Ethnic groups in Karachi

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The ethnic groups in Karachi includes all the ethnic groups in Pakistan. Karachi's inhabitants, locally known as Karachiwala, are composed of ethno-linguistic groups from all parts of Pakistan, as well as migrants from South Asia, making the city's population a diverse melting pot. At the end of the 19th century, the population of the city was about 105,000, with a gradual increase over the next few decades, reaching more than 400,000 on the eve of independence. Estimates of the population range from 15 to 18 million, [1] [2] of which an estimated 30% are migrants from different backgrounds. The city's population is estimated to be growing at about 5% per year (mainly as a result of internal rural-urban migration), including an estimated 45,000 migrant workers coming to the city every month from different parts of Pakistan. [3]

Contents

Overview

Karachi is host to many Western expatriates in Pakistan. During the World War II, about 3,000 Polish refugees from Soviet Union evacuated to Karachi, by the British. Some of these Polish families settled permanently in the city. [4] [5] There are also communities of American [6] and British expatriates.

The independence of Pakistan in 1947 saw the settlement of Muslim refugees migrating from India. In Karachi, the Urdu speaking Muslims, now known as Karachiwala form the majority of the population. [7] The Muslim refugees lost all their land and properties in India when they fled and some were partly compensated by properties left by Hindus that migrated to India. The Muslim Kutchi people Gujaratis, Konkani, Hyderabadis, Marathi, Rajasthani, Punjabi fled India and settled in Karachi. There is also a sizable community of Malayali Muslims in Karachi (the Mappila), originally from Kerala in South India. [8] The non-Urdu speaking Muslim refugees from India now speak the Kutchi Language Urdu language and have assimilated and are considered as Karachiwala.[ citation needed ]

After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, thousands of Biharis and Bengalis from Bangladesh arrived in the city, and today Karachi is home to 1 to 2 million ethnic Bengalis from Bangladesh (see Bangladeshis in Pakistan), [9] [10] many of whom migrated in the 1980s and 1990s. They were followed by Rohingya Muslim refugees from western Burma (for more information, see Burmese people in Pakistan), [11] and Asian refugees from Uganda. One under-privileged sub-ethnic group is the Siddis (Africans  – Sheedi) who are now naturalised Sindhi speakers. They are descended from African slaves. [12] Many other refugees from the Central Asian countries constituting the former Soviet Union have also settled in the city as economic migrants. A large numbers of Arabs, Filipinos and an economic elite of Sinhalese from Sri Lanka. [13] Expatriates from China have a history going back to the 1940s; today, many of the Chinese are second-generation children of immigrants who came to the city and worked as dentists, chefs and shoemakers. [13] [14]

The Pashtuns, originally from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Afghanistan, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and northern Balochistan, are now the city's second largest ethnic group after Muhajirs, these Pashtuns are settled in Karachi from decades. [15] [16] [17] With as high as 7 million by some estimates, [15] the city of Karachi in Pakistan has the largest concentration of urban Pakhtun population in the world, including 50,000 registered Afghan refugees in the city, [18] [19] meaning there are more Pashtuns in Karachi than in any other city in the world. [20] As per current demographic ratio Pashtuns are about 25% of Karachi's population. [21] Some 2 Million Pashtuns are stated to be Urdu-speaking/Muhajirs.

Seraikis from southern Punjab have also settled in Karachi in large numbers.

Languages

According to the official census of the country, which was held in 2017, the linguistic distribution of the city was: Urdu: 21.30%; Punjabi: 08.03%; Pashto: 13.01%; Sindhi: 43.27%; Balochi: 12.00%; Saraiki: 1.77%; others: 2.03%. The others include Balti ,Dari, Gujarati, Dawoodi Bohra, Memon, Marwari, Brahui, Makrani, Khowar, Burushaski, Arabic, Farsi and Bengali. [22] [23]

According to the community leaders and social scientists there are over 1.6 million Bengalis and up to 400,000 Rohingyas living in Karachi. [24] The small ethno-linguistic groups settled in Karachi are being assimilated in the Urdu-speaking community. [25]

According to the census of 1998, the religious breakdown of the city was: Muslim (96.45%); Christian (2.42%); Hindu (0.86%); Ahmadiyya (0.17%); others (0.10%) (Parsis, Sikhs, Baháʼís, Jews and Buddhists). [26]

RankLanguage2017 census [27] Speakers1998 census [28] Speakers1981 censusSpeakers
1 Urdu 21.30%6,998,53048.52%4,497,74754.34%2,830,098
2 Punjabi 8.03%1,119,63613.94%1,292,33513.64%710,389
3 Pashto 13.01%2,106,01111.42%1,058,6508.71%453,628
4 Sindhi 43.67%1,509,8777.22%669,3406.29%327,591
5 Balochi 12.04%648,6644.34%402,3864.39%228,636
6 Saraiki 1.77%798,0112.12%195,6810.35%18,228
7Others2.02%1,123,71012.44%1,153,12612.27%639,560
All100%16,024,894100%9,269,265100%5,208,132

Muhajirs

Muhajirs are Muslim immigrants of various other ethnic groups and regional origins, and their descendants, who migrated from various regions of India after the Partition of India to settle in the newly independent state of Pakistan. The term Muhajirs refers to those Muslim migrants from India, mainly elites, who mostly settled in urban Sindh. The Muhajir community also includes stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh who migrated to Pakistan after 1971 following the secession of East Pakistan in the Bangladesh Liberation War.

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orangi</span> Municipality in Sindh, Pakistan

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The Burmee Colony is one of the neighbourhoods of Landhi Subdivisions in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.

