Ethnic groups in Pakistan

The major ethnic groups of Pakistan in numerical size include: Punjabis, Pashtuns, Sindhis, Siddis, Saraikis, Muhajirs, Baloch,
Hindkowans, Chitralis, Gujarati and other smaller groups. Smaller ethnic groups, such as Kashmiris, Kalash, Burusho, Khowar,
Hazara, Shina, Kalyu and Balti are mainly found in the northern parts of the country
.

Pakistan's census does not include the 1.7 million citizens of Afghanistan,[1] who are mainly found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) areas, with small numbers in the cities of Karachi and Quetta. Most of this group were
born inside Pakistan in the last 30 years and are ethnicPakhtuns.[2]

Contents
Major ethnic groups
Sindhis
Punjabis
Pashtuns
Muhajirs
Baloch
Kashmiris
Brahuis
Saraikis
Minor ethnic groups
Hazara
Burusho people
See also
References

Major ethnic groups

Sindhis
The Sindhis are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group who speak the Sindhi
language and are native to the Sindh province of Pakistan which was previously a
part of pre-partition British India. Sindhis are predominantlyMuslim.

Sindhi Muslim culture is highly influenced bySufi doctrines and principles. Some of
Ethnic Groups by Region
the popular cultural icons are Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar,
Jhulelal, Sachal Sarmast and Shambumal Tulsiani.

Punjabis
The Punjabis are divided into several tribes such asArain, Awan, Rajput Gurjar, Jat etc.,.[3][4][5]

Pashtuns
Pashtuns or Pukhtuns (sometimes Pathans), are Pakistan's second largest ethnic
group that are native to the land principally northwest of the Indus River for the past
five thousand years. They also reside in many major cities of Pakistan. They speak
Pashto, an Iranian language. They make up an estimated 27.7 million (15%) of
Pakistan's total population.[6]

Muhajirs Ethnic Groups in Urban Pakistan

Muhajirs are also called "Urdu Speaking". Muhajirs is a collective ethnic group,
which emerged by the migration of Indian Muslims from various parts of India to
Pakistan starting in 1947, as a result of world's largest mass migration.[7][8] Majority of Muhajirs are settled in Urban areas of Sindh
mainly in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sindh, Sukkur and Mirpur Khas. But there are other parts of Pakistan, including cities like Lahore,
Multan, Islamabad, Peshawar where Muhajirs have sizable community.Muhajirs held a dominating position during the nation
building early years of Pakistan. Most Muslim politicians of pre-independence era who supported the Pakistan movement were Urdu
speakers.

Baloch
The Baloch as an ethnic group are principally found in the east of Balochistan province of Pakistan.[9] Despite living south towards
the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian sea for centuries, they are classified as a northwestern Iranic people in accordance to their
[10]
language which belongs to the northwestern subgroup of Iranic languages.

According to Dr. Akhtar Baloch, Professor at University of Karachi, the Balochis migrated from Balochistan during the Little Ice
Age and settled in Sindh and Punjab. The Little Ice Age is conventionally defined as a period extending from the sixteenth to the
nineteenth centuries,[11][12][13] or alternatively, from about 1300[14] to about 1850.[15][16][17] Although climatologists and historians
working with local records no longer expect to agree on either the start or end dates of this period, which varied according to local
conditions. According to Professor Baloch, the climate of Balochistan was very cold and the region was inhabitable during the winter
so the Baloch people migrated in waves and settled inSindh and Punjab.[18]

Kashmiris
Kashmiri are ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley and Azad Kashmir. The majority of Kashmiri Muslims are Sunni.[19] They
refer to themselves as "Kashur" in their mother language. Kashmiri Muslims are descended from Kashmiri Hindus and are also
known as 'Sheikhs'.[20][21][22][23] Presently, the Kashmiri Muslim population is predominantly found in Kashmir Valley. Smaller
Kashmiri communities also live in other regions of the Jammu and Kashmir state. One significant population of Kashmiris is in the
Chenab valley region, which comprises the Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar districts of Jammu. There are also ethnic Kashmiri
populations inhabiting Neelam Valley and Leepa Valley of Azad Kashmir. Since 1947, many ethnic Kashmiri Muslims also live in
Pakistan.[24] Many ethnic Kashmiri Muslims from the Kashmir Valley also migrated to the Punjab region during Dogra and Sikh rule
and adopted the Punjabi language. Surnames used by Kashmiris living in Punjab include Dar (Dhar), Butt (Bhat), lone, Mir, Khuwaja
(a term used by converts just like sheikh), Wain (Wani), Sheikh (Saprus), etc. Kashmiri language, or Kashur, belongs to the Dardic
[25][26]
group and is the most widely spoken dardic language.

