Editing Punjab, Pakistan

{{Short description|Province of Pakistan}}
{{About |the Pakistani province of Punjab|the geographical region|Punjab|the state of India|Punjab, India|other uses of the name|Punjab (disambiguation)}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=October 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Punjab
| official_name      = Province of Punjab
| native_name        = {{Nastaliq|پنجاب}}
| type               = [[Administrative units of Pakistan|Province]]
| image_skyline      = {{multiple image
| border                 = infobox
| total_width            = 280
| image_style            = border:1;
| perrow                 = 1/2/2
| image1                 = Royal mosque Lahore.jpg
| caption1               = [[Badshahi Mosque]]
| image2                 = Sakina sughra mosque jatoi.jpg
| caption2               = [[Jamia Sakeena-Tul-Sughra]]
| image3                = Shah Rukn-e-Alam Shrine.jpg
| caption3               = [[Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam]]
| image4                 = Derawar Fort, Bahawalpur I.jpg
| caption4               = [[Derawar Fort]]
| image5                 = Lahore Fort view from Baradari.jpg
| caption5              = [[Lahore Fort]]
| image6                = Khewra Salt Mines landscape IMG 3127.jpg
| caption6               = [[Khewra Salt Mines]]
| image7                 = 
}}
| image_flag         = Flag of Punjab.svg
| image_seal         = Coat of arms of Punjab.svg
| etymology          = ''Panj'' (means "five") and ''āb'' (means "waters")
| image_map          = Punjab in Pakistan (claims hatched).svg
| map_caption        = Location of Punjab within Pakistan
| image_map1         = 
| map_caption1       = 
| coordinates        = {{coord|31|72|type:adm1st_region:PK_dim:1000000|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = {{flag|Pakistan}}
| parts_type         = Administrative Divisions
| parts_style        = coll,para
| parts              = 10
| p1                 = {{Ubl|[[Bahawalpur Division|Bahawalpur]]|[[Dera Ghazi Khan Division|Dera Ghazi Khan]]|[[Faisalabad Division|Faisalabad]]|[[Gujranwala Division|Gujranwala]]|[[Gujrat Division|Gujrat]]|[[Lahore Division|Lahore]]|[[Multan Division|Multan]]|[[Sahiwal Division|Sahiwal]]|[[Sargodha Division|Sargodha]]|[[Rawalpindi Division|Rawalpindi]]}}
| established_title  = Established
| established_date   = {{Start date and age|1970|7|1|df=y}}
| established_title1 = Before was
| established_date1  = Part of [[West Pakistan]]
| seat_type          = Capital<br />{{nobold|and largest city}}
| seat               = [[Lahore]]
| blank_name_sec1    = Official languages
| blank_info_sec1    = {{hlist|[[Urdu]]|[[English language|English]]}}
| blank1_name_sec1   = Provincial sports teams
| blank1_info_sec1   = {{Collapsible list
| title = ''{{nobold|List:}}''
| [[Lahore Qalandars]]
| [[Multan Sultans]]
| [[Lahore Lions]]
| [[Rawalpindi Rams]]
| [[Sialkot Stallions]]
| [[Bahawalpur Stags]]
| [[Multan Tigers]]
| [[Faisalabad Wolves]]
| [[Central Punjab cricket team|Central Punjab]]
| [[Southern Punjab cricket team (Pakistan)|Southern Punjab]]
}}
| blank2_name_sec1   = [[List of administrative units of Pakistan by Human Development Index|HDI]] (2021)
| blank2_info_sec1   = 0.567{{increase}}<ref name="GlobalDataLab">{{Cite web|url=https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/shdi/PAK/?levels=1%2B4&interpolation=1&extrapolation=0&nearest_real=0&colour_scales=global|title=Sub-national HDI – Subnational HDI – Global Data Lab|website=Globaldatalab.org|access-date=5 June 2022}}</ref><br />{{orange|medium}}
| blank3_name_sec1   = [[Education in Pakistan|Literacy rate]] (2023)  <ref>{{cite web |title=LITERACY RATE, ENROLMENT AND OUT OF SCHOOL POPULATION BY SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023 |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/table_12_punjab_province.pdf |publisher=[[Pakistan Bureau Statistics]]}}</ref>
| blank3_info_sec1   = {{bulleted list|'''Total:'''<br />(66.25%) |'''Male:'''<br />(71.98%) |'''Female:'''<br />(60.19%)}}
| blank4_name_sec1   = [[National Assembly of Pakistan|National Assembly]] seats
| blank4_info_sec1   = 183
| blank_name_sec2    = Provincial Assembly seats
| blank_info_sec2    = 371<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.pap.gov.pk/index.php/members/stats/en/19|title= Provincial Assembly – Punjab|url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090201061549/http://pap.gov.pk/index.php/members/stats/en/19 |archive-date= 1 February 2009}}</ref>
| blank1_name_sec2   = [[Divisions of Punjab, Pakistan|Divisions]]
| blank1_info_sec2   = 10
| blank2_name_sec2   = [[List of districts in Punjab, Pakistan|Districts]]
| blank2_info_sec2   = 41
| blank3_name_sec2   = [[List of tehsils of Punjab, Pakistan|Tehsils]]
| blank3_info_sec2   = 148
| blank4_name_sec2   = [[Union council (Pakistan)#Punjab Province|Union councils]]
| blank4_info_sec2   = 7602
| demographics1_info1 = $225 billion ([[List of Pakistani administrative units by gross state product|1st]]){{efn|name=g}}
| population_demonym = Punjabi
| demographics_type1 = GDP (nominal)
| demographics1_title1 = [[List of Pakistani administrative units by gross state product|Total (2022)]]
| demographics1_title2 = [[List of Pakistani administrative units by gross state product|Per Capita]]
| demographics1_info2 = 
| demographics_type2 = GDP (PPP)
| demographics2_title1 = [[List of Pakistani administrative units by gross state product|Total (2022)]]
| demographics2_info1 = $925 billion ([[List of Pakistani administrative units by gross state product|1st]]){{efn|name=g|Punjab's contribution to national economy was 60.58%, or $925 billion (PPP) and $225 billion (nominal) in 2022.<ref name=kp>{{Cite web|url=https://kpbos.gov.pk/assets/docs/reports/NTL-PolicyBrief-Aug-1.pdf|title=
GDP OF KHYBER PUKHTUNKHWA'S DISTRICTS|website=kpbos.gov.pk}}</ref><ref name="imf.org">{{cite web | url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2022/October/weo-report?c=564,&s=NGDPD,PPPGDP,NGDPDPC,PPPPC,PCPIEPCH,&sy=2020&ey=2022&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 | title=Report for Selected Countries and Subjects }}</ref>}}
| demographics1_title3 = [[List of Pakistani administrative units by gross state product|Per Capita]]
| demographics1_info3 = $2,003 ([[List of Pakistani administrative units by gross state product|2nd]])
| demographics2_title2 = [[List of Pakistani administrative units by gross state product|Per Capita]]
| demographics2_info2 = $8,027 ([[List of Pakistani administrative units by gross state product|2nd]])
| government_type    = [[Federated state|Self-governing province]] subject to the [[Government of Pakistan|federal government]]
| governing_body     = [[Government of Punjab, Pakistan|Government of Punjab]]
| leader_title       = [[Governor of Punjab, Pakistan|Governor]]
| leader_name        = [[Sardar Saleem Haider Khan]]
| leader_title1      = [[Chief Minister of Punjab (Pakistan)|Chief Minister]]
| leader_name1       = [[Maryam Nawaz]]
| leader_title2      = [[Chief Secretary Punjab|Chief Secretary]]
| leader_name2       = [[Zahid Akhtar Zaman]]
| leader_title3      = [[List of legislatures in South Asia#Pakistan|Legislature]]
| leader_name3       = [[Provincial Assembly of the Punjab|Provincial Assembly]]
| leader_title4      = [[High courts of Pakistan|High Court]]
| leader_name4       = [[Lahore High Court]]
| unit_pref          = Metric
| area_total_km2     = 205344
| area_rank          = [[Administrative units of Pakistan|2nd]]
| population_footnotes = <ref name="2023 Census">{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/Punjab.pdf |title = Announcement of Results of 7th Population and Housing Census-2023 (Punjab province) |date= 5 August 2023 |website = Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (www.pbs.gov.pk) |access-date = 25 November 2023}}</ref>
| population_total   = 127,688,922
| population_as_of   = [[2023 Census of Pakistan|2023 census]]
| population_rural   = 75,712,955 (59.29%)
| population_rank    = [[Demographics of Pakistan|1st]]
| population_density_km2 = 622
| population_urban   = 51,975,967 (40.71%)
| timezone1          = [[Pakistan Standard Time|PKT]]
| utc_offset1        = +05:00
| website            = {{URL|punjab.gov.pk}}
| iso_code           = [[ISO 3166-2:PK|PK-PB]]
| native_name_lang   = pa
| flag_size          = 125px
| seal_size          = 105px
}}
'''Punjab''' ({{Text|[[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Urdu]]: {{Nastaliq|پنجاب}}|rtl=yes}}, {{IPA|pa|audio=Punjab.ogg|pə̞ɲˈdʒäːb|pron}}) is a [[Administrative units of Pakistan|province]] of [[Pakistan]]. With a population of over 127 million, it is the [[Demographics of Pakistan|most populous province]] in Pakistan and [[List of first-level administrative divisions by population|second most populous subnational polity]] in the world. Located in the [[Geography of Pakistan|central-eastern region]] of the country, it has the [[#Economy|largest economy]], contributing the most to [[Economy of Pakistan|national GDP]], in Pakistan. [[Lahore]] is the capital and largest city. Other major cities include [[Faisalabad]], [[Rawalpindi]], [[Gujranwala]] and [[Multan]].

