Ethnic groups in Pakistan

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see WP:SDNONE -->{{Use Pakistani English|date = December 2024}}{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} thumb|Ethnic map of Pakistan in 1973 {{Pie chart | thumb = right | caption = Pakistan ethnic composition (2017)<ref>{{cite web |title=Pakistan|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115154455/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 January 2026|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|accessdate=July 13, 2025 |date=2025|quote="Punjabi 44.7%, Pashtun 15.4%, Sindhi 14.1%, Saraiki 8.4%, Muhajirs 7.6%, Baloch 3.6%, other 6.3%"}}</ref> | label1 = Punjabis | value1 = 44.7 | label2 = Pashtuns | value2 = 15.4 | label3 = Sindhis | value3 = 14.1 | label4 = Saraikis | value4 = 8.4 | label5 = Muhajirs | value5 = 7.6 | label6 = Baloch | value6 = 3.6 | label7 = Others | value7 = 6.3 | label8 = | color8 = Violet | label9 = | color9 = Black | label10 = | label11 = | label12 = | label13 = | label14 = | label15 = | color10 = Brown | color11 = Aqua | color12 = Pink | color14 = White | color15 = Grey }}Pakistan is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country.<ref>{{Cite news |title=A revealing map of the world's most and least ethnically diverse countries |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/05/16/a-revealing-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-ethnically-diverse-countries/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Morin |first=Rich |title=The most (and least) culturally diverse countries in the world |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/07/18/the-most-and-least-culturally-diverse-countries-in-the-world/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=Pew Research Center |date=18 July 2013 |language=en-US}}</ref> The major Pakistani ethnolinguistic groups include Punjabis, Pashtuns, Sindhis, Saraikis, Muhajirs, Hindkowans, Baloch, Brahuis. <ref>{{Citation |title=Pakistan |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115154455/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 January 2026 |work=The World Factbook |date=2 August 2022 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |language=en}}</ref> as well as Shinas, Baltis, Kashmiris, Paharis, Kho, Indus Kohistanis, Torwalis, Gawris, Hazaras, Burusho, Wakhis, Kalash, Siddis, Meos, Nuristanis, Pamiris and various other smaller minorities.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Qadeer |first=Mohammad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ll02P7G5XD8C&pg=PA40 |title=Pakistan - Social and Cultural Transformations in a Muslim Nation |date=2006-11-22 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-18617-4 |pages=70 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ali |first1=Shaheen Sardar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=60VAsoo-huYC&q=pakistan+ethnic+groups |title=Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Minorities of Pakistan: Constitutional and Legal Perspectives |last2=Rehman |first2=Javaid |date=2013-02-01 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-77868-1 |language=en}}</ref>

== Refugees == Pakistan's census does not include the 1.4 million citizens of Afghanistan who are temporarily residing in Pakistan.<ref>{{citation|url=https://reporting.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/Statistical%20Factsheet%20Onward%20movements%20of%20Afghan%20refugees%20March-April%202021.pdf|title=Onward Movements of Afghan Refugees|date=March–April 2021|publisher=UNHCR|access-date=2021-08-20|archive-date=30 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630162811/https://reporting.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/Statistical%20Factsheet%20Onward%20movements%20of%20Afghan%20refugees%20March-April%202021.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.unhcr.org/pk/12999-government-to-deliver-first-new-por-smartcards-to-afghan-refugees.html |title=Government delivered first new Proof of Registration smartcards to Afghan refugees |date=May 25, 2021 |access-date=2021-07-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data2.unhcr.org/en/country/pak|title=Registered Afghan Refugees in Pakistan|work=UNHCR|date=December 31, 2020|access-date=2021-07-30}}</ref> The majority of them were born in Pakistan within the last four decades and mostly belong to the Pashtun ethnic group. They also include Tajiks, Uzbeks and others.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://unhcrpk.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/VolRep_Summary_20161101_v1.pdf |date=November 2016 |title=Voluntary Repatriation Update |publisher=UNHCR |location=Pakistan |access-date=2017-11-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220173655/http://unhcrpk.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/VolRep_Summary_20161101_v1.pdf |archive-date=2017-02-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{Culture of Pakistan}}

==Major ethnic groups== {{See also|Indo-Aryan peoples|Iranic peoples|Indo-Iranic peoples}}Following ethnic groups have a population of at least 1 million as per the 2023 national census.

