Demographics

The estimated population of Pakistan is 172,800,000,[1] making it the world's sixth most-populous country, behind Brazil and ahead of Russia. By the year 2020, the country's population is expected to reach 208 million, owing to a relatively high growth rate.[43] About 20 % of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.[44]Population projections for Pakistan are relatively difficult because of the differences in the accuracy of each census and the inconsistencies between various surveys related to the fertility rate, but it is likely that the rate of growth peaked in the 1980s and has since declined significantly.[45] Pakistan also has a high infant mortality rate of 70 per thousand births.[46]
Cities by population (2009 estimation)[47]
Rank
City
Province
Population
Rank
City
Province
Population
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Karachi, SindhLahore, Punjab
1
Karachi
Sindh
12,827,927
11
Sargodha
Punjab
586,922
2
Lahore
Punjab
6,936,563
12
Bahawalpur
Punjab
530,438
3
Faisalabad
Punjab
2,793,721
13
Sialkot
Punjab
502,721
4
Rawalpindi
Punjab
1,933,933
14
Sukkur
Sindh
476,776
5
Multan
Punjab
1,566,932
15
Larkana
Sindh
435,817
6
Hyderabad
Sindh
1 536 398
16
Shekhupura
Punjab
411,834
7
Gujranwala
Punjab
1,526,168
17
Jhang
Punjab
365,198
8
Peshawar
North-West Frontier
1,390,874
18
Mardan
North-West Frontier
340,898
9
Quetta
Balochistan
859,973
19
Rahim Yar Khan
Punjab
340,810
10
Islamabad
Islamabad Capital Territory
673,766
20
Gujrat
Punjab
328,512

Languages
Main article: Languages of Pakistan

Major Ethnic Groups in Pakistan
Pakistan is a multilingual country with more than sixty languages being spoken.[48] English is the official language of Pakistan and used in official business, government, and legal contacts,[13] while Urdu is the national language.
As this is a knowledge based Pakistan (Pakistan is a federation of four provinces) page, it is important to know how some of the languages of Pakistan are distributed. Refering to the major ethnic groups in the four provinces of Pakistan, Punjabi is the provincail language of Punjab. Pakhto (Pashto) is the provincail language of NWFP. Sindhi is the provincail language of Sindh and Balochi is the provincail language of Balochistan.
The following are some of the major languages spoken in Pakistan.[49]
Punjabi (44.15%)
Pashto (15.42%)
Sindhi (14.1%)
Seraiki (10.53%)
Urdu (7.57%)
Balochi (3.57%)
Others (4.66%)
Other languages include Aer, Badeshi, Bagri, Balti, Bateri, Bhaya, Brahui, Burushaski, Chilisso, Dameli, Dehwari, Dhatki, Domaaki, Farsi (Dari), Gawar-Bati, Ghera, Goaria, Gowro, Gujarati, Gujari, Gurgula, Hazaragi, Hindko (two varieties), Jadgali, Jandavra, Kabutra, Kachchi (Kutchi), Kalami, Kalasha, Kalkoti, Kamviri, Kashmiri, Kati, Khetrani, Khowar, Indus Kohistani, Koli (three varieties), Lasi, Loarki, Marwari, Memoni, Od, Ormuri, Pahari-Potwari, Pakistan Sign Language, Palula (Phalura), Sansi, Savi, Shina (two varieties), Torwali, Ushojo, Vaghri, Wakhi, Waneci, and Yidgha.[50] Some of these are endangered languages with a relatively small number of speakers and others have hundreds of thousands of speakers.
Most of the languages belong to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family. The exceptions are Burushaski, which is a language isolate; Balti, which is Sino-TIbetan; and Brahui, which is Dravidian.

Religions
Main article: Religion in Pakistan

Faisal Mosque in Islamabad is the largest in the country.

Cathedral church of Resurrection, Lahore, Pakistan
Pakistan is the second-most populous Muslim-majority country[51] and also has the second-largest Shi'a population in the world. About 95% of the Pakistanis are Muslim, of which nearly 70% are Sunni and 30% are Shi'a.[13] Although the two groups of Muslims usually coexist peacefully, sectarian violence occurs sporadically.[52]
The religious breakup of the country is as follows[13]:
Islam 173,000,000 (95%) (nearly 70% are Sunni Muslims and 30% are Shi'a Muslims).
Hinduism 3,200,000 (1.85%)
Christianity 2,800,000 (1.6%)
Sikhs Around 5,000 (0.001%)
The remaining are Parsis, Ahmadis, Buddhists, Jews, Bahá'ís, and Animists (mainly the Kalasha of Chitral).[53]