are dialect continuums. One of these is Lahnda, and includes Western Punjabi (but not standard Punjabi), Northern Hindko, Southern Hindko, Khetrani, Saraiki, and Pahari-Potwari, plus two more languages outside of Pakistan. The other is Marwari, and includes Marwari of Pakistan and several languages of India (Dhundari, Marwari, Merwari, Mewari, and Shekhawati). A third is Rajasthani, and consists of Bagri, Gujari in Pakistan and several others in India: Gade Lohar, Harauti (Hadothi), Malvi, and Wagdi.
Punjabi language
Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan, being the native language of % of its population. It is the provincial language in the Punjab Province.
Media of Pakistan
Newspapers and magazines are published in 11 languages; most in Urdu and Sindhi, but English-language publications are numerous. Most print media are privately owned, but the government controls the Associated Press of Pakistan, one of the major news agencies. From 1964 into the early 1990s, the National Press Trust acted as the government's front to control the press. The state, however, no longer publishes daily newspapers; the former Press Trust sold or liquidated its newspapers and magazines in the early 1990s.
Pakistan national cricket team
Pakistan's cricket team's logo is a star, usually in the color gold or green, with the word "Pakistan" (پاکِستان) written inside in Urdu, Pakistan's national language.
OK
In Pakistan, "OK" has become a part of Urdu and Punjabi languages.
List of official languages
Urdu:
Hindi in Pakistan
Urdu was long associated with the Muslims of South Asia by virtue of its historical development and the Urdu movement. During the Pakistan Movement, it was given preference over Hindi as their lingua franca and thus achieved official status in Pakistan.
Hilal-i-Jur'at
The names of the medals originate from the Persian language but are written in the form of the Arabic language. This was unusual since the major languages of Pakistan are Punjabi and Urdu. In the Pakistan Parliament there was a debate on why the names were given in Persian but were spelled in Arabic as some politicians were not entirely sure other medals made were inscribed of words from the Arabic language in the decade that it was made official.
Punjab, Pakistan
Saraiki is mostly spoken in south Punjab, and Pashto, spoken in some parts of north west Punjab, especially in Attock District and Mianwali District near Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The use of Urdu and English as the near exclusive languages of broadcasting, the public sector, and formal education have led some to fear that Punjabi in Pakistan is being relegated to a low-status language and that it is being denied an environment where it can flourish. Several prominent educational leaders, researchers, and social commentators have echoed the opinion that the intentional promotion of Urdu and the continued denial of any official sanction or recognition of the Punjabi language amounts to a process of "Urdu-isation" that is detrimental to the health of the Punjabi language In August 2015, the Pakistan Academy of Letters, International Writer’s Council (IWC) and World Punjabi Congress (WPC) organised the "Khawaja Farid Conference" and demanded that a Punjabi-language university should be established in Lahore and that Punjabi language should be declared as the medium of instruction at the primary level. In September 2015, a case was filed in Supreme Court of Pakistan against Government of Punjab, Pakistan as it did not take any step to implement the Punjabi language in the province. Additionally, several thousand Punjabis gather in Lahore every year on International Mother Language Day.
Pashto
Pashto (, , "Pax̌tō" ), sometimes spelled Pukhto, is the language of the Pashtuns. It is known in Persian literature as Afghāni () and in Hindustani literature as Paṭhānī. Speakers of the language are called Pashtuns/Pakhtuns/Pathans and sometimes Afghans. It is an Eastern Iranian language, belonging to the Indo-European family. Pashto is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan, and it is the second-largest regional language of Pakistan, mainly spoken in the west and northwest of the country. In Pakistan, it is the majority language of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern districts of Balochistan. Along with Dari Persian, Pashto is the main language among the Pashtun diaspora around the world. The total number of Pashto-speakers is estimated to be 45–60 million people worldwide.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
In March, Jinnah, despite his declining health, made his only post-independence visit to East Pakistan. In a speech before a crowd estimated at 300,000, Jinnah stated (in English) that Urdu alone should be the national language, believing a single language was needed for a nation to remain united. The Bengali-speaking people of East Pakistan strongly opposed this policy, and in 1971 the official language issue was a factor in the region's secession to form the country of Bangladesh.
Hafiz Muhammad Saeed
Hafiz Saeed has questioned Pakistan's decision to adopt Urdu (only 8% of Pakistanis speak Urdu as a first language) as its national language in a country where the majority of people speak the Punjabi language. He advocated that Punjabi should be made the national language.
