Demographics of Pakistan

Population density in Pakistan

The estimated population of Pakistan in 2010 was over 170 million making it the world's sixth most-populous country, behind Brazil and ahead of Bangladesh. In 1951 Pakistan had a population of 34 million. The population growth rate now stands at 1.6%. The majority of southern Pakistan's population live along the Indus River. By population size, Karachi is the largest city of Pakistan. In the northern half, most of the population live in an arc formed by the cities of Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Jhelum, Sargodha, Sheikhupura, Nowshera, Mardan and Peshawar. About 20% of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day .

Life expectancy at birth is 63 years for females and 62 years for males as of 2006 compared to the healthy life expectancy at birth which was 54 years for males and 52 years for females in 2003. Expenditure on health was at 2% of the GDP in 2006. The mortality below 5 was at 97 per 1,000 live births in 2006. During 1990–2003, Pakistan sustained its historical lead as the most urbanised nation in South Asia, with city dwellers making up 36% of its population. Furthermore, 50% of Pakistanis now reside in towns of 5,000 people or more.

Pakistan is a multilingual country with more than sixty languages being spoken. English is the official language of Pakistan and used in official business, government, and legal contracts, and Punjabi has a plurality of native speakers, Urdu is the lingua franca and national language in Pakistan. Punjabi is the provincial language of Punjab. Saraiki is also spoken in the larger area of Punjab province. Pashto is the provincial language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Sindhi is the provincial language of Sindh and Balochi is the provincial language of Balochistan.

Pakistan is the second-most populous Muslim-majority country and also has the second-largest Shi'a population in the world. About 97% of the Pakistanis are Muslim. The majority are Sunni, with an estimated 5-20% Shi'a. 2.3% are Ahmadis, who are officially considered non-Muslims since a 1974 "anti-Ahmadi" constitutional amendment. There are also several Sufi and Quraniyoon communities. Although the groups of Muslims usually coexist peacefully, sectarian violence occurs sporadically. The religious breakdown of the country is as follows:

§  Islam 173,000,000 (97%) (the majority are Sunni Muslims, 5-20% are Shi'a and 2.3% are Ahmadis).

§  Hinduism 2,800,000 (1.6%)

§  Christianity 2,800,000 (1.6%)

§  Sikhs Around 20,000 (0.001%)

§  The remaining are Parsis, Buddhists, Jews, Bahá'ís, and Animists (mainly the Kalasha of Chitral).

The population comprises several main ethnic groups (2009):

1.       Punjabis (44.15%) 78.7 million

2.       Pashtuns (15.42%) 27.2 million

3.       Sindhis (14.1%) 24.8 million

4.       Seraikis (10.53%) 14.8 million

5.       Muhajirs (7.57%) 13.3 million

6.       Balochs is (3.57%) 6.3 million

7.       Others (4.66%) 11.1 million

Smaller ethnic groups, such as Kashmiris, Hindkowans, Kalash, Burusho, Brahui, Khowar, Shina, and Turwalis are mainly found in the northern parts of the country.

Pakistan's census does not include the registered 1.7 million Afghan refugees from neighbouring Afghanistan, who are mainly found in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) areas, with small numbers in the cities of Karachi and Quetta. Around 2 million refugees from Bangladesh, Iran, Africa, and other places are also found in Pakistan.

Largest cities of Pakistan
2010 estimate
Rank	City Name	Province	Pop.
1	Karachi	Sindh	13,205,339
2	Lahore	Punjab	7,129,609
3	Faisalabad	Punjab	2,880,675
4	Rawalpindi	Punjab	1,991,656
5	Multan	Punjab	1,606,481
6	Hyderabad	Sindh	1,578,367
7	Gujranwala	Punjab	1,569,090
8	Peshawar	KP	1,439,205
9	Quetta	Balochistan	896,090
10	Islamabad	Capital Territory	689,249
11	Sargodha	Punjab	600,501
12	Bahawalpur	Punjab	543,929
13	Sialkot	Punjab	510,863
14	Sukkur	Sindh	493,438
15	Larkana	Sindh	456,544
16	Sheikhupura	Punjab	426,980
17	Jhang	Punjab	372,645
18	Rahim Yar Khan	Punjab	353,112
19	Mardan	KP	352,135
20	Gujrat	Punjab	336,727