It is bordered by the Pakistani provinces of [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] to the north-west, [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]] to the south-west and [[Sindh]] to the south, as well as [[Islamabad Capital Territory]] to the north-west and [[Azad Kashmir]] to the north. It shares an [[India-Pakistan border|international border]] with the [[India]]n states of [[Rajasthan]] and [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] to the east and [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Indian-administered Kashmir]] to the north-east. Punjab is the most fertile province of the country as the [[Indus River]] and its four major tributaries [[River Ravi|Ravi]], [[River Jhelum|Jhelum]], [[River Chenab|Chenab]] and [[River Sutlej|Sutlej]] flow through it.

The province forms the bulk of the transnational [[Punjab|Punjab region]], [[Partition of Punjab|partitioned]] in 1947 among Pakistan and India.<ref>{{cite web |title='Wrong number' couple fight India deportation |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66567371 |website=BBC News |date=4 September 2023}}</ref> The province is represented in the [[Parliament of Pakistan|federal parliament]] through 173, out of 336, seats in [[National Assembly of Pakistan|National Assembly]], the lower house; and 23, out of 96, seats in [[Senate of Pakistan|Senate]], the upper house.

Punjab is Pakistan's most industrialized province, with the industrial sector comprising 24 percent of the province's gross domestic product.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|author1=Government of the Punjab – Planning & Development Department |title=PUNJAB GROWTH STRATEGY 2018 Accelerating Economic Growth and Improving Social Outcomes |url=http://www.theigc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Punjab-Growth-Strategy-2018-Full-report.pdf |access-date=14 July 2016|date=March 2015|quote=The industrial sector of Punjab employs around 23% of the province's labour force and contributes 24% to the provincial GDP|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329053001/http://www.theigc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Punjab-Growth-Strategy-2018-Full-report.pdf|archive-date=29 March 2017}}</ref> It is known for its relative prosperity,<ref name="tribune.com.pk">{{cite news|last1=Farooqui|first1=Tashkeel|date=20 June 2016 |title=Northern Punjab, urban Sindh people more prosperous than rest of country: report |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1126363/people-living-northern-punjab-urban-sindh-prosperous-rest-country-report/|access-date=14 July 2016|agency=The Express Tribune|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160724134711/http://tribune.com.pk/story/1126363/people-living-northern-punjab-urban-sindh-prosperous-rest-country-report/|archive-date=24 July 2016}}</ref> and has the lowest rate of poverty among all Pakistani provinces.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Arif|first1=G. M.|title=Poverty Profile of Pakistan|url=http://www.bisp.gov.pk/PIDEReports/poverty.pdf|website=Benazir Income Support Programme|publisher=Government of Pakistan|access-date=14 July 2016|quote=Among the four provinces, the highest incidence of poverty is found in Sindh (45%), followed by Balochistan (44%), Khyber Pakhtukhaw (KP) (37%) and Punjab (21%)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213111826/http://www.bisp.gov.pk/PIDEReports/poverty.pdf|archive-date=13 December 2016}}</ref>{{efn|[[Islamabad Capital Territory]] is Pakistan's least impoverished administrative unit, but ICT is not a province. [[Azad Kashmir]] also has a rate of poverty lower than Punjab, but is not a province.}} However, a clear divide is present between the northern and southern regions of the province;<ref name="tribune.com.pk"/> with northern Punjab being relatively more developed than south Punjab.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Arif|first1=G. M.|title=Poverty Profile of Pakistan |url=http://www.bisp.gov.pk/PIDEReports/poverty.pdf|website=Benazir Income Support Programme|publisher=Government of Pakistan|access-date=14 July 2016|quote=See Table 5, Page 12 "Sialkot District"|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213111826/http://www.bisp.gov.pk/PIDEReports/poverty.pdf|archive-date=13 December 2016}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite web |last1=Arif|first1=G. M.|title=Poverty Profile of Pakistan|url=http://www.bisp.gov.pk/PIDEReports/poverty.pdf|website=Benazir Income Support Programme|publisher=Government of Pakistan|access-date=14 July 2016|quote=See Table 5, Page 12 "Rajanpur District"|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213111826/http://www.bisp.gov.pk/PIDEReports/poverty.pdf|archive-date=13 December 2016}}</ref> Punjab is also one of the most urbanized regions of [[South Asia]], with approximately 40 percent of its population being concentrated in urban areas.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Government of the Punjab – Planning & Development Department|title=PUNJAB GROWTH STRATEGY 2018 Accelerating Economic Growth and Improving Social Outcomes|url=http://www.theigc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Punjab-Growth-Strategy-2018-Full-report.pdf|access-date=14 July 2016|date=March 2015|quote=Punjab is among the most urbanized regions of South Asia and is experiencing a consistent and long-term demographic shift of the population to urban regions and cities, with around 40% of the province's population living in urban areas|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329053001/http://www.theigc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Punjab-Growth-Strategy-2018-Full-report.pdf|archive-date=29 March 2017}}</ref>

