This article presents the demographic history of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

mainly through the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

results. See

Demographics of Pakistan Pakistan had a population of 241,499,431 according to the final results of the 2023 census. This figure includes the country's four provinces e.g. Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and the Islamabad Capital Territory. Azad Kashm ...

for a more detailed overview of the country's present-day demographics.

Indus Valley Civilization

At its peak, the

Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE ...

, that covered mainly modern

as well as parts of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, was mostly fertile land that 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.

Independence and transfer of population

After

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

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 75 million population, in which West Pakistan had a population of 33.7 million and East Pakistan (now

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

) had a population of 42 million.http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/other/pocket_book2006/2.pdf This exchange of population had different impact within Pakistan itself. The migration of

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

s and

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

from

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

and

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

to India and the settlement of Muslim

Punjabis The Punjabis (Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ; romanised as Pañjābī) are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group associated with the Punjab region, comprising areas of northwestern India and eastern Paki ...

from India in

created homogeneity in

and

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

remained unaffected but exchange of population shook the demographic balance in

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

. Approximately 0.77 million Sindhi Hindus left for India and 1.2 million mainly

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

speaking

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

n Muslims settled mainly in urban Sindh. In 1954,

speakers constituted 20% of the population of Sindh. Unlike the migrants settling in

who spoke the same language and shared the same lifestyles the

n Muslims settling in Sindh were socially, linguistically, culturally, politically and economically different from Sindhis.

Post Independence

The Intercensal growth rates between 1951 and 1981 indicated a rise in the population growth rate in the 1960s and 1970s largely attributed to the sharp declines in mortality seen in the 1950s and 1960s, which were not followed by any decline in fertility in those decades. Intercensal growth rates actually peaked in the 1961-72 period and continued at fairly high levels in 1972-81 after which they began to decline. The 1981-98 period records a decline to 2.6 indicating that growth rates in the last few years of the 17 years intercensal period are likely to have been lower. Pakistan’s fertility decline is a consequence of the rising age at marriage (for women, this increased from 16 to 23 between 1961 and 2007) and the “widespread recourse” to abortions.

Yearly population

Pakistan's yearly population from 1950 to 2014.

References

{{reflist

External links

Capturing the Demographic Dividend in Pakistan
Demographics of Pakistan Social history of Pakistan