NATIONAL LANGUAGE OF PAKISTAN

National language: Urdu (A)

Urdu is the only official language of Pakistan. Although English is generally used instead of Urdu in this regard. English is the lingua franca of the Pakistani elite and most of the government ministries.

Urdu is closely related to Hindi but is written in an extended Arabic alphabet rather than in Devanagari. Urdu also has more loans from Arabic and Persian than Hindi has.

Many other languages are spoken in Pakistan, including Punjabi, Siraiki, Sindhi, Pashtu, Balochi, Hindko, Brahui, Burushaski, Balti, Khawar, Gujrati and other languages with smaller numbers of speakers.

Arabic and Persian are still taught as classical languages albeit to a small number of students. Although this number is dwindling. 

National language: Urdu (B)

Urdu (اردو) is Pakistan's national language (قومی زبان) and the lingua franca of Pakistan. Only about 8% of the population of Pakistan has Urdu as its mother tongue. It is written in a modified form of the Arabic alphabet. The first recorded poetry in Urdu was by the Persian poet Amir Khusro (1253) (امیر خسرو–1325); the first published Urdu book, Dah Majlis, was written in 1728. The first time the word "Urdu" was used was in 1751, by Sirajuddin Arzoo (سراج الدین آرزو).
Urdu has historical significance as the language developed during the Islamic conquests in the subcontinent during the Mughal Empire. It was chosen as the neutral language to unite various groups of Pakistan although only 8% of people in Pakistan speak Urdu as a first language. However, Urdu is, increasingly, being adopted and spoken as a first language by a new generation of urbanized Pakistanis.

 

Numbers of speakers of larger languages

Language			2008 estimate			1998 census			Areas of Predominance
1	Punjabi		76,367,360	44.17%		58,433,431	44.15%		Punjab
2	Pashto		26,692,890	15.44%		20,408,621	15.42%		Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
3	Sindhi		24,410,910	14.12%		18,661,571	14.10%		Sindh
4	Seraiki		18,019,610	10.42%		13,936,594	10.53%		South Punjab
5	Urdu		13,120,540	7.59%		10,019,576	7.57%		Karachi
6	Balochi		6,204,540	3.59%		4,724,871	3.57%		Balochistan
7	Others		8,089,150	4.68%		6,167,515	4.66%
Total			172,900,000	100%		132,352,279	100%		Pakistan

Provincial languages Punjabi Punjabi (پنجابی) is spoken as a first language by 45% of Pakistanis. It is an important language as about 70% of Pakistanis can speak or understand it. However, Punjabi does not have any official status in Pakistan. Punjabi dialects include: Majhi, "the standard Punjabi language", spoken in the heart of Punjab where most of the Punjabi population lives. The main districts are Lahore, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat and to some extent in Jhelum in Pakistani Punjab and Gurdaspur and Amritsar in Indian Punjab. Malwi, spoken in the eastern part of Indian Punjab. Main districts are Ludhiana, Ambala, Bathinda, Ganganagar, Malerkotla, Fazilka, Ferozepur. Malwa is the southern and central part of present day Indian Punjab. Also includes the Punjabi speaking northern areas of Haryana, viz. Ambala, Hissar, Sirsa, Kurukshetra, etc. Jhangvi or Jhangochi or Rachnavi, spoken in the central Pakistani Punjab, stretches from districts Khanewal to Jhang and includes Faisalabad, Sahiwal and Chiniot. In Sahiwal and Okara, it is called Lookal لوکل سرائیکی.Shahpuri, spoken in Mianwali, Sargodha, Khushab and Mandi Bahauddin districts. Doabi (regional language), spoken between the rivers of Beas and Sutlej, in the districts of Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur. Hindko, spoken in districts of Peshawar, Attock, Nowshehra, Mansehra, Balakot, Abbottabad and Murree and the lower half of Neelum District and Muzafarabad. Potohari Pashto Pashto (پشتو) is spoken as a first language by 40% of Pakistanis, mostly in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and in northern part of Balochistan Province. Pashto has no written literary traditions although it has a rich 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 Pashto spoken in southern areas around Quetta. Khushal Khan Khatak (1613–1689) and Rehman Baba (1633–1708) were two important poets in the Pashto language. Sindhi Sindhi (سنڌي) is spoken as a first language by about 14% of Pakistanis, mostly in the Province of Sindh and the southeastern parts of the Province of Balochistan. Sindhi is known for its very rich literature and is taught in schools in the province of Sindh. The Sindhi language is rich in vocabulary and is considered one of the oldest languages in the Indus valley, presently the Sindhi Abjads contain a grand total of 53 alphabets. Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai is considered the most influential and famous poet of the Sindhi Language. The largest Sindhi-speaking city is Hyderabad, Pakistan, the Sindhi language however is spoken throughout the province. Balochi Balochi (بلوچی) is spoken as a first language by about 4% of Pakistanis, mostly in the Province of Balochistan. The name Balochi is not found before the tenth century. It is believed that the language was brought to its present location in a series of migrations from Northern Iran, near the Caspian Shores. Rakshani is the major dialect group in terms of numbers. Sarhaddi, is a sub-dialect of Rakshani. Other sub-dialects are Qalati, Chagai-kharani, Panjguri. Eastern Hill Balochi or Northern Balochi is very different from the rest.