[[Punjabi Muslims]] form majority of the province.<ref name="punjab20172">{{cite web |title=TABLE 9 – POPULATION BY SEX, RELIGION AND RURAL/URBAN |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2017/tables/pakistan/Table09n.pdf |access-date=23 January 2023}}</ref> [[Punjabi culture|Their culture]] has been strongly influenced by [[Islamic culture]] and [[Sufism]], with a number of Sufi shrines spread across the province.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ahmad |first1=Faid |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PXXAAAAMAAJ |title=Mihr-e-munīr: Biography of Ḥaḍrat Syed Pīr Meher Alī Shāh ( in English) |last2=Khān |first2=Muhammad Fāḍil |year=1998 |via=GoogleBooks website}}</ref><ref name="EI3">{{EI3|last=Chaudhary|first=M. Azam|title=Barrī Imām|url=https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/db/ei3o}}</ref><ref>Nizami, K.A., "Farīd al-Dīn Masʿūd "Gand̲j̲-I-S̲h̲akar"", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Gilmartin|first1=David|title=Empire and Islam: Punjab and the Making of Pakistan|date=1988|publisher=University of California Press|pages=40–41}}</ref> [[Guru Nanak]], the founder of [[Sikhism]], was born in the town of [[Nankana Sahib]].<ref name="Macauliffe">{{cite book | last=Macauliffe | first=Max Arthur | author-link=Max Arthur Macauliffe | year=2004 | orig-year=1909 | title=The Sikh Religion&nbsp;– Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors | publisher=Low Price Publications | location=India | isbn = 81-86142-31-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Singh | first=Khushwant | author-link=Khushwant Singh | year=2006 | title=The Illustrated History of the Sikhs | publisher=Oxford University Press | location=India | isbn = 0-19-567747-1 | pages=12–13}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Malik|first1=Iftikhar Haider|title=The History of Pakistan|date=2008|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group}}</ref> Punjab hosts several of the UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]]s, including the [[Shalimar Gardens, Lahore|Shalimar Gardens]], the [[Lahore Fort]], the archaeological excavations at [[Taxila]], and the [[Rohtas Fort]], among others.<ref>{{cite web|title=Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List (Pakistan)|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/pk|website=UNESCO|access-date=14 July 2016|url-status=live|archive-date=4 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704110025/https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/pk}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The name "Punjab" consists of two parts ({{Langx|fa|پنج|translit=panj|label=none|lit=five}} and {{Langx|fa|آب|translit=āb|label=none|lit=water}}), of [[Persian language|Persian]] origin which are cognates of the [[Sanskrit]] words ({{Langx|sa|पञ्‍च|translit=pañca|label=none|lit=five}} and {{Langx|sa|अप्|translit=áp|label=none|lit=water}}).<ref name=EoS>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/PUNJAB.html |title=The Punjab |author=H K Manmohan Siṅgh|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Sikhism, Editor-in-Chief Harbans Singh |publisher=[[Punjabi University]], Patiala|access-date=18 August 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305062705/http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/PUNJAB.html |archive-date=5 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Gandhi|first=Rajmohan|title=Punjab: A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten|publisher=Aleph Book Company|year=2013|isbn=978-93-83064-41-0|location=New Delhi, India, Urbana, [[Illinois]]|page=1 ("Introduction")}}</ref> The name Punjab gained currency during the [[Mughal Empire]] rule over the region.<ref>Canfield, Robert L. (1991). ''Persia in Historical Perspective''. [[Cambridge]], United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 1 ("Origins"). {{ISBN|978-0-521-52291-5}}.</ref> The word ''pañj-āb'' is the [[calque]] of Indo-Aryan ''pañca-áp'' and means "The Land of Five Waters", referring to the rivers [[Jhelum River|Jhelum]], [[Chenab River|Chenab]], [[Ravi River|Ravi]], [[Sutlej]], and [[Beas River|Beas]].<ref>"Punjab." p. 107 in [[Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition|''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (9th ed.)]], vol. 20.</ref> All are [[Tributary|tributaries]] of the [[Indus River]], the Sutlej being the largest.{{efn|Alternatively, Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej are counted among the ''five rivers'' of Punjab, with Beas considered as a tributary of Sutlej.}} References to a land of five rivers is found in the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', in which one of the regions is named as ''Panchanada'' ({{Langx|sa|पञ्चनद|translit=pañca-nada|lit=five rivers}}).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GdKcAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA199|title=The Geography of India: Sacred and Historic Places|publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing|year=2010|isbn=978-1-61530-202-4|editor=Kenneth Pletcher|page=199|quote=The word's origin can perhaps be traced to panca nada, Sanskrit for "five rivers" and the name of a region mentioned in the ancient epic the Mahabharata.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Rajesh Bala|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PzduAAAAMAAJ|title=Punjab History Conference, Thirty-seventh Session, March 18–20, 2005: Proceedings|publisher=Punjabi University|year=2005|isbn=978-81-7380-990-3|editor=Sukhdial Singh|page=80|chapter=Foreign Invasions and their Effect on Punjab|quote="The word Punjab is a compound of two words-Panj (Five) and aab (Water), thus signifying the land of five waters or rivers. This origin can perhaps be traced to panch nada, Sanskrit for "Five rivers" the word used before the advent of Muslims with a knowledge of Persian to describe the meeting point of the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers, before they joined the Indus."}}</ref> The ancient [[Greek people|Greeks]] referred to the region as ''Pentapotamía'' ({{langx|el|Πενταποταμία}}), of the same meaning as that of Punjab.<ref>[[Christian Lassen|Lassen, Christian]]. 1827. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=XbBCAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA3 Commentatio Geographica atque Historica de Pentapotamia Indica] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118182901/https://books.google.ca/books?id=XbBCAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA3&redir_esc=y |date=18 November 2022 }}'' [''A Geographical and Historical Commentary on Indian Pentapotamia'']. Weber. p. 4:

