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HISTORY (sometimes included within Punjabi, also called Seraiki, Sira'iki, Lahndi, Multani - from the city of Multan, Derawali , Southern Punjabi, and Western Punjabi ), Hindko , Brahui , Burushaski , Balti , Shina , and Khowar (see Dardic Languages ). Brahui is a Dravidian Language , its closest relatives being spoken primarily in southern India, far removed from Pakistan. Balti is Sino-Tibetan and Burushaski is a Language Isolate In addition, according to Ethnologue , Pakistan has a million speakers of Persian , many of whom are refugees from Afghanistan (mainly Tajiks and Hazara s) whose dialects vary from the Hazaragi -speaking population, while others include an ethnic group called the Dehwari s. Smaller groups include the Uzbek s and there is a large Kashmiri speaking population, largely refugees as well who fled from the Vale of Kashmir . Arabic and Persian are still taught as classical languages to a small number of students. Arabic is popular due to its religious significance, but some Pakistanis do not learn to speak Arabic beyond that required to read and recite Islam ic prayers. Persian is an important literary language in Pakistan. LANGUAGES Prevalence According to the census, Pakistanis identified the following languages as their mother tongues rounded to nearest percent : Punjabi 44%, Pashto 15%, Sindhi 14%, Seraiki 11%, Urdu 8%, Balochi 4%, others 4% The majority of Pakistanis can speak or understand two or more languages. Major languages The Official Language of Pakistan is English . Urdu is the national language and Lingua Franca , although it is spoken as a first language by approximately 8% of the population. ~44% speak Punjabi as a first language, 15% Pashto , and 31% other languages such as ( Sindhi , Seraiki , Balochi , Hindko and Brahui .) English English is the Official Language , being widely used within the government, by the civil service and the officer ranks of the military. Pakistan's Constitution and laws are written in English. Many schools, and nearly all colleges and universities, use English as the Medium Of Instruction . Urdu Urdu is the national language, the lingua franca of the people. It is widely used, both formally and informally, for personal letters as well as public literature, in the literary sphere and in the popular media. It is a required subject of study in all primary and secondary schools. It is the first language of most Muhajir . Punjabi Punjabi is spoken as a first language by ~44% of Pakistanis, mostly in Punjab as well as by a large number of people in Karachi. It is an important language since Punjabi is spoken by about half of Pakistanis. However, Punjabi does not have any official status in Pakistan. The exact numbers of Punjabi speakers in Pakistan is hard to find since there are many dialects/languages, such as Seraiki , which some regard as part of Punjabi and others regard as separate language. Pashto Pashto is spoken as a first language by 15% of Pakistanis, mostly in the North-West Frontier Province , Federally Administered Tribal Areas and in Balochistan as well as by immigrants to the eastern provinces who are often not counted due to census irregularities. Additionally, Afghan refugees are often outside the census count, but appear to be largely Pashto speakers from Afghanistan . Sindhi Sindhi is spoken as a first language by 14% of Pakistanis, in Sindh and parts of Balochistan . Sindhi has very rich literature and is used in schools. Seraiki Seraiki is related to Punjabi and Sindhi (See Classification, Below ) Spoken as a first language by 11% of Pakistanis, mostly in southern districts of Punjab (see Seraikis ). Balochi Balochi is spoken as a first language by 4% of Pakistanis, mostly in Balochistan , Sindh and southern Punjab . Other languages Numerous other languages are spoken by relatively small numbers of people, especially in some of the more remote and isolated places in, for example, the Northern Areas Of Pakistan {Link without Title} . Classification Indo-European Nearly all of Pakistan's languages are Indo-European Languages . =Lahnda dialects . Added together, speakers of these mutually-intelligible languages make up nearly two-thirds of Pakistan's population. Seraiki also is similar to Sindhi language]]. =Iranian family of languages who speak Pashto , Balochi , Dari (Afghan refugees speak both Pashto and Afghan Persian dialect of Dari), Persian , and Wakhi comprise over 20% of the population of Pakistan . Persian was official language of Muslim states for more than thousand years before the British colonial rule. It is taught and understood in many schools in Pakistan . Semitic Arabic is widely taught and understood in Pakistan . The Arabic is language of Islam and nearly all Pakistani children learn it in schools or Madrasahs (religious schools). Dravidian Brahui belongs to the Dravidian Language Family . SEE ALSO
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