page_title: Languages of Pakistan
section_title: Punjabi
hierarchical_section_title: Languages of Pakistan / Provincial languages / Punjabi
caption_attribution_description: English: a beutiful piece of punjabi poetry
context_page_description: Pakistan is home to many dozens of languages spoken as first languages. Five languages have more than 10 million speakers each in Pakistan – Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Saraiki and Urdu. Almost all of Pakistan's languages belong to the Indo-Iranian group of the Indo-European language family.
  Pakistan's national language is Urdu, which, along with English, is also the official language.
  The country also has several regional languages, including Punjabi, Saraiki, Pashto, Sindhi, Balochi, Gujari, Kashmiri, Hindko, Brahui, Shina, Balti, Khowar,
  Dhatki, Haryanvi, Marwari, Wakhi and Burushaski. Four of these are provincial languages – Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, and Balochi.
  Ethnologue lists 74 languages in Pakistan. Of these, 66 are indigenous and 8 are non-indigenous. In terms of their vitality, 6 are classified as 'institutional', 18 are 'developing', 39 are 'vigorous', 9 are 'in trouble', and 2 are 'dying'.
context_section_description: Punjabi (پنجابی) is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan. It is spoken as a first language by almost 39% of Pakistanis, mostly in Punjab. It is the 11th most widely spoken language in India, and the third most-spoken native language in the Indian Subcontinent. In Canada, it is the fifth most-spoken native language. It has a significant presence in the United Arab Emirates, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and the Netherlands.
  Although Punjabi was the majority language in West Pakistan when Pakistan was created in 1947, and Bengali the majority in East Pakistan and Pakistan as a whole, English and Urdu were chosen as the official languages. The selection of Urdu was due to its association with South Asian Muslim nationalism and because the leaders of the new nation wanted a unifying national language instead of promoting one ethnic group's language over another.  Article 251 of the Constitution of Pakistan declares that these two languages would be the only official languages at the national level, while provincial governments would be allowed to make provisions for the use of other languages. Eventually, Punjabi was granted status as a provincial language in Punjab Province.
  Punjabi language is spoken roughly in area between Islamabad and Delhi. The standard Punjabi variety the Majhi dialect is from the Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala and Sheikhupura districts and it is written in the Shahmukhi script. The speakers of Saraiki and Hindko have previously been included in the Punjabi totals.
caption: poetry in Punjabi