"That part of India which today we call by the Persian name <nowiki>''Penjab''</nowiki> is named ''Panchanada'' in the sacred language of the Indians; either of which names may be rendered in Greek by Πενταποταμια. The Persian origin of the former name is not at all in doubt, although the words of which it is composed are both Indian and Persian.... But, in truth, that final word is never, to my knowledge, used by the Indians in proper names compounded in this way; on the other hand, there exist multiple Persian names which end with that word, e.g., ''Doab'' and ''Nilab''. Therefore, it is probable that the name Penjab, which is today found in all geographical books, is of more recent origin and is to be attributed to the Muslim kings of India, among whom the Persian language was mostly in use. That the Indian name Panchanada is ancient and genuine is evident from the fact that it is already seen in the ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata'', the most ancient Indian poems, and that no other exists in addition to it among the Indians; for ''Panchála'', which English translations of the ''Ramayana'' render with Penjab...is the name of another region, entirely distinct from Pentapotamia...."{{whose translation|reason=has several mistakes – looks like Google translation|date=August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1-last=Latif|author1-first=Syad Muhammad|title=History of the Panjáb from the Remotest Antiquity to the Present Time|year=1891|publisher=Calcultta Central Press Company|page=1|quote=The Panjáb, the Pentapotamia of the Greek historians, the north-western region of the empire of Hindostán, derives its name from two Persian words, ''panj'' (five), an ''áb'' (water), having reference to the five rivers which confer on the country its distinguishing features." |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RzBAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PR1}}</ref><ref name="Khalid">{{cite journal|author1-last=Khalid|author1-first=Kanwal|title=Lahore of Pre Historic Era|journal=Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan|volume=52|issue=2|page=73|year=2015|quote=The earliest mention of five rivers in the collective sense was found in Yajurveda and a word Panchananda was used, which is a Sanskrit word to describe a land where five rivers meet. [...] In the later period, the word ''Pentapotamia'' was used by the Greeks to identify this land. (''Penta'' means 5 and potamia, water ___ the land of five rivers) Muslim Historians implied the word "Punjab" for this region. Again, it was not a new word because in Persian-speaking areas, there are references of this name given to any particular place where five rivers or lakes meet.|url=http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/history/PDF-FILES/7.%20Kanwal%20Khalid_v52_2_15.pdf|access-date=20 January 2019|archive-date=11 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811210654/http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/history/PDF-FILES/7.%20Kanwal%20Khalid_v52_2_15.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Earlier, Punjab was also known as ''[[Sapta Sindhu]]'' in the [[Rigveda]] and ''[[Avestan geography#Vendidad references|Hapta Hendu]]'' in the [[Avestan geography|Avesta]], translating into "The Land of Seven Rivers"; the other two being Indus and [[Kabul river|Kabul]] which are included in the greater Punjab region.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grewal |first=J. S. |author-link=J. S. Grewal |date=2004 |title=Historical Geography of the Punjab |url=https://punjab.global.ucsb.edu/sites/default/files/sitefiles/journals/volume11/no1/2_grewal.pdf |journal=Journal of Punjab Studies |publisher=University of California, Santa Barbara |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=1–18 |issn=0971-5223 |oclc=436148809}}</ref> 

== History ==
{{main|History of Punjab}}

=== Ancient period ===
It is believed that the earliest evidence of human habitation in Punjab traces to the [[Soon Valley|Soan Valley]] of the [[Pothohar Plateau|Pothohar]], between the [[Indus]] and the [[Jhelum river]]s, where [[Soanian|Soanian culture]] developed between 774,000 BC and 11,700 BC. This period goes back to the first interglacial period in the [[Cryogenian|second Ice Age]], from which remnants of stone and flint tools have been found.{{sfn|Singh|1989|p=1}} The Punjab region was the site of one of the earliest [[cradle of civilization]]s, the [[Bronze Age]] [[Harrapan civilization]] that flourished from about 3000 B.C. and declined rapidly 1,000 years later, following the [[Indo-Aryan migrations]] that overran the region in waves between 1500 and 500 B.C.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Minahan |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=abNDLZQ6quYC&pg=PA257 |title=Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia |date=2012 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-59884-659-1 |pages=257–259 |language=en |access-date=21 August 2022 |archive-date=18 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118182901/https://books.google.com/books?id=abNDLZQ6quYC&pg=PA257 |url-status=live }}</ref> The migrating Indo-Aryan tribes gave rise to the [[Iron Age]] [[Vedic civilization]], which lasted till 500 BC. During this era, the [[Rigveda]] was composed in [[Punjab]],{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=37}} laying the foundation of [[Hinduism]]. Frequent intertribal wars in the [[Vedic period|post-Vedic period]] stimulated the growth of larger groupings ruled by chieftains and kings, who ruled local kingdoms known as [[Mahajanapadas]].<ref name=":9" /> Achaemenid emperor [[Darius the Great]], in 518 BCE crossed the Indus and annex the regions up to the [[Jhelum River]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=André-Salvini |first=Béatrice |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kJnaKu9DdNEC |title=Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia |date=2005 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-24731-4 |language=en |access-date=14 February 2022 |archive-date=18 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118182927/https://books.google.com/books?id=kJnaKu9DdNEC |url-status=live }}</ref> Taxila is considered to be the site of one of the oldest education centre of South Asia and was part of the Achaemenid province of Hindush.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Samad|first=Rafi U.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pNUwBYGYgxsC&pg=PA33|title=The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys|date=2011|publisher=Algora Publishing|isbn=978-0-87586-859-2|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Minahan |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=abNDLZQ6quYC&pg=PA257 |title=Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia |date=2012-08-30 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-59884-659-1 |language=en}}</ref>

One of the early kings in Punjab was [[Porus]], who fought the famous [[Battle of the Hydaspes]] against [[Alexander the Great]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Albert Brian |title=Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |pages=125–130 |chapter=The campaign of the Hydaspes}}</ref> The battle is thought to have resulted in a decisive [[Greeks|Greek]] victory; however, A. B. Bosworth warns against an uncritical reading of Greek sources who were obviously exaggerative.<ref name=":6" /> Porus refused to surrender and wandered about atop an elephant, until he was wounded and his force routed.<ref name=":6" /> When asked by Alexander how he wished to be treated, Porus replied "Treat me as a king would treat another king".{{sfn|Rogers|p=200}} Despite the apparently one-sided results, Alexander was impressed by Porus and chose to not depose him.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Albert Brian |title=Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |chapter=From the Hydaspes to the Southern Ocean}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Anson |first=Edward M. |title=Alexander the Great: Themes and Issues |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2013 |isbn=9781441193797 |pages=151}}</ref>{{sfn|Roy|2004|pp=23–28}} Not only was his territory reinstated but also expanded with Alexander's forces annexing the territories of Glausaes, who ruled to the northeast of Porus' kingdom.<ref name=":7" /> The battle is historically significant because it resulted in the syncretism of ancient Greek political and cultural influences to the Indian subcontinent, yielding works such as Greco-Buddhist art, which continued to have an impact for the ensuing centuries.

