Editing Urdu (section)

=== Pakistan ===
[[File:Urdu-speakers by Pakistani District - 2017 Census.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|<div style="text-align: center">The proportion of people with Urdu as their [[mother tongue]] in each Pakistani [[Districts of Pakistan|District]] as of the [[2017 Pakistan Census]]</div>]]

Although Urdu is widely spoken and understood throughout all of Pakistan,<ref>{{cite web |title=PAKISTAN |url=https://www.iandl.marines.mil/Divisions/Logistics-Plans-Policies-Strategic-Mobility-LP/Logistics-Life-Cycle-Management-Branch-LPC/LPC-4-Contracts/MARFORCENT/Pakistan/ |website=Official U.S. Marine Corps |access-date=5 February 2022 |archive-date=31 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131054726/https://www.iandl.marines.mil/Divisions/Logistics-Plans-Policies-Strategic-Mobility-LP/Logistics-Life-Cycle-Management-Branch-LPC/LPC-4-Contracts/MARFORCENT/Pakistan/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> only 9.25% of Pakistan's population spoke Urdu according to the [[2023 Pakistani census]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JkQfwA30aY4C&pg=PA264|title=The World Factbook|date=1992|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|language=en|page=264}}</ref> Most of the nearly three million Afghan refugees of different ethnic origins (such as [[Pashtun people|Pashtun]], [[Tājik people|Tajik]], [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]], [[Hazara people|Hazarvi]], and [[Turkmen people|Turkmen]]) who stayed in Pakistan for over twenty-five years have also become fluent in Urdu.<ref name="Achakzai-2019" /> Muhajirs since 1947 have historically formed the majority population in the city of [[Karachi]], however.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QgbIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA217|title=Gendering Urban Space in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa|last1=Rieker|first1=M.|last2=Ali|first2=K.|date=26 May 2008|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-230-61247-1|language=en}}</ref> Many newspapers are published in Urdu in Pakistan, including the ''[[Daily Jang]]'', ''[[Nawa-i-Waqt]]'', and ''[[Millat]]''.

Urdu is spoken as the first language of many people among the community known as [[Muhajirs (Pakistan)|Muhajirs]] (a multi-origin ethnic group of Pakistan), who left India after independence in 1947; these Muhajirs were from various parts of India, with Urdu speakers predominantly hailing from [[United Provinces (1937–1950)|United Provinces]] (Uttar Pradesh), [[Delhi]], [[Central Provinces]] (Madhya Pradesh), [[Bihar]] and [[Hyderabad]].<ref name="AlexanderChatterji2015">{{cite book|author1=Claire Alexander|author2=Joya Chatterji|author3=Annu Jalais|title=The Bengal Diaspora: Rethinking Muslim migration|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gZ_hCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA96|date=6 November 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-33593-1|pages=96–}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-11-07 |title=Muhajirs in historical perspective |url=https://nation.com.pk/07-Nov-2014/muhajirs-in-historical-perspective |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=The Nation |language=en-US}}</ref> Other communities, most notably the [[Punjabis|Punjabi elite]] of Pakistan, have adopted Urdu as a [[First language|mother tongue]] and identify with both an Urdu speaker as well as [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] identity.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Nikky-Guninder Kaur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chCMDwAAQBAJ&dq=punjabis+adopting+urdu&pg=PA121|title=Of Sacred and Secular Desire: An Anthology of Lyrical Writings from the Punjab|date=30 November 2012|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-0-85772-139-6|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Why Punjabis in Pakistan Have Abandoned Punjabi |url=https://www.fairobserver.com/region/central_south_asia/ishtiaq-ahmed-pakistan-punjab-south-asian-languages-punjabi-language-world-news-16791/ |website=Fair Observer|date=14 July 2020 }}</ref> Urdu was chosen as a symbol of unity for the new state of Pakistan in 1947, because it had already served as a ''lingua franca'' among Muslims in north and northwest [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|British India]]. It is written, spoken and used in all [[Subdivisions of Pakistan|provinces/territories of Pakistan]], and together with English as the main languages of instruction,<ref>{{cite web |title=EDUCATION SYSTEM PROFILES Education in Pakistan |url=https://wenr.wes.org/2020/02/education-in-pakistan |website=World Education Services |date=25 February 2020 |quote=English has been the main language of instruction at the elementary and secondary levels since colonial times. It remains the predominant language of instruction in private schools but has been increasingly replaced with Urdu in public schools. Punjab province, for example, recently announced that it will begin to use Urdu as the exclusive medium of instruction in schools beginning in 2020. Depending on the location and predominantly in rural areas, regional languages are used as well, particularly in elementary education. The language of instruction in higher education is mostly English, but some programs and institutions teach in Urdu.}}</ref> although the people from differing provinces may have different native languages.<ref>{{cite journal |editor1=Robina Kausar |editor2=Muhammad Sarwar |editor3=Muhammad Shabbir |title=The History of the Urdu Language Together with Its Origin and Geographic Distribution |journal=International Journal of Innovation and Research in Educational Sciences |volume=2 |issue=1 |url=https://www.ijires.org/administrator/components/com_jresearch/files/publications/IJIRES-154_final.pdf}}</ref>

Urdu is taught as a compulsory subject up to higher secondary school in both English and Urdu medium school systems, which has produced millions of second-language Urdu speakers among people whose native language is one of the other [[languages of Pakistan]] – which in turn has led to the absorption of vocabulary from various regional Pakistani languages,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I2QmPHeIowoC&q=urdu+adopting+regional+language&pg=PA119|title=Geography of the South Asian Subcontinent: A Critical Approach|last=Ahmad|first=Aijazuddin|date=2009|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-8069-568-1|language=en}}</ref> while some Urdu vocabularies has also been assimilated by Pakistan's regional languages.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PSFBDAAAQBAJ&q=urdu+pashto+speakers+assimilate&pg=PA291|title=The Languages and Linguistics of South Asia: A Comprehensive Guide|last1=Hock|first1=Hans Henrich|last2=Bashir|first2=Elena|date=24 May 2016|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG|isbn=978-3-11-042330-3|language=en}}</ref> Some who are from a non-Urdu background now can read and write only Urdu. With such a large number of people(s) speaking Urdu, the language has acquired a peculiar regional flavor further distinguishing it from the Urdu spoken by native speakers, resulting in more diversity within the language.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://herald.dawn.com/news/1153737|title=The case for Urdu as Pakistan's official language|last=Raj|first=Ali|date=30 April 2017|website=Herald Magazine|language=en|access-date=28 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028222041/https://herald.dawn.com/news/1153737|archive-date=28 October 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{clarify|reason=struggling a bit here - who are the native speakers?|date=July 2020}}