===Punjabis=== {{Main|Punjabi Muslims|Punjab, Pakistan|Punjabi language}}

Punjabis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to the Punjab region between India and Pakistan. They are the largest ethnic group of Pakistan. Punjabi Muslims are the third-largest Islam-adhering Muslim ethnicity in the world, globally,<ref>{{cite book |last=Gandhi |first=Rajmohan |title=Punjab: A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten |publisher=Aleph Book Company |year=2013 |isbn=978-93-83064-41-0 |location=New Delhi, India; Urbana, Illinois |page=2}}</ref> after Arabs<ref>Margaret Kleffner Nydell [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNoiieefqAcC Understanding Arabs: A Guide For Modern Times], Intercultural Press, 2005, {{ISBN|1-931930-25-2}}, page xxiii, 14</ref> and Bengalis.<ref>roughly 152 million Bengali Muslims in Bangladesh and 36.4 million Bengali Muslims in the Republic of India (CIA Factbook 2014 estimates, numbers subject to rapid population growth); about 10 million Bangladeshis in the Middle East, 1 million Bengalis in Pakistan, 5 million British Bangladeshi.</ref>

Traditionally, Punjabi identity is primarily linguistic, geographical and cultural. Its identity is independent of historical origin or religion and refers to those who reside in the Punjab region or associate with its population and those who consider the Punjabi language and its dialects as their mother tongue.<ref>{{cite book |editor2=Shinder Singh Thandi |editor1=Pritam Singh |title=Punjabi identity in a global context |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-19-564864-5 |location=New Delhi}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Qadeer |first=Mohammad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ll02P7G5XD8C&pg=PA71 |title=Pakistan - Social and Cultural Transformations in a Muslim Nation |date=2006-11-22 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-18617-4 |pages=70–72 |language=en}}</ref> Integration and assimilation are important parts of Punjabi culture, since Punjabi identity is not based solely on tribal connections.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Singh |first=Prtiam |year=2012 |title=Globalisation and Punjabi Identity: Resistance, Relocation and Reinvention (Yet Again!) |url=http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal/v19_2/Singh.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Journal of Punjab Studies |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=153–72 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160124071525/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal/v19_2/Singh.pdf |archive-date=24 January 2016 |access-date=6 April 2014}}</ref>

===Pashtuns=== {{Main|Pashtuns|Pashtunistan|Pashtuns in Punjab}}

Pashtuns are an Iranic ethnolinguistic group and are Pakistan's second largest ethnicity. They speak Pashto as their first language and are divided into multiple tribes such as Afridi, Durrani, Yousafzai and Khattak, which are notably the main Pashtun tribes in Pakistan. They make up an estimated 38 million of Pakistan's total population<ref name=":1">[https://web.archive.org/web/20260115154455/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/ The World Factbook]</ref> and are mostly adherent to Sunni Islam.

=== Sindhis === {{Main articles|Sindhis|Sindh}}

The Sindhis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who speak the Sindhi language and are native to the Sindh province of Pakistan. Sindhis are predominantly Muslim, but have a minority Hindu population, making up the largest Hindu minority population in Pakistan.<ref name="Pakistan Census statistics">{{cite web |title=Population Census |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/population-religion |date=May 19, 2017}}".</ref> Sindhi Muslim culture is highly influenced by Sufi doctrines and principles and some of the popular cultural icons of Sindh are Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Jhulelal and Sachal Sarmast.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115154455/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 January 2026|title=CIA Factbook Pakistan|date=2 August 2022 }}</ref>