[[Multan]] was the noted centre of excellence of the region which was attacked by the Greek army during the era of [[Alexander the Great]]. The Malli tribe together with nearby tribes gathered an army of 90,000-100,000 personnel to face the Greek army. This was perhaps the largest army faced by the Greeks in the entire Indian subcontinent.{{sfn|Amjad|1989|p={{page needed|date=September 2022}}}} During the siege of the city's citadel, Alexander leaped into the inner area of the citadel, where he faced the Mallians' leader. Alexander was wounded by an arrow that had penetrated his lung, leaving him severely injured. The city was conquered after a fierce battle.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tareekh-e-Pakistan (Wasti Ahad) |url=https://yahyaamjad.com/books/tareekh-e-pakistan-wasti-ahad/ |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=Yahya Amjad |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Arrian. Indica. English {{!}} The Online Books Page |url=http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Arrian.%20Indica.%20English |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu}}</ref>

The region was then divided between the [[Maurya Empire]] and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom in 302 B.C.E. Menander I Soter conquered Punjab and made [[Sagala]] (present-day [[Sialkot]]) the capital of the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]].<ref name="Hazel 2013">{{cite book |last=Hazel |first=John |title=Who's Who in the Greek World |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=9781134802241 |page=155 |quote=Menander king in India, known locally as Milinda, born at a village named Kalasi near Alasanda (Alexandria-in-the-Caucasus), and who was himself the son of a king. After conquering the Punjab, where he made Sagala his capital, he made an expedition across northern India and visited Patna, the capital of the Mauraya empire, though he did not succeed in conquering this land as he appears to have been overtaken by wars on the north-west frontier with Eucratides.}}</ref><ref name="Ahir 1971">{{cite book |last=Ahir |first=D. C. |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.49756 |title=Buddhism in the Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh |publisher=Maha Bodhi Society of India |year=1971 |page=31 |oclc=1288206 |quote=Demetrius died in 166 B.C., and Apollodotus, who was a near relation of the King died in 161 B.C. After his death, Menander carved out a kingdom in Punjab. Thus from 161 B.C. onward Menander was the ruler of Punjab till his death in 145 B.C. or 130 B.C.}}</ref> Menander is noted for becoming a patron and converting to Greco-Buddhism and he is widely regarded as the greatest of the Indo-Greek kings.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Menander {{!}} Indo-Greek king |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Menander-Indo-Greek-king |access-date=2021-09-06 |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]}}</ref>

=== Medieval period ===
Following the [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent]] at the beginning of the 8th century, [[Arab]] armies of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] penetrated into South Asia introducing [[Islam]] into the [[Punjab]]. First, Islam was introduced into the Southern Punjab in the opening decades of the eighth century. By the 16th century, [[Muslims]] were the majority in the region and an elaborate network of [[mosque]]s and [[Mausoleums of Multan|mausoleums]] marked the landscape. Local [[Punjabi Muslims|Punjabi Muslim]] converts constituted the majority of this [[Ummah|Muslim community]], and as far for the mechanisms of conversion, the sources of the period emphasize the recitation of the [[Conversion to Islam|Islamic confession of faith]] (''[[shahada]]''), the performance of the [[Khitan (circumcision)|circumcision]], and the ingestion of cow-meat.<ref name="oxford2">{{Cite book |last1=Rambo |first1=Lewis R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U03gAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA490 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion |last2=Farhadian |first2=Charles E. |date=6 March 2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-971354-7 |pages=489–491 |quote=First, Islam was introduced into the southern Punjab in the opening decades of the eighth century. By the sixteenth century, Muslims were the majority in the region and an elaborate network of mosques and mausoleums marked the landscape. Local converts constituted the majority of this Muslim community, and as far for the mechanisms of conversion, the sources of the period emphasize the recitation of the Islamic confession of faith (shahada), the performance of the circumsicion (indri vaddani), and the ingestion of cow-meat (bhas khana). |access-date=11 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927082337/https://books.google.com/books?id=U03gAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA490#v=onepage&q&f=false |archive-date=27 September 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Islam]] emerged as the major power in Punjab after the [[Umayyad|Umayyad army]] led by [[Muhammad ibn al-Qasim]] conquered the region [[History of Multan#Medieval era|in 711 AD]].<ref name=":9" /> The city of [[Multan]] became a centre of Islam. After the Umayyads conquered the key cities of [[Uch]] and Multan, they ruled the far areas of Punjab and included [[Kashmir]]. Islam spread rapidly.<ref name="Hudud 1970">{{Cite book |last=Hudud |first=al-Alam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tN9jMwEACAAJ&q=hudud+al+alam |title=Hudud Al-Alam, 'the Regions of the World': A Persian Geography, 327A.H. – 982A.D |date=1970 |publisher=Luzac |language=en}}</ref>

According to local traditions, [[Baba Ratan Hindi]] was a trader from [[Punjab]] who was one of the non-Arab [[Sahabah|companions of Prophet Muhammad]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Suvorova |first=Anna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QK0aLjQtX2cC&dq=baba+ratan&pg=PA220 |title=Muslim Saints of South Asia: The Eleventh to Fifteenth Centuries |date=2004-07-22 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-37006-1 |page=220 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Köprülü |first=Mehmet Fuat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_v6IWkCLnEwC&dq=baba+ratan&pg=PA79 |title=Early Mystics in Turkish Literature |date=2006 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-36686-1 |pages=79 |language=en}}</ref> He was reportedly a trader who used to take goods to [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]]. There is also a [[Sufi shrine|dargah]] named after him, the Haji Ratan Dargah, in [[Bathinda]], where he settled after his conversion to [[Islam]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=PARIHAR |first=SUBHASH |date=2001 |title=The Dargāh of Bābā Ḥājī Ratan at Bhatinda |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20837077 |journal=Islamic Studies |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=105–132 |doi=10.52541/isiri.v40i1.5057 |issn=0578-8072 |jstor=20837077}}</ref> Muslims who migrated to Pakistan during the [[partition of India]] in 1947 still venerate him as Baba Haji Ratan.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Snehi |first=Yogesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YiUDwAAQBAJ&dq=baba+ratan+partition&pg=PT190 |title=Spatializing Popular Sufi Shrines in Punjab: Dreams, Memories, Territoriality |date=2019-04-24 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-429-51563-7 |pages=190 |language=en}}</ref>

In the ninth century, the [[Hindu Shahis|Hindu Shahi]] dynasty originating from the region of Oddiyana replaced the Taank kingdom in the Punjab, ruling much of Punjab along with eastern Afghanistan.<ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rahman |first=Abdul |date=2002 |title=New Light on the Khingal, Turk and the Hindu Sahis |url=http://journals.uop.edu.pk/papers/AP_v15_37to42.pdf |journal=Ancient Pakistan |volume=XV |pages=37–42 |quote=The Hindu Śāhis were therefore neither Bhattis, or Janjuas, nor Brahmans. They were simply Uḍis/Oḍis. It can now be seen that the term Hindu Śāhi is a misnomer and, based as it is merely upon religious discrimination, should be discarded and forgotten. The correct name is Uḍi or Oḍi Śāhi dynasty.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Meister |first=Michael W. |date=2005 |title=The Problem of Platform Extensions at Kafirkot North |url=http://journals.uop.edu.pk/papers/AP_v16_41to48.pdf |journal=Ancient Pakistan |volume=XVI |pages=41–48 |quote=Rehman (2002: 41) makes a good case for calling the Hindu Śāhis by a more accurate name, "Uḍi Śāhis".}}</ref> In the 10th century, the tribe of the [[Gakhars]]/[[Khokhars]], formed a large part of the Hindu Shahi army according to the Persian historian [[Firishta]].{{sfn|Rehman|1976|pp=48–50}}