Ranchore Line, officially named as Gazdarabad, is a neighbourhood in the Karachi South district of Karachi, Pakistan. The neighborhood is one of the oldest in Karachi, and has a predominantly Muslim Marwaris population who hailed from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan from 19th century. Gazadarabad is also home to Karachi's largest Hindu-dominated neighborhood, Narayan Pura.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration to Pakistan</span> Overview of immigration to Pakistan

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Bengalis in Pakistan are ethnic Bengali people who had lived in either West Pakistan or East Pakistan prior to 1971 or live in present-day Pakistan. Most Pakistani Bengalis, are bilingual speaking both Urdu and Bengali and are mainly settled in Karachi. Bengalis that arrived in Pakistan before 1971 have now assimilated with the Urdu-speaking people in Karachi.

Rohingya people in Pakistan are a community based in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. They are Rohingya Muslims, an ethnic group native to Rakhine State, Myanmar, who have fled their homeland because of the persecution of Muslims by the Burmese government and Buddhist majority. According to varied Pakistani government sources and the Arakan Historical Society, there are some 200,000 Rohingya refugees residing in Pakistan. All of them have made a perilous journey across Bangladesh and India and have settled in Karachi. A report on human trafficking stated that Burmese people make up fourteen per cent of Karachi's undocumented immigrants. Large scale Rohingya migration to Karachi made Karachi one of the largest population centres of Rohingyas in the world after Myanmar. In the recent years, scores of Burmese women seeking employment have entered the country. Different resources cite the number of these women to be in the thousands.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Karachi</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhajir (Pakistan)</span> Muslims who immigrated to Pakistan from India in 1947

The Muhajir people are Muslim immigrants of various ethnic groups and regional origins, and their descendants, who migrated from various regions of India after the Partition of India to settle in the newly independent state of Pakistan. The community includes those immigrants' descendants, most of whom are settled in Karachi and other parts of urban Sindh. The Muhajir community also includes stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh who migrated to Pakistan after 1971 following the secession of East Pakistan in the Bangladesh Liberation War.

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Muhajir culture is the culture of the various Muslims of different ethnicities who migrated mainly from North India in 1947 generally to Karachi, the federal capital of Pakistan and before 1947 Karachi is the capital of Sindh. They consist of various ethnicities and linguistic groups. The Muhajirs are mainly concentrated in Karachi and Hyderabad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persecution of Muhajirs</span> Mistreatment of the Muhajir people

Persecution of Muhajirs or Human rights abuses against Muhajirs or Anti-Muhajir sentiment ranges from discrimination, mass killings, forced disappearances and torture, to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech of Muhajirs, mainly those belonging to the right wing party Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhajir Province (Movement)</span> Proposed Province in Pakistan

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References

  1. ↑ "The Urban Frontier—Karachi". NPR. 2 June 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  2. ↑ "Karachi population to hit 27.5 million in 2020". Dawn. 10 July 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  3. ↑ "Karachi turning into a ghetto". Dawn. 16 January 2006. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  4. ↑ "Warsaw Business Journal – Online Portal". wbj.pl. 13 June 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  5. ↑ The Exile Mission: The Polish Political Diaspora and Polish Americans, 1939-1956
  6. ↑ "After Slayings, Americans in Karachi Weigh Choices – Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. 12 June 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "Karachi violence stokes renewed ethnic tension". IRIN Asia. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
  8. ↑ Where Malayalees once held sway, DNA India
  9. ↑ "Falling back". Daily Times. Archived from the original on August 5, 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  10. ↑ "Chronology for Biharis in Bangladesh". Center for International Development and Conflict Management, University of Maryland. 10 January 2007. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  11. ↑ "From South to South: Refugees as Migrants: The Rohingya in Pakistan". Huffington Post. 12 May 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  12. ↑ "Sheedis have been hurt most by attitudes". Dawn. 23 June 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  13. 1 2 "Conflicted Karachi | The Dawn Blog | Pakistan, Cricket, Politics, Terrorism, Satire, Food, Culture and Entertainment". Blog.dawn.com. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  14. ↑ Ramzi, Shanaz (9 July 2001), "The melting pot by the sea", Dawn, archived from the original on 15 July 2004, retrieved 26 July 2009
  15. 1 2 Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (2009-07-17). "Karachi's Invisible Enemy". PBS. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
  16. ↑ "In a city of ethnic friction, more tinder". The National. 2009-08-24. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
  17. ↑ "Aghans in Karachi" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
  18. ↑ "Columnists | The Pakhtun in Karachi". Time. 28 August 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  19. ↑ "Report: Demographic divide by Zia Ur Rehman". Thefridaytimes.com. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  20. ↑ "UN body, police baffled by minister's threat against Afghan refugees". Dawn Media Group. 10 February 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  21. ↑ "Report: Demographic divide by Zia Ur Rehman". Archived from the original on 2012-12-09. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
  22. ↑ "Karachi". Findpk.com. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  23. ↑ Understanding Karachi and the 2015 local elections
  24. ↑ Bengali and Rohingya leaders gearing up for LG polls
  25. ↑ "Political and ethnic battles turn Karachi into Beirut of South Asia". Archived from the original on 2012-11-30. Retrieved 2014-12-25.
  26. ↑ Arif Hasan, Masooma Mohibur (1 February 2009). "Urban Slums Reports: The case of Karachi, Pakistan" (PDF). Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  27. ↑ "2017 census shows ratio of Urdu-speaking populace decreasing in Karachi". The News. 2 August 2021.
  28. ↑ "Urban Resource Centre". Archived from the original on 2013-06-20. Retrieved 2014-10-24.

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