===Saraikis=== {{Main articles|Saraiki people}}

The Saraikis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group inhabiting parts of central and southeastern Pakistan, primarily in the southern part of the Pakistani province of Punjab.<ref name=":13">{{cite book |last=Minahan |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=abNDLZQ6quYC&pg=PA283 |title=Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2012 |isbn=9781598846591 |pages=283–284}}</ref> They are mainly found in Derajat, a cultural region of central Pakistan, located in the region where the provinces of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan meet.<ref name="punjab">{{cite web |title=About Punjab: Geography |url=http://tdcp.punjab.gov.pk/TDCP/about_punjab.htm |url-status=dead |publisher=Tourism Development Corporation, Government of the Punjab |accessdate=2007-12-14 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071202183134/http://tdcp.punjab.gov.pk/TDCP/about_punjab.htm |archivedate=2007-12-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=People & Culture |url=http://www.nwfp.gov.pk/AIS-page.php?DistId=1&DeptId=1&LanId=1&pageName=NWFP-PeopleCulture |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117134513/http://www.nwfp.gov.pk/AIS-page.php?DistId=1&DeptId=1&LanId=1&pageName=NWFP-PeopleCulture |archive-date=2007-11-17 |publisher=Government of the North-West Frontier Province |accessdate=2007-12-14}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Qadeer |first=Mohammad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ll02P7G5XD8C&pg=PA40 |title=Pakistan - Social and Cultural Transformations in a Muslim Nation |date=2006-11-22 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-18617-4 |pages=40 |language=en |quote=Punjab's diversity of dialects, Saraiki and Pothohari contrasting with the heartland Punjabi, was striking at the time of independence. Since then, the increased mobility of the population and the absorption of refugees from India have stimulated homogenizing tendencies both linguistically and ethnically. NWFP, although symbolically a Pashtoon is also a province of many ethnicities and languages, for example, Hindku-speaking people inhabit the Peshawar Valley and Hazara district, and Saraiki speakers are found in the Derajats.}}</ref> Derajat is bound by the Indus River and the Sulaiman Mountains to the west.

===Muhajirs=== {{Main articles|Muhajir (Pakistan)}}

Muhajirs (meaning "migrants"), are a collective multiethnic group who emerged through the migration of Indian Muslims from various parts of India to Pakistan starting in 1947, as a result of the world's largest mass migration.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/3ebf9bab0.pdf|title=Rupture in South Asia|publisher=UNHCR|access-date=2014-08-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/partition1947_01.shtml|title=The Hidden Story of Partition and its Legacies|author=Dr Crispin Bates|date=2011-03-03|work=BBC|access-date=2014-08-16}}</ref> The majority of Muhajirs are settled in Sindh mainly in Karachi and Hyderabad. Sizable communities of Muhajirs are also present in cities including Lahore, Multan, Islamabad, Mirpur Khas, Sukkur and Peshawar. The term Muhajir is also used for descendants of Muslims who migrated to Pakistan after the 1947 partition of India.<ref name=":0">Nazir, P., 1993. Social structure, ideology and language: caste among Muslims. Economic and Political Weekly, pp. 2897-2900.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://nation.com.pk/07-Nov-2014/muhajirs-in-historical-perspective|title=Muhajirs in historical perspective|date=2014-11-07|work=The Nation|access-date=2018-10-28|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1100948|title=The evolution of Mohajir politics and identity|last=Paracha|first=Nadeem F.|date=2014-04-20|work=DAWN.COM|access-date=2018-10-28|language=en-US}}</ref> Notable Muhajirs include Liaquat Ali Khan, Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pervez Musharraf, Hakeem Muhammad Saeed and Abdul Sattar Edhi.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Urdu-speaking to Muhajir politics |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/193860-Urdu-speaking-to-Muhajir-politics |access-date=2022-08-11 |website=www.thenews.com.pk |language=en}}</ref>

===Baloch=== {{Main articles|Baloch people}}

The Baloch are an Iranic ethnolinguistic group, and are principally found in the south of Balochistan province of Pakistan.<ref>Blood, Peter, ed. [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+pk0055) "Baloch"]. ''Pakistan: A Country Study''. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1995.</ref> Despite living in the southeastern side towards the Indian subcontinent for centuries, they are classified as a northwestern Iranian people in accordance to their language which belongs to the northwestern subgroup of Iranian languages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/personal/agnes/upsala00.pdf|title=Balochi and the Concept of North-Western Iranian|work=Agnes Korn|access-date=2016-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174053/http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/personal/agnes/upsala00.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-03|url-status=dead}}</ref>

