Demographics
The city of Faisalabad carried out a census in March 1981 which showed the population of Faisalabad city as 1,092,000, which indicates that growth rate of Faisalabad city is only 3.37 percent per annum. In April 1981 the survey was carried out again which recorded the population to 1,232,000 which made the growth rate approximately 4.6%. Given this growth rate, the population at the end of 1981 was estimated to be 1,240,000.
The emergence of Faisalabad as a major agriculture and industrial center created a great increase in the city's population. From a population of 69,930 in 1941, it rose to 179,000 in 1951, an increase of 152.2% this was mainly due to the settlement of Muslim refugees from East Punjab and Haryana who came from India and settled in Faisalabad. The population rose to a future figure of 425,248 in 1961, an increase of 137.4%. Faisalabad became a record in the demographic history for Pakistan by registering an overall population increase of 508.1% between 1941 and 1961. This record has never been matched by the largest city of Pakistan. In the 1998 census the city population was recorded as 2,009,000, growing at a rate of 21.3% per annum. According to the World Gazetteer, the estimate of the city is expected to have reached 5,000,000 in 2010.
Punjabi and Saraiki are the main languages of Faisalabad, although Urdu is the primary language of a sizable population. Punjabi, Saraiki and Urdu are equally understood and spoken, whereas English is the language of commerce, business and law.
The religion of a majority of Faisalabadites is Islam with small minorities of Sikhs, Christians and Ahmadis. Majority of Muslims belong to Sunni Hanafi school of thought with a significant minority of Shiites.
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