Demographics of Pakistan

The estimated population of Pakistan in 2010 was over 170 million[2] making it the world's sixth most-populous country, behind Brazil and ahead of Russia. In 1951 Pakistan had a population of 34 million.[106] The population growth rate now stands at 1.6%.[107] The majority of southern Pakistan's population live along the Indus River. By population size, Karachi is the largest city of Pakistan.[108] In the northern half, most of the population live in an arc formed by the cities of Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Jhelum, Sargodha and Sheikhupura. About 20% of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day .[109]

Life expectancy at birth is 63 years for females and 62 years for males as of 2006[110] compared to the healthy life expectancy at birth which was 54 years for males and 52 years for females in 2003.[110] Expenditure on health was at 2% of the GDP in 2006.[110] The mortality below 5 was at 97 per 1,000 live births in 2006.[110] During 1990–2003, Pakistan sustained its historical lead as the most urbanised nation in South Asia, with city dwellers making up 36% of its population.[111] Furthermore, 50% of Pakistanis now reside in towns of 5,000 people or more.[112]

Pakistan is a multilingual country with more than sixty languages being spoken. English is the official language of Pakistan and used in official business, government, and legal contracts,[20] while Urdu is the national language. Punjabi is the provincial language of Punjab. Saraiki is also spoken in the larger area of Punjab province. Pashto is the provincial language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Sindhi is the provincial language of Sindh and Balochi is the provincial language of Balochistan.[113]

Pakistan is the second-most populous Muslim-majority country[12][114] and also has the second-largest Shi'a population in the world.[115] About 97% of the Pakistanis are Muslim. The majority are Sunni, with an estimated 5-20% Shi'a.[116][117][118][119][120][121] 2.3% are Ahmadis,[122] who are officially considered non-Muslims since a 1974 "anti-Ahmadi" constitutional amendment.[123] There are also several Sufi and Quraniyoon communities.[124][125][126][127] Although the groups of Muslims usually coexist peacefully, sectarian violence occurs sporadically.[128] The religious breakdown of the country is as follows:

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