According to Dr. Akhtar Baloch, Professor at University of Karachi, the Balochis migrated from Balochistan during the Little Ice Age and settled in Sindh and Punjab. The Little Ice Age is conventionally defined as a period extending from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries<ref name="Mann2003">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change, Volume 1, The Earth System: Physical and Chemical Dimensions of Global Environmental Change|year=2003|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|url=http://www.meteo.psu.edu/holocene/public_html/shared/articles/littleiceage.pdf|author= Mann, Michael|editor=Michael C MacCracken and John S Perry|access-date=17 November 2012|chapter=Little Ice Age}}</ref><ref name="Lamb1972">{{cite book|chapter = The cold Little Ice Age climate of about 1550 to 1800|author=Lamb, HH|title=Climate: present, past and future|publisher= Methuen|location=London|year=1972|page=107|isbn=0-416-11530-6}} (noted in Grove 2004:4).</ref><ref name="NASA Glossary">{{Cite web |title=Earth observatory Glossary L-N|publisher=NASA|url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Glossary/?mode=alpha&seg=l&segend=n |access-date=17 July 2015}}.</ref> or alternatively, from 1300<ref name="miller2012">Miller ''et al''. 2012. "Abrupt onset of the Little Ice Age triggered by volcanism and sustained by sea-ice/ocean feedbacks" ''Geophysical Research Letters'' '''39''', 31 January: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120202002252/http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/pip/2011GL050168.shtml abstract (formerly on AGU website)] (accessed via wayback machine 11 July 2015); see [http://news.agu.org/press-release/unusual-volcanic-episode-rapidly-triggered-little-ice-age-researchers-find/ press release on AGU website] (accessed 11 July 2015).</ref> to 1850,<ref>Grove, J.M., ''Little Ice Ages: Ancient and Modern,'' Routledge, London (2 volumes) 2004.</ref><ref>Matthews, J.A. and Briffa, K.R., [https://www.lakeheadu.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/53/outlines/2014-15/NECU5311/MatthewsBriffa_2005_GA_LIAconcept.pdf "The 'Little Ice Age': re-evaluation of an evolving concept"], ''Geogr. Ann., 87,'' A (1), pp. 17–36 (2005). Retrieved 17 July 2015.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ch1s1-4-3.html|title=1.4.3 Solar Variability and the Total Solar Irradiance - AR4 WGI Chapter 1: Historical Overview of Climate Change Science|publisher=Ipcc.ch|access-date=24 June 2013}}</ref> although climatologists and historians working with local records no longer expect to agree on either the start or end dates of this period, which varied according to local conditions. According to Professor Baloch, the climate of Balochistan was very cold and the region was uninhabitable during the winter so the Baloch people migrated in waves and settled in Sindh and Punjab.<ref>[http://tribune.com.pk/story/688234/from-zardaris-to-makranis-how-the-baloch-came-to-sindh/ From Zardaris to Makranis: How the Baloch came to Sindh]</ref>

=== Hindkowans/Hazarewals === Hindkowans, also known as the Hindki,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rensch |first1=Calvin Ross |title=Hindko and Gujari |last2=O'Leary |first2=Clare F. |last3=Hallberg |first3=Calinda E. |publisher=National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University |year=1992 |page=4 |language=en |quote=The term Hindki is often used to refer to a speaker of the Hindko language (Shackle 1980: 482), but in popular usage it may refer to the language as well. In older literature it was frequently used for the language--for example, in the Imperial Gazetteer of NWFP, which regularly calls it Hindki (1905: 130, 172, 186 ff.).}}</ref><ref name="Rensch">{{cite book |last1=Rensch |first1=Calvin Ross |title=Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan: Hindko and Gujari |date=1992 |publisher=National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University |page=4 |language=en |quote=The term ''Hindki'' is often used to refer to a speaker of the Hindko language (Shackle 1980: 482), but in popular usage it may refer to the language as well. |ref=none}}</ref> is a contemporary designation for speakers of Hindko dialects of Western Punjabi, primarily living in the Hazara region of northern Pakistan.<ref name="West2010">{{cite book |last1=West |first1=Barbara A. |title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania |date=2010 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=9781438119137 |page=285 |language=en |quote=The term ''Hindko'' as used in Pakistan refers to speakers of Indo-Aryan languages who live among the primarily Iranian Pashtuns of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). The origins of the term refer merely to "Indian speaking" rather than to any particular ethnic group.}}</ref><ref name="GeijbelsAddleton">{{cite book |title=The rise and development of Urdu and the importance of regional languages in Pakistan |publisher=Christian Study Centre |page=38 |quote=Shackle suggests Hindko simply means "Indian language' and describes it as a "collective label for the variety of Indo-Aryan dialects either alongside or in vicinity of Pushto in the northwest of the country'. Hindko is the most significant linguistic minority in the NWFP, represented in nearly one-fifth (18.7%) of the province's total households. ... The Influence of Pushto on Hazara appears to have become more pronounced, due in part to an Influx of Pashtuns replacing the Hindko-speaking Sikhs and Hindus who formerly held key trading positions and who departed at independence.}}</ref> The origins of the term refer merely to the speakers of Indo-Aryan languages rather than to any particular ethnic group.<ref name="West2010" /> However, the Hindko-speaking community belonging to the Hazara region of northern Pakistan are recognised collectively as Hazarewal.<ref>{{cite web |date=2014-04-12 |title=Four years on, the voice of Hazara 'martyrs' still resonates |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/694407/four-years-on-the-voice-of-hazara-martyrs-still-resonates |access-date= |website=The Express Tribune |language=en}}</ref>

