| Pakistan: Civil Society |
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| Population |
| 144 millions 2002, Population growth
rate 2.06% (2002 est.) |
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| Ethnic Groups |
| In general percentages of population
similar to linguistic groups: Punjabis:66percent, Sindhis:13
percent, Pakhtuns:10 percent, Baloch: 3 percent, Muhajirs: 7
percent, and other ethnic groups: 1 percent. |
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| Language |
| Urdu official language,
but English in general use in government,military, business, and
higher education. Punjabi 48%,
Sindhi 12%, Siraiki 10%, Pashtu 8%, Urdu (official) 8%, Balochi 3%,
Hindko 2%, Brahui 1%, English official and lingua franca Urdu of Pakistani and most
government ministries), and other Dardack languages 8%
. |
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| Religion |
| About 97 percent of Pakistanis are
Muslim, 77 percent of whom are Sunnis and 20 percent Shia; remaining
3 percent of population divided equally among Christians, Hindus,
and other religions. | |
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| Education
and Literacy |
| Primary schools: |
150,963 |
| Middle schools: |
14,595 |
| High
schools: |
9,808 |
| Arts
& science colleges: |
798 |
| Professional colleges: |
161 |
| Universities: |
35 (10 in Private
sector) | |
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Marriage
It is a means of allying two extended
families; romantic attachments have little role to play. The husband and
wife are primarily representatives of their respective families in a
contractual arrangement, which is typically negotiated between two male
heads of household. It is fundamentally the parents' responsibility to
arrange marriages for their children, but older siblings may be actively
involved if the parents die early or if they have been particularly
successful in business or politics. The terms are worked out in detail and
are noted, by law, at the local marriage
registry.
Purdah
Space is allocated to and used
differently by men and women. For their protection and
respectability, women have traditionally been expected to live under the
constraints of purdah (purdah is Persian for curtain), most obvious in
veiling. By separating women from the activities of men, both physically
and symbolically, purdah creates differentiated male and female
spheres.
It is practiced in various ways, depending on family
tradition, region, class, and rural or urban residence, but nowhere do
unrelated men and women mix freely. Among wealthier Pakistanis, urban or
rural residence is less important than family tradition in influencing
whether women observe strict purdah and the type of veil they wear. In
some areas, women simply observe "eye purdah": they tend not to mix with
men, but when they do, they avert their eyes when interacting with
them.
Religious minorities
Pakistan is a predominantly
Muslim country. The number of
all the non-Muslim minorities is 4.919 million in a population of 143
million (2002). These minorities are: Christians, with their largest
pockets in Punjab; Hindus, with their largest pockets in Sindh; a small
number of Parsis, mainly in the city of Karachi; a small number of Sikhs
in Balochistan and NWFP; a small number of Bahais in some urban centres;
pockets of indigenous people in Northern Areas and of scheduled castes in
Sindh. These are distinct religious groups recognized as such since the
British period. In 1974 Pakistan created a new religious minority,
Ahmadis. There are also minority Muslim sects, such as Shias, Ismailis and
Bohras, that are not treated as religious
minorities.
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