Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 is a very diverse society with various ethnic and religious minorities.

Afghan

Pakistan has absorbed millions of Afghan refugees since their nation was invaded by the then Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 in 1979. Even prior to that, Afghans historically travelled to the region of Pakistan for business, trade and to avail the health and educational facilities of Pakistan. At current estimates, there are between 3 to 4 million Afghan refugee currently living in the country and have lived in the country for more than half of its existence since its creation in 1947. The ethnic make-up of the Afghans mirrors the breakdown of ethnicities found in Afghanistan itself. These include Afghan Pashtun

Pashtun people

Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...

, Persian speaking Tajiks, Nuristani, Hazara, Turkmen

Turkmen people

The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...

, Uzbeks

Uzbeks

The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...

, Chahar Aimak and others. The city of Karachi

Karachi

Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

 itself has an estimated population of 1 million Afghans making it the largest concentration of Afghans outside of Afghanistan itself. They are actively involved in trade, business and the literacy rate amongst the Afghan refugees of Pakistan are considered some of the highest and most promising when compared to other Afghans around the world. Figures are quite difficult to ascertain as many have been born in the country, and the Afghan refugees have some of the highest birth rates than any other ethnic group in the country and many have integrated as well as settled into Pakistan's multicultural population. Also, a large number of Afghan refugees have obtained Pakistani national identification cards (legally as well as illegally) and/or have married Pakistanis, further complicating the matter of accurate population figures. With the ongoing war on terror and recent antagonism between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the bulk of this political fallout of the crisis has fallen and been directed onto the Afghan refugee population where Pakistan has begun a process of repatriation back to Afghanistan in a policy similar to what Iran has done with its estimated 2 million Afghan refugees. There are several existing refugee camps dotted throughout the country, many well established into proper villages no different in appearance to regular Pakistani villages. There is growing resentment within Pakistan to the governments improper handling of the Afghan refugee population, and many believe that they should have been better integrated into Pakistani society and be given valid identification cards particularly to those who've been born in the country.

Ahmadi

The 1973 constitution of Pakistan declares Ahmadiyya

Ahmadiyya

Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious revivalist movement founded in India near the end of the 19th century, originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , who claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the world reformer of the end times, who was to herald the Eschaton as...

, a minor sub-sect in Islam founded in South Asia in the late 19th Century, "non-muslim". Ahmadi muslims occupy high level positions in the bureaucracy and the military since the establishment of the country. Pakistan's Nobel prize winner in Physics, Abdus Salam also belonged to the Ahmadi sect.

Various Denominations of Christians

The largest religious minority in Pakistan after Muslims, is that of the of Christians. This includes Anglicans, Protestants, Catholics, Armenian Orthodox, Assyrian

Assyrian people

The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...

/Chaldean

Chaldean Christians

Chaldean Christians are ethnic Assyrian adherents of the Chaldean Catholic Church, most of whom entered communion with the Catholic Church from the Church of the East, which was already Catholic, but most wanted to stray away from the Catholic Church, causing the split in the 17th and 18th...

, smaller numbers of Nestorians and more recent Evangelical sects. They are represented in many fields of Pakistani society and have to some degree, achieved higher positions in the government, bureaucracy and businesses. The Pakistani government has reserved quotas in educational institutes and reserved seats in government to ensure appropriate representation of the Christian community. Famous Pakistani Air Force pilot Cecil Chaudhry is a Pakistani Christian and was credited with numerous kills receiving the PAF awards for gallantry and bravery.

Hindus and Sikhs

Hindus and Sikhs represent between 1.5 and 2% in Pakistan. Sikhism itself was founded in the province of Panjab, from where most its adherents originate. There is also a small Hindu minority in the country. The government of Pakistan has special reserved seats in the government to ensure that the community is well represented in parliament. The vast majority of Hindus and Sikhs follow an alternative sect which is more egalitarian and quite distinct from that followed in India and are found in the south eastern province of Sindh. Danesh Kanieria is a famous Pakistani cricketer who belonged to the Hindu faith.

Kalash

The Kalash or Kalasha, are an ethnic group of the Hindu Kush, settling in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. They speak the Kalash language, a member of the Dardic family. The culture of Kalash people is unique and differs drastically from the various ethnic groups surrounding them. They are polytheists and nature plays a highly significant and spiritual role in their daily life. As part of their religious tradition, sacrifices are offered and festivals held to give thanks for the abundant resources of their three valleys. The Kalash pantheon is the last untouched, living representative of Indo-European mythology.

Chitralis

The people of Chitral the northernmost part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa belong mostly to the Khow ethnic group, but there are more than ten other ethnic groups represented in Chitral. Despite their diverse ethnic, religious and linguistic backgrounds they have a strong sense of being Chitrali and they share a common culture and use Khowar as a lingua franca. The State of Chitral

State of Chitral

Chitral was a princely state of Pakistan and British India until 1969. The area of the state now forms the Chitral District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.- Location :...

 used to be a Princely State

Princely state

A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...

 until its amalgamation into Pakistan in 1969.

1998 Census

According to the most recent (1998) census http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_religion.pdf conducted by the Government of Pakistan, Hindus make up 1.20% of the population and Christians (Protestant and Roman Catholic) 1.9%, or around 2.3 million people. Other estimates put the numbers higher. Historically, there was also a small contingent of Jews in Pakistan most of whom left in the 1960s, their numbers are estimated to be between 1000-5000 predominantly in the city of Karachi.

Religious Freedom Report 2002

The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2002 http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2002/14026.htm estimates the Shi'a population between 15-20%, among which around 900,000 are Ismaili

Ismaili

' is a branch of Shia Islam. It is the second largest branch of Shia Islam, after the Twelvers...

s which is a sect of Shi'i Muslims and who pay tribute to their living spiritual leader, the Aga Khan

Aga Khan

Aga Khan is the hereditary title of the Imam of the largest branch of the Ismā'īlī followers of the Shī‘a faith. They affirm the Imamat of the descendants of Ismail ibn Jafar, eldest son of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, while the larger Twelver branch of Shi`ism follows Ismail's younger brother Musa...

. It also lists Christians at 2.09 million; Ahmadis at 286,000, Hindus at 1.03 million; Parsis

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...

, Buddhists, and Sikhs

Sikhism

Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...

 at 20,000 each; and Baha'is

Bahá'í Faith

The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....

 at 50,000-100,000.

Atheists and Agnostics

The numbers of those who do not profess any faith (such as Atheists and Agnostics) is not known.

External links

• Jews in Pakistan. An article by Prof. Adil Najam
  Adil Najam
  Adil Najam is a globally renowned Pakistani academic and intellectual. He is a leading expert on issues related to developing country environmental policy, especially climate change, and also on the politics of South Asia. He was the Director of the Frederick S...
  
   of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
  Tufts University
  Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
  
  .