===Brahuis=== {{Main articles|Brahui people}}

The Brahui, '''Brahvi''' or '''Brohi''', are an ethnic group principally found in Balochistan, Pakistan. They speak the Brahui language, which belongs to the Dravidian language family, although ethnically they tend to identify as Baloch.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Elfenbein |first1=Josef |title=The Dravidian Languages |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1138853768 |editor1-last=Seever |editor1-first=Sanford B. |edition=2 |page=495 |quote=The main habitat of Brahui tribesmen, as well as the main area where the Brahui language is spoken, extends continuously over a narrow north-south belt in Pakistan from north of Quetta southwards through Mastung and Kalat (including Nushki to the west) as far south as Las Bela, just inland from the sea coast.}}</ref><ref name="Iranica2">{{cite encyclopedia |year=1989 |title=BRAHUI |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. IV, Fasc. 4 |publisher= |location= |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/brahui |last=Elfenbein |first=Josef |editor-last= |editor-first= |editor-link= |pages=433–443 |isbn= |quote=BRAHUI (Brāhūī, Brāhōī), the name of a tribal group living principally in Pakistani Baluchistan and of a Dravidian language spoken mainly by Brahui tribesmen. |authorlink=}}</ref>

They are a small minority group in Afghanistan, where they are native, but they are also found in their diaspora in West Asian states.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fOQkpcVcd9AC&pg=PT73|title=Brahuis|encyclopedia=Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia|author=James B. Minahan|date=30 August 2012|isbn=9781598846607|access-date=21 November 2015}}</ref> They mainly occupy the area in Balochistan from Bolan Pass through the Bolan Hills to Ras Muari (Cape Monze) on the sea, separating the Baloch people living to the east and west.<ref>{{citation |last=Shah |first=Mahmood Ali |title=Sardari, jirga & local government systems in Balochistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k4iOAAAAMAAJ |year=1992 |publisher=Qasim Printers|pages=6–7}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Minahan |first=James B. |chapter=Brahui |title=Encyclopedia of Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups around the World, 2nd Edition: Ethnic and National Groups around the World |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pGClDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA79 |date=31 August 2016 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-954-9 |pages=79–80}}</ref> The Brahuis are almost entirely Sunni Muslims.<ref name="Andrew Dalby - Hindu origin of Brahui people">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CnckpL8auSIC&q=brahui+hindu&pg=PA96| title = Dictionary of Languages: The Definitive Reference to More Than 400 Languages|publisher = Columbia University Press|access-date = 2010-09-09|isbn = 9780231115698|date = 2004-03-01}}</ref>