Postage stamps and postal history of Pakistan
The first slogan postmark commemorated the founding of the country. The wordings were simple with "Pakistan Zindabad" in English and Urdu. Some of the examples of this type are from up to five years after independence. The initial slogans reflect the priories of the government with "Learn and Teach" in Urdu, the bilingual slogan with "Patronise Pakistan Products" (English) and "Use Pakistani products" (Urdu), and "Contribute to Quaid-e-Azam Memorial Fund." Later slogans depict a wide range of subjects including fighting TB (1963), census (1961) national identity cards (1973) and family planning (1980). Postmarks were issued in three languages: Bengali, Urdu and English, though all postmarks were not released in all three languages.
Demographics of Pakistan
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. Other Indo-European languages spoken in Pakistan include Pothohari, Shina, Balti, Gujjari, Kutchi, Wakhi, Kashmiri, Marwari, Memoni, Khowar, and Dari Persian. Non-Indo-European languages include Brahui and Burushaski, a language isolate.
Overseas Pakistani
"Pakistan International Schools" are schools based outside Pakistan which promote the national curriculum. These schools fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education and cater mainly to students who are not nationals of the host country such as the children of the staff of international businesses, international organizations, embassies, missions, or missionary programs. For overseas Pakistani families, these schools allow continuity in education from Pakistan as most prefer to stay in the same curriculum, especially for older children. Pakistan international schools typically use curricula based on the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education and offer both Urdu language and English language classes.
Constitution of Pakistan
Under the Constitution, the Fundamental Rights include security of person, safeguards as to arrest and detention, prohibition of slavery and forced labour, freedom of movement, freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom to profess religion and safeguards to religious institutions, non-discrimination in respect of access to public places and in service, preservation of languages, script and culture. The judiciary enjoys full supremacy over the other organs of the state. About national languages, Urdu was declared as national languages, and English as official language; all other languages were preserved by the Constitution.
Urdu
Urdu is the national and one of the two official languages of Pakistan, along with English, and is spoken and understood throughout the country, whereas the state-by-state languages (languages spoken throughout various regions) are the provincial languages. Only 7.57% of Pakistanis have Urdu as their first language, but Urdu is mostly understood and spoken all over Pakistan as a second or third language. It is used in education, literature, office and court business. It holds in itself a repository of the cultural and social heritage of the country. Although English is used in most elite circles, and Punjabi has a plurality of native speakers, Urdu is the lingua franca and national language of Pakistan. In practice English is used instead of Urdu in the higher echelons of government.
Languages of Pakistan
Other languages spoken by linguistic minorities include the languages listed below, with speakers ranging from a few hundred to tens of thousands. A few are highly endangered languages that may soon have no speakers at all.
National language
Article 251(1) of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan, titled "National language", specifies: "The National language of Pakistan is Urdu, and arrangements shall be made for its being used for official and other purposes within fifteen years from the commencing day." Although Urdu has been declared an official language, so far all government documents, legislation, legal orders, and other official records are written in Pakistani English. Most higher education instruction is in English." The National Language Authority is an organization established to make arrangements to promote Urdu since 1979.
Languages of Pakistan
The number of individual languages listed for Pakistan is 74. All are living languages. Of these, 66 are indigenous and 8 are non-indigenous. Furthermore, 7 are 'institutional', 17 are 'developing', 39 are 'vigorous', 9 are 'in trouble', and 2 are 'dying'.
Pakistan–Turkey relations
Turkey became a Turkic speaking country as a result of Seljuq occupation and Turkification of the region. Though Pakistan is not a Turkic-speaking country, its languages, particularly Urdu, a standard register of Hindustani, is strongly influenced by the Turkic language of the Mughals before it became their empire's official language. As a result, it has many loanwords from that language. The etymology of the word "Urdu" traces itself back to Turkic (Mughal) rule. Moreover, the common cultural influences on Pakistan and Turkey span several centuries, as many Turkic and Iranic peoples ruled vast areas of Central Asia, South Asia and the Middle East.