'''Ghaznavid'''

The [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] [[Ghaznavids]] in the tenth century attacked the regions of Punjab. [[Multan]] and [[Uch]] were conquered after 3 attacks and Multan's ruler Abul Fateh Daud was defeated,<ref>{{Cite book |last=MacLean |first=Derryl N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xxAVAAAAIAAJ |title=Religion and Society in Arab Sind |date=1989 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-08551-0 |language=en}}</ref> famous Sun Temple was destroyed. Ghaznavids overthrew the Hindu Shahis and consequently ruled for 157 years, gradually declining as a power until the [[Ghurid]] conquests of key Punjab cities of Uch, Multan and [[Lahore]] by [[Muhammad of Ghor]] in 1186, deposing the last Ghaznavid ruler [[Khusrau Malik]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mehta |first=Jaswant Lal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUk5k5AN54sC&pg=PA76 |title=Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India |date=1979 |publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd |isbn=978-81-207-0617-0 |pages=76 |language=en}}</ref>

Following the death of [[Muhammad of Ghor]] in 1206, the Ghurid state fragmented and was replaced in northern India by the Delhi Sultanate and for some time independent sultanates ruled by various Sultans.{{sfn|Amjad|1989|p={{page needed|date=September 2022}}}} The [[Delhi Sultanate]] ruled Punjab for the next three hundred years, led by five unrelated dynasties, the [[Mamluk dynasty (Delhi)|Mamluks]], [[Khalji dynasty|Khalajis]], [[Tughlaq dynasty|Tughlaqs]], [[Sayyid dynasty|Sayyids]] and [[Lodi dynasty|Lodis]].

'''Delhi Sultanate'''

'''Tughlaqs'''

[[Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq|Ghiyath al-Din Tughlaq]], the former governor of [[Multan]] and [[Dipalpur]] founded the Tughlaq dynasty in Delhi and ruled the subcontinent region. Earlier, he served as the governor of Multan and fought 28 battles against Mongols from there and saved Punjab and Sindh regions from the advances of Mongols and survived. After his death, his son [[Muhammad bin Tughluq|Muhammad Tughlaq]] became the emperor.{{sfn|Amjad|1989|p={{page needed|date=September 2022}}}}

'''Sayyid Dynasty'''

The 15th century saw the rise of many prominent Muslims from Punjab. [[Khizr Khan]] established the [[Sayyid dynasty]], the fourth dynasty of the [[Delhi Sultanate]], with four rulers ruling from 1414 to 1451 for 37 years.<ref name="mrpislam">See:

* M. Reza Pirbha, Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context, {{ISBN|978-9004177581}}, Brill
* The Islamic frontier in the east: Expansion into South Asia, Journal of South Asian Studies, 4(1), pp. 91–109
* Sookoohy M., Bhadreswar – Oldest Islamic Monuments in India, {{ISBN|978-9004083417}}, Brill Academic; see discussion of earliest raids in Gujarat</ref> The first ruler of the dynasty, [[Khizr Khan]], who was the [[Timurid Empire|Timurid]] vassal of [[Multan]], conquered Delhi in 1414, while the rulers proclaimed themselves the Sultans of the [[Delhi Sultanate]] under [[Mubarak Shah (Sayyid dynasty)|Mubarak Shah]],<ref>{{cite book |author=V. D. Mahajan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nMWSQuf4oSIC&dq=sultan+mubarak+shah+timur++caliph&pg=RA1-PA240 |title=History of Medieval India |date=2007 |publisher=S. Chand |isbn=9788121903646}}</ref><ref name="Iqtidar Alam Khan 2008 103">{{cite book |author=Iqtidar Alam Khan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzZFUcDpDzsC&dq=sultan+mubarak+shah&pg=PA103 |title=Historical Dictionary of Medieval India |date=2008 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810855038 |page=103}}</ref> which succeeded the [[Tughlaq dynasty]] and ruled the Sultanate until they were displaced by the [[Lodi dynasty]] in 1451.

Khizr Khan was originally a noble in the Delhi Sultanate during the [[Tughlaq Dynasty]] and was the governor of Multan under Sultan [[Firuz Shah Tughlaq|Firuz Shah]]. He was expelled from the city by the Muin tribes under Sarang Khan who occupied Multan in 1395, an Indian Muslim and the brother of Mallu Iqbal Khan, who was the de facto ruler of Delhi.<ref>{{cite book |author1=John F. Richards |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h0_xhdCScQkC&dq=mallu+khan+slave&pg=PA207 |title=Expanding Frontiers in South Asian and World History: Essays in Honour of John F. Richards |author2=David Gilmartin |author3=Munis D. Faruqui |author4=Richard M. Eaton |author5=Sunil Kuma | date=7 March 2013 |page=247 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-1-107-03428-0 |quote=Mallu Khan(also known as Iqbal Khan, a former slave}}</ref> Sarang Khan was aided by the servants of Malik Mardan Bhatti, a former governor of Multan and the grandfather of Khizr Khan by adoption.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Surinder |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSGzDwAAQBAJ&dq=malik+mardan+bhatti&pg=PT298 |title=The Making of Medieval Panjab: Politics, Society and Culture c. 1000–c. 1500 |date=2019-09-30 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-76068-2 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1398, [[Timur]] attacked the Punjab region. After his invasion, Khizr Khan established the fourth dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. According to [[Richard M. Eaton]], Khizr Khan was the son of a Punjabi chieftain.<ref name=":02">{{cite book |author=Richard M. Eaton |title=India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765 |publisher=University of California Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-0520325128 |page=117}}</ref> He was a [[Khokhar]] chieftain who travelled to Samarkand and profited from the contacts he made with the [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid society]].<ref>{{Cite book |author=Orsini, Francesca |title=After Timur left : culture and circulation in fifteenth-century North India |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-19-945066-4 |pages=49 |oclc=913785752}}</ref>