=== Meos === Meo, also spelled '''Mayo''' or occasionally, '''Mewati''', are a Muslim ethnic group originating from the Mewat region of north-western India.<ref name="scroll">{{cite news |last1=Naqvi |first1=Saba |date=30 March 2016 |title=Meet the Muslims who consider themselves descendants of Arjuna |url=https://scroll.in/article/805833/meet-the-muslims-who-consider-themselves-descendants-of-arjuna |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410070246/https://scroll.in/article/805833/meet-the-muslims-who-consider-themselves-descendants-of-arjuna |archive-date=10 April 2023 |work=Scroll.in}}</ref><ref name="ht 2016 Ghosh">{{cite news |last1=Ghosh |first1=Paramita |date=16 September 2016 |title=What you should know about the Meo Muslims of Mewat |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/static/Meo-Muslims-of-Mewat/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407140038/https://www.hindustantimes.com/static/Meo-Muslims-of-Mewat/ |archive-date=7 April 2023 |work=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref> During the Partition of India, several Meo were displaced from Alwar and Bharatpur districts in India, mostly settling in Pakistani districts of Sialkot, Lahore, Karachi, Narowal, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Multan, Haiderabad and Kasur, among others.<ref name="Meo">{{Cite book |author=Sardar Azeemullah Khan Meo |url=https://www.jadeed.store/meo-rajput.html |title=Meo Rajput |language=en |access-date=2023-02-23 |archive-date=2023-02-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223211516/https://www.jadeed.store/meo-rajput.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Other ethnic groups == Following ethnolinguistic groups have a population of at least one hundred thousand (100,000), but were not enumerated separately in the 2023 census: * Shina, native to Gilgit, Diamer, Astore, Ghizer, Ishkoman and eastern Kohistan (500,000 people, 2019 est.)<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Torwali |first=Zubair |date=2020 |editor-last=Austin |editor-first=Peter K. |title=Countering the challenges of globalization faced by endangered languages of North Pakistan |url=https://www.lddjournal.org/article/id/1220/ |journal=Language Documentation and Description |language=en-US |publisher=London: EL Publishing |volume=17 |issue=0 |pages=44-65 |doi=10.25894/ldd96 |issn=2756-1224}}</ref> * Kho, native to Chitral (500,000 people, 2018 est.)<ref name=":3" /> * Balti, native to Baltistan (380,000 people, 2020 est.)<ref name=":3" /> * Indus Kohistani, native to western Kohistan (250,000 people, 2012 est.)<ref name=":3" /> * Torwali, native to Upper Swat Valley (140,000 people, 2021 est.)<ref name=":3" /> * Gawri, native to Kalam and Kumrat valleys (140,000 people, 2025 est.)<ref name=":3" /> * Brusho, native to Hunza-Nagir and Yasin valleys (100,000 people, 2015 est.)<ref name=":3" /> * Khetran, native to Barkhan region of Balochistan (150,000 people, at least 100,000 of whom speak Khetrani, 2017 est.) * Jadgal, scattered across Balochistan (100,000 people, 1998 census) * Wakhi, native to Gojal and upper Chitral * Jamote, native to Kacchi region of Balochistan * Lasi, native to Lasbela region of Balochistan

==See also== * Demographics of Pakistan * Languages of Pakistan * Pakistanis * Indo-Iranic peoples

==Notes== {{Notelist}} {{reflist|group=note}}

==References== {{reflist}}

===Works cited=== * {{Cite conference |last=Baart |first=Joan L. G. |date=2003 |title=Sustainable Development and the Maintenance of Pakistan's Indigenous Languages |location=Islamabad |url=https://www.sil.org/resources/publications/entry/38917}} *{{Cite report |last1=Lothers |first1=Michael |last2=Lothers |first2=Laura |date=2010 |title=Pahari and Pothwari: A Sociolinguistic Survey |series=SIL Electronic Survey Reports |volume=2010-012 |url=https://www.sil.org/resources/publications/entry/9130}} *{{Cite web |website=Ethnologue |year=2017 |title=Pahari-Potwari |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/language/phr |editor-last1=Simons |editor-first1=Gary F. |editor-last2=Fennig |editor-first2=Charles D. |edition=20|ref={{harvid|Ethnologue|2017}} }} (access limited). {{Authority control}} {{Ethnic groups in Pakistan}} {{Pakistan topics}} {{Asia topic|Ethnic groups in}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ethnic Groups In Pakistan}} Category:Ethnic groups in Pakistan