Pakistani People - Ethnic Groups

Ethnic Groups

Pakistan has one of the world's fastest growing populations. Being a land mass that is transitionally localed both in South Asian, the Greater Middle East and Central Asia, the Pakistani people are a mixture of various ethnic groups, mainly Iranic, Indo-Aryan and Dardic. Furthermore, various ethnic groups, invading armies and the migrations to the region by people passing through on their way to and from South Asia have left their imprint on the population.

Pakistani people belong predominantly to six ethno-lingustic groups: Punjabis, Sindhis, Seraikis, Pashtuns, Mohajirs and Balochs, along with Kashmiris., with smaller numbers of Brahuis, Hindkowans, Chitralis and other small, minority ethnic groups in the remote north of the country.

In the west, the Pashtun people are an indigenous Eastern Iranic group who have been settled the western banks of the Indus and are believed to have originated from the Sulaiman Mountains of Pakistan. The Baloch people are a western Iranic ethnic group who inhabit the southwest of the country and are believed to be settlers from far off Aleppo (in modern day Syria) who arrived to the region and assimilated into the local peoples and gave their name to the province of Balochistan. The Punjabi people, an Indo-Aryan people and the largest ethnic group, reside in the northeast and have been the primary inhabitants of the historical Punjab region which derives its name from the Persian Panj meaning five (5) and Ab meaning water(s); hence the land of five rivers or Panj-Ab. The Sindhi people, another Indo-Aryan people, on the other hand have been settled in the southeast of the country and gave their name to the mighty Indus/Sindhu river, while regional groups such as the Seraiki people have inhabited the regions between Punjab and Sindh. Groups in the west of the country share cultural ties with ethnic groups in Eastern Iran and Eastern Afghanistan, and Central Asia regions. The Kashmiri people are an important ethnic group of the Kashmir region in the north. Their other important indigenous people like the Balti, Hunzakots and Gilgiti people(s) of the northern territories of Gilgit through whose territory ran the ancient Silk Route connecting Asia and Europe. The Chitrali people are another indigenous people who live high up in the mountains in the north west. Along with these main groups, there are smaller communities of Sheedi's who are descendants of African sailors and warriors who are believed to have arrived from the horn of Africa as well as Muhajir people who came as refugees from India when Pakistan attained its independence from Britain in 1947. There are countless other ethnic groups that make up part of Pakistani's mosaic such as the Bengalis, Burmese, Hazara, Tajik, Persian, Arab and Hakka; the last are an ethnic that trace their origin to China.