Demographic history of Pakistan

This article presents the demographic history of Pakistan mainly through the census results. See Demographics of Pakistan for a more detailed overview of the country's present-day demographics.

Finally becoming a sovereign state on August 14, 1947, this country is known for having deep roots in the Islamic religion. The country’s capital is Islamabad, and the country features different provinces: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Balochistan, Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Punjab.

At its peak, the Indus Valley Civilization, that covered mainly modern Pakistan, may have had a population of over five million. The Indus cities are noted for their urban planning, baked brick houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, and clusters of large non-residential buildings.

After Partition of India in 1947, two-thirds of the Muslims resided in Pakistan (both east and West Pakistan) but a third resided in India. According to 1951 census, Dominion of Pakistan(both east and West Pakistan) had a population of 7.5 crore population, in which West Pakistan had a population of 3.37 crore and East Pakistan( modern Bangladesh) had a population of 4.2 crore. In 1951, Hindus constituted 22% of the Pakistani population (this includes East Pakistan, modern day Bangladesh),which made Dominion of Pakistan second biggest Hindu-population country after India. In the 1951 census, West Pakistan had 1.6% Hindu population, while East Pakistan (modern Bangladesh) had 32% This exchange of population had different impact within Pakistan itself. The migration of Hindus and Sikh from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab to India and the settlement of Muslim Punjabis from India in Punjab created homogeneity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. Balochistan remained unaffected but exchange of population but shook the demographic balance in Sindh. Approximately 1.8 million Sindhi Hindus left for India and 3 million mainly Urdu speaking North Indian Muslim refugees settled mainly in urban Sindh. In 1954, Urdu speakers constituted 20% of the population of Sindh. Unlike the refugees settling in Punjab who spoke the same language and shared the same lifestyles the North Indian Muslims settling in Sindh were socially, linguistically, culturally, politically and economically different from Sindhis.

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