Pakistan by mother tongue

Region: Pakistan, Census 2023
Data: Pakistan Census 2023, Table 11 (mother tongue) for 156 districts; AJK and GB from their bureau figures.
Rule: Each district goes to its largest mother-tongue group. AJK and GB are divided like any other district. Keamari goes with Karachi; Mirpur and Bhimber (Pothwari) join Punjab.

Each of 156 districts goes to the group with the largest mother-tongue share in the 2023 census. Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan are treated like every other district. Ten provinces result; Punjab alone holds 39% of the population.

Map: Pakistan by mother tongue. 156 districts regrouped into ten provinces by the largest mother tongue in each.

Download PNGFree to reuse with credit. How to credit the atlas

Province	People	Main language	Population	Share	Districts
Punjab	Punjabi	Punjabi	96,915,345	39.3%	29
Pashtunistan	Pashtun	Pashto	38,866,507	15.8%	38
Saraikistan	Saraiki	Saraiki	35,494,120	14.4%	11
Sindh	Sindhi	Sindhi	35,268,131	14.3%	23
Karachi	Urdu-speaking (Muhajir)	Urdu	20,370,278	8.3%	7
Balochistan	Baloch & Brahui	Balochi, Brahui	8,725,832	3.5%	22
Hazara	Hindkowan	Hindko	4,360,267	1.8%	3
Kashmir	Pahari	Pahari, Gojri, Kashmiri	3,491,000	1.4%	8
Dardistan	Dardic & Burusho peoples	Shina, Khowar, Kohistani, Burushaski	2,554,039	1.0%	11
Baltistan	Balti	Balti	582,619	0.2%	4
Total			246,628,138	100%	156

Decisions behind the lines

Balochi and Brahui speakers form one Balochistan; Brahuis largely identify as Baloch, and splitting them would leave a Brahui island in Kalat, Khuzdar, Mastung, Surab and Nushki.
Dardistan joins the northern mountain peoples: Shina, Khowar (the census “others” in Chitral), Kohistani and Burushaski. Each alone is too small to stand as a province.
Pahari-Pothwari is a dialect chain of Western Punjabi, not one block. Mirpur and Bhimber speak the Pothohar-plateau form, the same speech the census records as Punjabi next door in Jhelum and Rawalpindi, so on the census’s own rule they join Punjab. Kotli and the districts to the north speak the distinct Pahari (Poonchi, Chibhali) dialects and form Kashmir. Mirpuris themselves hold a strong Kashmiri identity, so an identity-based map would keep them in Kashmir.
Hyderabad (Urdu 45.9%, Sindhi 43.1%) is a Karachi exclave by strict plurality. Keamari has a Pashto plurality (33.1%) but is part of Karachi city and is grouped with it.
AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan have no published 2023 mother-tongue table. Their populations come from the AJ&K Bureau of Statistics (2023 projection) and the 2023 census; their languages from district-level surveys.

All districts

Every district on the map. Select a row to find it on the plate.