Brahuis
The Brahui or Brahvi people are a Pakistani ethnic group of about 2.2 million people with the vast majority found in Balochistan,
Pakistan. They are a small minority group in Afghanistan, where they are native, but they are also found through their diaspora in
Middle Eastern states.[27] They mainly occupy the area in Balochistan from Bolan Pass through the Bolan Hills to Ras Muari (Cape
Monze) on the Arabian sea, separating the Baloch people living to the east and west.[28][29] The Brahuis are almost entirely Sunni
Muslims.[30]
Saraikis
The Saraikis also known as Multanis,[31] are an ethnolinguistic group in central and
southeastern Pakistan, primarily southern Punjab. Their language is Saraiki.[32]

Minor ethnic groups

Hazara Srinagar Khanqah - one of the oldest

masjid in Kashmir.
The Hazara people, natives to the present day Hazarajat (Hazaristan), are a Persian-
speaking people mostly residing in all Pakistan and specially in Quetta. Some are
citizens of Pakistan while others are refugees. Genetically, the Hazara are a mixture of Turko-Mongols and Iranian-speaking peoples,
and those of Middle East and Central Asia. The genetic research suggests that they are closely related to the Eurasian and the
[33][34]
Uyghurs. The Pakistani Hazaras estimated population is believed to be more than 1,550,000.

Burusho people
The Burusho or Brusho people live in the Hunza and Yasin valleys of Gilgit–Baltistan in northern Pakistan.[35] They are
predominantly Muslims. Their language, Burushki, has not been shown to be related to any other language.[36] The Hunzakuts or
Hunza people, are an ethnically Burusho people indigenous to the Hunza Valley, in the Karakorum Mountains of northern Pakistan.
They are descended from inhabitants of the former principality ofHunza. The Hunzas are predominantlyShia Muslims, with many of
them Ismaili.[37]

See also
Demographics of Pakistan
Minorities in Pakistan
Languages of Pakistan
Pakistanis

References
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Security (http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Programs/foreign%20policy/pakistan%20index/index20110330.PDF)
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modern/partition1947_01.shtml). BBC. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
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anis-how-the-baloch-came-to-sindh/)
19. Snedden, Christopher (2015).Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris(https://books.google.ae/books?id=PgbnmgEA
CAAJ&pg=PR20&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false) . Oxford University Press. p. 7.
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, whereas they
are a minority in Jammu, while almost all Muslims in Ladakh are Shias.
"
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society of India on the religious plane."
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blishers.com/02-Journals/JHE/JHE-13-0-000-000-2002-W eb/JHE-13-1-2-001-02-Abst-PDF/JHE-13-1-2-001-02/JHE-
13-1-2-001-055-02-Tt.pdf)(PDF). Journal of Human Ecology. Kamla-Raj Enterprises: 15. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
"Thus the two population groups, Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri Muslims though at the time constituted ethnically
homogenous population, came to differ from each other in faith and customs."
23. Bhasin, M.K.; Nag, Shampa (2002)."A Demographic Profile of the People of Jammu and Kashmir"(http://www.krepu
blishers.com/02-Journals/JHE/JHE-13-0-000-000-2002-W eb/JHE-13-1-2-001-02-Abst-PDF/JHE-13-1-2-001-02/JHE-
13-1-2-001-055-02-Tt.pdf)(PDF). Journal of Human Ecology: 16. Retrieved 1 January 2017. "The Sheikhs are
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"
24. Snedden, Christopher (2015).Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris(https://books.google.com.au/books?id=a19eC
wAAQBAJ&pg=PT23&lpg=PT23&dq=ethnic+kashmiris+christopher+snedden+neelum+valley&source=bl&ots=P1ST
Xf4f9w&sig=Ey0c11QgQjrbV1mlH36t-TdsB5U&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjB_rmx9-DP AhUQ5WMKHZmMDjYQ6A
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Vlley, including Kishtwar (Kishtawar), Bhadarwah, Doda
and Ramban, in Jammu in Indian J&K, and in the Neelum and Leepa alleys V of northern Azad Kashmir. Since 1947,
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GClDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA79), ABC-CLIO, pp. 79–80,ISBN 978-1-61069-954-9
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8). International Business Times. Retrieved 31 July 2016.

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