Urdu
In Pakistan, Urdu is mostly learned as a second or a third language as nearly 93% of Pakistan's population has a native language other than Urdu. Despite this, Urdu was chosen as a token of unity and as a lingua franca so as not to give any native Pakistani language preference over the other. Urdu is therefore spoken and understood by the vast majority in some form or another, including a majority of urban dwellers in such cities as Karachi, Lahore, Okara District, Sialkot, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Multan, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Jhang, Sargodha and Skardu. It is written, spoken and used in all provinces/territories of Pakistan although the people from differing provinces may have different indigenous languages, as from the fact that it is the "base language" of the country. For this reason, it is also taught as a compulsory subject up to higher secondary school in both English and Urdu medium school systems. This has produced millions of Urdu speakers from people whose native language is one of the other languages of Pakistan, who can read and write only Urdu. It is absorbing many words from the regional languages of Pakistan. This variation of Urdu is sometimes referred to as Pakistani Urdu.
British Pakistanis
As the majority of Pakistanis in Britain are from Azad Kashmir and Punjab, some common languages spoken amongst Pakistanis in Britain are Punjabi, Potohari, Mirpuri and Hindko, which are closely related dialects of Punjabi. Other Punjabi dialects are also spoken in Britain, making Punjabi the third-most commonly spoken language. Other significant Pakistani languages spoken include Pashto, Saraiki, Sindhi, Balochi and a minority of others. The number of speakers of such languages (as a primary language) in the United Kingdom, based on an Ethnologue report, are shown below. Some of these languages are not only spoken by British Pakistanis, but also by other groups such as British Indians, British Afghans or British Iranians; these are indicated by asterisks.
Pakistani English
Pakistan boasts a large English language press and (more recently) media. All of Pakistan's major dailies are published in or have an edition in English, while DAWN News was a major English Language News Channel, before 15 May 2010 when it switched to its language to Urdu, Express 24/7 was another important English news channel, now defunct. Code-switching (the concurrent use of more than one language, or language variety, in conversation) is common in Pakistan and almost all conversations in whatever language have a significant English component.
The language of pleading in all courts of Pakistan is also English.
Parliamentary history of Pakistan
The same year, Jinnah declared Urdu as official language of Pakistan. It sparked protests in East Pakistan (formerly East Bengal), where Bengali was spoken by most of the population. Jinnah also faced problems with Pakistan Army's Commander-in-Chief General Sir Douglas Gracey who refused to obey the orders of Jinnah. General Gracey argued that Jinnah as Governor-General represented the British Crown of which he himself was an appointee. Therefore, he did not send troops to Kashmir region. Jinnah also faced problems with Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force Air Vice-Marshal Richard Atcherley and Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Rear Admiral James Wilfred Jefford who also refused to obey standing orders given by Jinnah.
Parliamentary history of Pakistan
In East Pakistan, the Bengali Language Movement reached its peak on 21 February 1952, when the police and soldiers opened fire on students near the Dhaka Medical College protesting for Bengali to receive equal status with Urdu. Several protesters were killed, and the movement gained further support throughout East Pakistan. Later, the Government agreed to provide equal status to Bengali as a state language of Pakistan, a right later codified in the 1956 constitution.
Languages of Pakistan
Persian (فارسی) was the official and cultural language of the Mughal Empire, a continuation since the introduction of the language by Central Asian Turkic invaders who migrated into the Indian Subcontinent, and the patronisation of it by the earlier Turko-Persian Delhi Sultanate. Persian was officially abolished with the arrival of the British: in Sindh in 1843 and in Punjab in 1849. It is today spoken primarily by the Dari speaking refugees from Afghanistan and the Hazara community of Quetta.
Punjabis
The vast majority of Pakistan's population are native speakers of the Punjabi language and it is the most spoken language in Pakistan. The majority of Pakistani Punjabis speak the standard Punjabi dialect of Majhi, which is considered the Punjabi dialect of the educated class, as well as Lahnda (including Hindko and Saraiki). Muslim Punjabis in Pakistan use the Persian script to write the Punjabi language.
Pakistani English
English is taught to all school-level Pakistani students, and in many cases the medium of instruction is also in English. Although there are also many schools that teach in the local languages, there is a huge emphasis on English as a second language especially in standardised testing. At college and university level, all instructions are typically in English.
Road signs in Pakistan
Road signs in Pakistan are modelled on the British and European road sign system, with an exceptional difference being that they are bilingual and contain messages in Urdu, the national language, and English, and in some cases, the local regional or provincial languages. Pakistan follows the left-hand drive traffic system. Vehicles must be overtaken on their right.
