| Rank | Language | 2008 estimate: Speakers | 1998 census: Speakers | Percentage | Main areas where spoken |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Punjabi | 76,367,360 | 58,433,431 | (44.15%) | Punjab |
| 2 | Pashto | 26,692,890 | 20,408,621 | (15.42%) | NWFP |
| 3 | Sindhi | 24,410,910 | 18,661,571 | (14.1%) | Sindh |
| 4 | Seraiki | 18,019,610 | 13,936,594 | (10.53%) | South Punjab |
| 5 | Urdu | 13,120,540 | 10,019,576 | (7.57%) | Karachi |
| 6 | Balochi | 6,204,840 | 4,724,871 | (3.57%) | Balochistan |
| 7 | Others | 8,083,850 | 6,167,515 | (4.66%) | Pakistan |
| 8 | Total | 172,900,000 | 132,352,279 | (100%) | Pakistan |
Pakistan is a multilingual country with more than sixty languages being spoken.[58] English is the official language of Pakistan and used in official business, government, and legal contacts,[16] while Urdu is the national language.
Punjabi is the provincial language of Punjab. Pashto is the provincial language of NWFP. Sindhi is the provincial language of Sindh and Balochi is the provincial language of Balochistan.
Other languages include Aer, Badeshi, Bagri, Balti, Bateri, Bhaya, Brahui, Burushaski, Chilisso, Dameli, Dehwari, Dhatki, Domaaki, Farsi (Dari), Gawar-Bati, Ghera, Goaria, Gowro, Gujarati, Gujari, Gurgula, Hazaragi, Hindko (two varieties), Jadgali, Jandavra, Kabutra, Kachchi (Kutchi), Kalami, Kalasha, Kalkoti, Kamviri, Kashmiri, Kati, Khetrani, Khowar, Indus Kohistani, Koli (three varieties), Lasi, Loarki, Marwari, Memoni, Od, Ormuri, Pahari-Potwari, Pakistan Sign Language, Palula (Phalura), Sansi, Savi, Shina (two varieties), Torwali, Ushojo, Vaghri, Wakhi, Waneci, and Yidgha.[59] Some of these are endangered languages with a relatively small number of speakers and others have hundreds of thousands of speakers.
Most of the languages belong to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family. The exceptions are Burushaski, which is a language isolate; Balti, which is Sino-TIbetan; and Brahui, which is Dravidian.
pakistan ethinic map