List of languages
The 2022 edition of ''Statistics
* Saraiki was included with Punjabi in the 1951 and 1961 censuses.Official languages
Urdu (National language)
English (Co-official language)
Regional languages
Punjabi
Punjabi () is anPashto
Sindhi
Sindhi () is anSaraiki
Saraiki () is anBalochi
Balochi () is anHindko and Pahari-Pothwari
Brahui
Brahui () is aOther languages
Arabic (historical official language, religious and minor literary language)
Persian (historical official and literary language)
Bengali (previous regional and immigrant language)
Turkic languages (historical and immigrant languages)
Endangered languages
Other languages spoken by linguistic minorities include the languages listed below, with speakers ranging from a few hundred to tens of thousands. A few are highlyForeign languages
some Pakistanis are learning Chinese to do business with companies from the People's Republic of China.Classification
The Indo-Iranian languages derive from a reconstructed commonIndo-Iranian
Most of the languages of Pakistan belong to the Indo-Iranian (more commonly known as Indo-Iranic) branch of theIndo-Aryan
Majority of the languages spoken in eastern regions of Pakistan belong to the Indo-Aryan group. Some of the important languages in this family areIranian
Majority of the languages spoken in western regions of Pakistan belong to the Iranic group. There are several dialects continuums in this family as well: Balochi, which includes Eastern, Western and Southern Balochi; and Pashto, and includes Northern, Central, and SouthernOther
The following three languages of Pakistan are not part of the Indo-European language family: * Brahui (spoken in central Balochistan province) is aWriting systems
Most languages of Pakistan are written in theMaps
This is a series of maps which shows the distribution of different languages in Pakistan as of the 2017 Pakistan Census. These all refer to the mother tongues of individuals only.See also
*Notes
References
Bibliography
* * * *Rahman, Tariq (1996) Language and Politics of Pakistan Karachi: Oxford University Press. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2007. *Rahman, Tariq (2002) Language, Ideology and Power: Language-learning among the Muslims of Pakistan and North India Karachi: Oxford University Press. Rev.ed. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2008. *Rahman, Tariq (2011) From Hindi to Urdu: A Social and Political History Karachi: Oxford University Press. * (access limited). * * * * * * * *External links