156 districts

	Details
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 73.6%; Urdu 21.1%; Pashto 2.1%	12,978,661
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 94.1%; Urdu 4.5%; Pashto 0.6%	9,065,306
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 59.4%; Urdu 17.0%; Pashto 10.4%	6,058,540
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 92.3%; Urdu 6.2%; Pashto 0.8%	5,940,173
	Province SaraikistanMother tongue Saraiki 64.9%; Punjabi 23.9%; Urdu 2.9%	5,561,720
	Province SaraikistanMother tongue Saraiki 63.9%; Urdu 17.7%; Punjabi 16.0%	5,340,762
	Province SaraikistanMother tongue Saraiki 89.4%; Punjabi 5.2%; Urdu 4.0%	5,012,124
	Province PashtunistanMother tongue Pashto 93.1%; Hindko 3.8%; Urdu 1.8%	4,750,388
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 92.0%; Urdu 4.9%; Mewati 1.3%	4,472,462
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 90.8%; Urdu 7.6%; Pashto 1.3%	4,327,263
	Province SaraikistanMother tongue Saraiki 67.9%; Punjabi 24.2%; Urdu 5.5%	4,264,457
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 84.3%; Mewati 11.5%; Urdu 3.4%	4,081,568
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 93.4%; Urdu 4.9%; Pashto 0.9%	4,049,377
	Province KarachiMother tongue Urdu 49.0%; Sindhi 12.8%; Pashto 11.6%	3,913,656
	Province KarachiMother tongue Urdu 80.2%; Pashto 4.7%; Punjabi 4.0%	3,820,388
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 94.1%; Urdu 3.4%; Saraiki 1.7%	3,544,911
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 94.2%; Urdu 4.6%; Mewati 0.5%	3,503,451
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 74.1%; Saraiki 19.1%; Urdu 5.8%	3,428,191
	Province SaraikistanMother tongue Saraiki 81.5%; Balochi 14.9%; Urdu 2.4%	3,386,575
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 70.4%; Saraiki 19.4%; Urdu 8.0%	3,363,589
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 93.5%; Urdu 3.5%; Pashto 2.2%	3,216,000
	Province KarachiMother tongue Urdu 70.5%; Punjabi 9.5%; Sindhi 5.5%	3,127,976
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 93.3%; Urdu 4.7%; Saraiki 0.6%	3,065,639
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 96.9%; Urdu 2.3%; Pashto 0.5%	2,878,122
	Province PashtunistanMother tongue Pashto 99.1%; Others 0.4%; Urdu 0.1%	2,740,692
	Province PashtunistanMother tongue Pashto 92.2%; Others 6.1%; Kohistani 1.5%	2,686,076
	Province KarachiMother tongue Urdu 55.4%; Pashto 24.4%; Punjabi 4.9%	2,679,380
	Province SindhMother tongue Sindhi 97.7%; Punjabi 0.7%; Balochi 0.5%	2,597,448
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 96.2%; Urdu 2.5%; Pashto 0.4%	2,524,044
	Province KarachiMother tongue Urdu 45.9%; Sindhi 43.1%; Punjabi 3.1%	2,432,540
	Province SindhMother tongue Sindhi 35.0%; Pashto 17.7%; Urdu 15.8%	2,419,736
	Province KarachiMother tongue Urdu 34.7%; Sindhi 15.6%; Others 13.4%	2,329,764
	Province SaraikistanMother tongue Saraiki 76.7%; Balochi 17.8%; Urdu 2.6%	2,323,980
	Province SindhMother tongue Sindhi 76.1%; Urdu 8.7%; Punjabi 5.4%	2,307,831
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 50.6%; Pashto 18.2%; Urdu 15.7%	2,283,244
	Province PashtunistanMother tongue Pashto 60.0%; Brahvi 15.5%; Others 8.2%	2,271,290
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 95.4%; Urdu 3.5%; Others 0.5%	2,135,511
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 65.2%; Pashto 15.6%; Hindko 14.4%	2,133,005
	Province SaraikistanMother tongue Saraiki 66.9%; Punjabi 27.6%; Urdu 2.8%	2,102,361
	Province KarachiMother tongue Pashto 33.1%; Urdu 22.1%; Punjabi 10.8%	2,066,574
	Province SaraikistanMother tongue Saraiki 79.4%; Punjabi 9.7%; Urdu 7.5%	1,956,971
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 94.3%; Urdu 3.0%; Mewati 2.3%	1,950,769
	Province SindhMother tongue Sindhi 93.9%; Punjabi 2.8%; Hindko 1.1%	1,945,417
	Province SaraikistanMother tongue Saraiki 73.8%; Punjabi 15.2%; Urdu 6.4%	1,926,357
	Province PashtunistanMother tongue Pashto 97.2%; Hindko 2.1%; Others 0.2%	1,890,230
	Province SindhMother tongue Sindhi 85.2%; Urdu 6.2%; Punjabi 3.6%	1,844,627
	Province PashtunistanMother tongue Pashto 99.7%; Others 0.1%; Balochi 0.1%	1,835,136
	Province PunjabMother tongue Punjabi 93.2%; Urdu 4.6%; Pashto 1.8%	1,829,152
	Province SaraikistanMother tongue Saraiki 65.8%; Pashto 32.0%; Urdu 1.7%	1,822,916
	Province SaraikistanMother tongue Saraiki 73.7%; Pashto 11.3%; Punjabi 7.8%	1,795,897

Sources

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023, Table 11: population by mother tongue, district-wise tables for all four provinces and Islamabad.
AJ&K Planning & Development, AJK at a Glance 2024 (district populations, 2023 projection); GB Planning & Development, GB at a Glance 2025 (Census 2023 district populations).
District geometry: Blank Districts of Pakistan.svg by Abbasi786786 on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0); geoBoundaries IND ADM2 (Local Government Directory, 2021) and CHN ADM0, aligned to the Commons map.