History of East Pakistan
Jinnah visited East Pakistan on only one occasion after independence, shortly before his death in 1948. Speaking in Dhaka to a throng of over 300,000 on March 21, 1948, he announced that, "Without one state language, no nation can remain tied up solidly together and function." Jinnah's views were not accepted by most East Pakistanis. On February 21, 1952, a demonstration was carried out in Dhaka in which students demanded equal status for Bengali. The police reacted by firing on the crowd and killing many students, most of whom remain unidentified to this day. (A memorial, the Shaheed Minar, was built later to commemorate the martyrs of the language movement.) Two years after the incident, Bengali agitation effectively forced the National Assembly to designate "Urdu and Bengali and such other languages as may be declared" to be the official languages of Pakistan.
List of lingua francas
Hindustani, or Hindi–Urdu, is commonly spoken in India and Pakistan. It encompasses two standardized registers in the form of the official languages of Hindi and Urdu, as well as several nonstandard dialects. Hindi is one of the official languages of India, and Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. Urdu is also an official language in India. However, whilst the words and much of the speaking may sound similar, many literary differences are present, and Urdu is written in Nastaliq script while Hindi is written in the Devanagari script.
Pakistani English
Pakistani English is heavily influenced by Pakistan's languages as well as the English of other nations. Many words or terms from Urdu, such as 'cummerbund', have entered the global language and are also found in Pakistan. In addition the area which is now Pakistan was home to the largest garrisons of the British Indian Army (such as Rawalpindi and Peshawar) and this, combined with the post-partition influence of the Pakistan Military, has ensured that many military terms have entered the local jargon.
Hindustani language
Urdu is the national language of Pakistan and an officially recognised regional language of India. Urdu is the official language of all Pakistani provinces and is taught in all schools as a compulsory subject up to the 12th grade.
List of motifs on banknotes
The official currency of Pakistan is the Pakistani rupee (PKR). The motifs used are:
Languages of Pakistan
The Indo-Iranian languages derive from a reconstructed common proto-language, called Proto-Indo-Iranian.
Khawaja Nazimuddin
In 1951, Prime Minister Nazimuddin's government conducted the country's first nationwide census where it was noted that 57% population of the country was Indian immigrants, mostly residing in Karachi that further complicated the situation in the country.
In January 1952, Prime Minister Nazimuddin publicly announced in Dacca's meeting that: Jinnah had been right: for the sake of Pakistan's national unity, Urdu must be the official language of Pakistan–East and West. On 21 February 1952, a demonstration in the Bengali Language movement demanding equal and official status to the Bengali language turned bloody, with many fatalities caused by police firings. This demonstration was held when he declared Urdu the National Language of Pakistan, following the previous statement of Muhammad Ali Jinnah that Urdu shall be 'one and only' language of Pakistan.
Musakhel District, Pakistan
According to the 1988 census, the major first languages spoken were Pashto (%) and Balochi (%).
List of official languages
Pashto:
Chakrian
The majority of inhabitants speak Punjabi. Other languages include Urdu, the national language of Pakistan and English.
Demographics of Pakistan
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 called Lahnda, also spelled as Lehnda. These are also, to a lesser extent, mutually intelligible with Urdu. Added together, speakers of these mutually-intelligible languages make up nearly two-thirds of Pakistan's population. Sindhi is the common language of the people of Sindh in southern Pakistan and has a rich literary history of its own, traced back to the era of the early Arab arrivals. The Dardic languages of Gilgit–Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and the northwestern mountains are sometimes classified by many linguists as belonging to the Indo-Aryan family. Other Indo-Aryan languages include Gujarati, Kutchi, Memoni and others.
Culture of Pakistan
Poetry is a highly respected art and profession in Pakistan. The pre-eminent form of poetry in Pakistan almost always originates in Persian, due in part to the long-standing affiliation and heavy admiration the region's rulers once had for certain aspects of foreign Persian culture. The enthusiasm for poetry exists at a regional level as well, with nearly all of Pakistan's provincial languages continuing the legacy. Since the independence of the country in 1947 and establishment of Urdu as the national language, poetry is written in that language as well. The Urdu language has a rich tradition of poetry and includes the famous poets Muhammad Iqbal (national poet), Mir Taqi Mir, Ghalib, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Ahmad Faraz, Habib Jalib, Jazib Qureshi, and Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi. Apart from Urdu poetry, Pakistani poetry also has blends of other regional languages. Balochi, Sindhi, Punjabi, Seraiki, and Pashto poetry have all incorporated and influenced Pakistani poetry.