Following Timur's 1398 [[Sack of Delhi (1398)|Sack of Delhi]], he appointed [[Khizr Khan]] as deputy of [[Multan]] ([[Punjab region|Punjab]]). He held Lahore, Dipalpur, Multan and Upper Sindh.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kenneth Pletcher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VsujRFvaHI8C&dq=khizr+khan+sind&pg=PA132 |title=The History of India |date=2010 |isbn=9781615301225 |page=138| publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=V. D. Mahajan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nMWSQuf4oSIC&dq=khizr+khan+sind&pg=RA1-PA229 |title=History of Medieval India |date=2007 |isbn=9788121903646 |page=229| publisher=S. Chand }}</ref> Collecting his forces in Multan, Khizr Khan defeated and killed Mallu Iqbal Khan in Delhi in 1405.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jaswant Lal Mehta |title=Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India: Volume 2 |date=1979 |page=247}}</ref> He then captured Delhi on 28 May 1414 thereby establishing the Sayyid dynasty.{{sfn|Kumar|2020|p=583}} Khizr Khan did not take up the title of [[Sultan]], but continued the fiction of his allegiance to Timur as ''Rayat-i-Ala'' ([[vassal]]) of the [[Timurids]] - initially that of Timur, and later his son [[Shahrukh Mirza|Shah Rukh]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OghDAAAAYAAJ&q=It+is+generally+acknowledged+that+Khizr+Khan+continued+to+recognise+Timur+and+his+successors+,+Shah+Rukh+,+as+his+nominal+overlords+.+But+later+on+under+his+succesor+,+Mubarak+Khan+,+this+%27+fiction+%27+of+allegiance+to+the+Timurid+rulers |title=Proceedings:Volume 55 |publisher=Indian History Congress |year=1995 |page=216}}</ref><ref>Mahajan, V.D. (1991, reprint 2007). ''History of Medieval India'', Part I, New Delhi: S. Chand, {{ISBN|81-219-0364-5}}, p.237</ref> After the accession of Khizr Khan, the Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Sindh were reunited under the Delhi Sultanate, where he spent his time subduing rebellions.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3QbAAAAIAAJ&q=khizr+khan+sindh |title=Rajasthan [district Gazetteers] Bharatpur |date=1971 |publisher=Printed at Government Central Press |page=52}}</ref>

Khizr Khan was succeeded by his son Sayyid [[Mubarak Shah (Sayyid dynasty)|Mubarak Shah]] after his death on 20 May 1421. Mubarak Shah referred to himself as ''Muizz-ud-Din Mubarak Shah'' on his coins, removing the Timurid name with the name of the [[Caliphate|Caliph]], and declared himself a Shah.<ref name="Iqtidar Alam Khan 2008 103"/> A detailed account of his reign is available in the ''Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi'' written by [[Yahya bin Ahmad Sirhindi|Yahya-bin-Ahmad Sirhindi]]. After the death of Mubarak Shah, his nephew, [[Muhammad Shah (Sayyid dynasty)|Muhammad Shah]] ascended the throne and styled himself as Sultan Muhammad Shah. Just before his death, he called his son Sayyid [[Alam Shah|Ala-ud-Din Shah]] from [[Budaun|Badaun]], and nominated him as successor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nizami |first=Khaliq Ahmad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=axluAAAAMAAJ |title=Supplement to Elliot & Dowson's History of India: Ghaznavids & the Ghurids |date=1981 |publisher=Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli |language=en}}</ref>

The last ruler of the Sayyids, Ala-ud-Din, voluntarily abdicated the throne of the Delhi Sultanate in favour of [[Bahlul Khan Lodi]] on 19 April 1451, and left for Badaun, where he died in 1478.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Clifford Edmund |title=The New Islamic Dynasties |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0231107143 |page=304}}</ref>[[File:Khizr_Khan_(4).jpg|thumb|180x180px|Silver copper coin of [[Khizr Khan]], founder of the [[Sayyid dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Richard M. Eaton |title=India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765 |year=2019 |isbn=978-0520325128 |page=117 |publisher=University of California Press |language=en |quote=The career of Khizr Khan, a Punjabi chieftain belonging to the Khokar clan...}}</ref>]]'''Langah Sultanate'''

In 1445, Sultan Qutbudin, chief of ''[[Langah (clan)|Langah tribe]]'',<ref name="Ahmed 1984 pp. 428–434">{{cite journal |last=Ahmed |first=Iftikhar |year=1984 |title=Territorial Distribution of Jatt Castes in Punjab c. 1595 – c. 1881 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |publisher=Indian History Congress |volume=45 |pages=429, 432 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44140224}}</ref><ref name="Mubārak Blochmann 1891 p.321">{{cite book |last1=Mubārak |first1=A.F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L8IXAAAAYAAJ |title=The Ain I Akbari |last2=Blochmann |first2=H. |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bengal |year=1891 |series=Bibliotheca Indica |page=321 |access-date=2022-07-28 |volume=2}}</ref><ref name="Lambrick p.212">{{cite book |last=Lambrick |first=H. T. |title=Sind : a general introduction |date=1975 |publisher=Sindhi Adabi Board |isbn=0-19-577220-2 |publication-place=Hyderabad |page=212 |oclc=2404471}}</ref> established the [[Langah Sultanate]] in [[Multan]]. The Sultanate included regions of southern and central Punjab and some areas of present-day Khyber. A large number of Baloch settlers arrived and the towns of Dera Ghazi Khan and Dera Ismail Khan were founded.{{sfn|Roseberry|1987|p={{page needed|date=September 2022}}}}

During the most of 15th century, the [[Khokhars]] and [[Gakhars]] tribes were in general revolt in the Pothohar region. [[Jasrath Khokhar]] was one of their major chiefs who helped [[Zayn al-Abidin the Great|Sultan Zain Ul Abideen]] of [[Kashmir Sultanate]] to gain his throne and ruled over vast tracts of Jammu and [[Pothohar Plateau|North Punjab]]. He also conquered Delhi for a brief period in 1431 but was driven out by [[Mubarak Shah II|Mubarak Shah]].{{sfnp|Elliot|Dowson|1872|loc=Chapter XXI Tárikh-i Mubárak Sháhí, of Yahyá bin Ahmad}}

=== Modern period ===
'''Mughal Era'''

The [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]] came to power in the early sixteenth century and gradually expanded to control all of Punjab.<ref name="History">{{Cite book |last=History |first=Hourly |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IBmUzQEACAAJ&q=mughal+empire |title=Mughal Empire: A History from Beginning to End |date=June 2020 |publisher=Independently Published |isbn=979-8-6370-3729-2}}</ref> During Mughal period Punjab region was divided into two provinces; [[Subah of Multan|Province of Multan]] and  [[Subah of Lahore|Province of Lahore]].  The '''Subah of Lahore''' was one of the three ''[[subah]]s'' (provinces) of the [[Mughal Empire]] in the [[Punjab|Punjab region]], alongside [[Subah of Multan|Multan]] and Delhi subahs, encompassing the northern, central and eastern [[Punjab]].<ref name="lally">{{Citation |last=Lally |first=Jagjeet |title=Environment |date=2021-04-01 |work=India and the Silk Roads: The History of a Trading World |pages=21–46 |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/41237/chapter/350737136 |access-date= |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |language=en |doi=10.1093/oso/9780197581070.003.0002 |isbn=978-0-19-758107-0}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Wahi |first=Tripta |title=Irrigation, State and Society in Pre-colonial India |publisher=Nehru Memorial Museum and Library |year=2013 |isbn=9789383650002 |pages=3}}</ref> It was created as one of the original 12 [[Subah]]s of the Mughal Empire under the administrative reforms carried by [[Akbar]] in 1580. The province ceased to exist after the death of its last viceroy, [[Adina Beg]] in 1758, with large parts being incorporated into [[Durrani Empire]]. Collectively, Lahore and [[Subah of Multan|Multan subahs]], and parts of Delhi subah, comprised ''Mughal Punjab''.<ref name="lally" /><ref name=":12" />

During the Mughal era, [[Saadullah Khan (Mughal Empire)|Saadullah Khan]], born into a family of Punjabi Muslim agriculturalist from [[Chiniot]] remained the [[Grand vizier]] and [[Vakil-i-Mutlaq]] of the Mughal Empire in the period 1645–1656, during the reign of [[Shah Jahan]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hasan |first=Ibn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0EkfvgAACAAJ |title=The Central Structure of the Mughal Empire and Its Practical Working Up to the Year 1657 |date=1967 |publisher=Pakistan branch, Oxford University Press |pages=201 |language=en}}</ref> Other prominent Muslims from Punjab who rose to nobility during the Mughal Era include [[Wazir Khan (Lahore)|Wazir Khan]], [[Adina Beg|Adina Beg Arain]], and [[Shahbaz Khan Kamboh]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Talbot |first1=Ian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9edvEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT30 |title=Colonial Lahore: A History of the City and Beyond |last2=Kamran |first2=Tahir |date=15 February 2022 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-765594-8 |page=30 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dhavan |first=Purnima |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Mughal World |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-190-22264-2 |editor-last=Eaton |editor-first=Richard M. |editor-link=Richard M. Eaton |chapter=Warriors and Zamindars in Mughal Punjab |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222642.013.13 |editor-last2=Sreenivasan |editor-first2=Ramya |editor-link2=Ramya Sreenivasan |chapter-url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34708/chapter-abstract/296421480?redirectedFrom=fulltext}}</ref><ref>Islamic Thought and Movements in the Subcontinent, 711–1947, 1979, p 278, Syed Moinul Haq.</ref>

The Mughal Empire ruled the region until it was severely weakened in the eighteenth century.<ref name=":9" /> As Mughal power weakened, Afghan rulers of [[Durrani dynasty]] took control of the region.<ref name=":9" />

The Sikh Empire ruled Punjab from 1799 until the British annexed it in 1849 following the [[First Anglo-Sikh War|First]] and [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grewal |first1=J. S. |series=The New Cambridge History of India |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |date=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-63764-3 |pages=126–128 |edition=Revised |chapter=The Sikh empire (1799–1849) - Chapter 6}}</ref>

'''British Rule'''
[[File:Map of the Punjab (Panjab) region, showing the various doabs, ca.1880.jpg|thumb|Punjab Region on World Map under the [[British Rule]]]]
Most of the Punjabi homeland formed a province of British India, though a number of small [[princely state]]s retained local rulers who recognized British authority.<ref name=":9" /> The Punjab with its rich farmlands became one of the most important colonial assets.<ref name=":9" /> Lahore was a noted center of learning and culture, and [[Rawalpindi]] became an important military installation.<ref name=":9" />

Most Punjabis supported the British during [[World War I]], providing men and resources to the war effort even though the Punjab remained a source of anti-colonial activities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hibbert |first1=Christopher |title=The great mutiny: India 1857 |date=1980 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-004752-3 |location=Harmondsworth |page=163}}</ref> Disturbances in the region increased as the war continued.<ref name=":9" /> At the end of the war, high casualty rates, heavy taxation, inflation, and a widespread influenza epidemic disrupted Punjabi society.<ref name=":9" /> In 1919 a British officer ordered his troops to fire on a crowd of demonstrators, mostly Sikhs in Amritsar. The [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre|Jallianwala massacre]] fueled the [[Indian independence movement]].<ref name=":9" /> Nationalists declared the independence of India from Lahore in 1930 but were quickly suppressed.<ref name=":9" />

When the Second World War broke out, nationalism in British India had already divided into religious movements.<ref name=":9" /> Many Sikhs and other minorities supported the Hindus, who promised a secular multicultural and multireligious society, and [[Lahore Resolution|Muslim leaders in Lahore passed a resolution]] to work for a [[Islam in Pakistan|Muslim Pakistan]], making the Punjab region a center of growing conflict between Indian and Pakistani nationalists.<ref name=":9" /> At the end of the war, the British granted separate independence to India and Pakistan, setting off massive communal violence as Muslims fled to Pakistan and Hindu and Sikh Punjabis fled east to India.<ref name=":9" />

The [[British India|British Raj]] had major political, cultural, philosophical, and literary consequences in the Punjab, including the establishment of a new system of education. During the [[Indian independence movement|independence movement]], many Punjabis played a significant role, including [[Madan Lal Dhingra]], [[Sukhdev Thapar]], [[Sardar Ajit Singh|Ajit Singh Sandhu]], [[Bhagat Singh]], [[Udham Singh]], [[Kartar Singh Sarabha]], [[Bhai Parmanand]], [[Choudhry Rahmat Ali]], and [[Lala Lajpat Rai]].

'''After Independence'''

At the time of partition in 1947, the province was split into East and West Punjab. [[East Punjab]] (48%) became part of India, while [[West Punjab]] (52%) became part of Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pakgeotagging.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/partition-of-punjab-in-1947.html |title=Pakistan Geotagging: Partition of Punjab in 1947 |access-date=11 February 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208221714/http://pakgeotagging.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/partition-of-punjab-in-1947.html |archive-date=8 February 2016|date=3 October 2014 }}. Daily Times (10 May 2012). Retrieved 12 July 2013.</ref> The Punjab bore the brunt of the [[Civil disorder|civil unrest]] following [[Partition of India|partition]], with casualties estimated to be in the millions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Talbot|first1=Ian|title=Partition of India: The Human Dimension|journal=Cultural and Social History|year=2009|volume=6|issue=4|pages=403–410|quote=The number of casualties remains a matter of dispute, with figures being claimed that range from 200,000 to 2 million victims.|doi=10.2752/147800409X466254|s2cid=147110854}}</ref><ref name="dcosta2011">{{Cite book|title=Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia|last=D'Costa |first=Bina |publisher=Routledge|year=2011|isbn=978-0415565660|page=53}}</ref><ref name="Silence2000">{{Cite book |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/butalia-silence.html|title=The Other Side of Silence: Voices From the Partition of India|last=Butalia|first=Urvashi|publisher=Duke University Press|year=2000}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Muslims in India Since 1947: Islamic Perspectives on Inter-Faith Relations |last=Sikand|first=Yoginder |publisher=Routledge|year=2004|isbn=978-1134378258|page=5}}</ref>

Another major consequence of partition was the sudden shift towards religious homogeneity that occurred in all districts across Punjab owing to the new international border that cut through the province. This rapid demographic shift was primarily due to wide-scale migration but also caused by large-scale [[Religious persecution#Religious cleansing|religious cleansing]] riots which were witnessed across the region at the time. According to historical demographer [[Tim Dyson]], in the eastern regions of Punjab that ultimately became [[Punjab, India|Indian Punjab]] following independence, districts that were 66% Hindu in 1941 became 80% Hindu in 1951; those that were 20% Sikh became 50% Sikh in 1951. Conversely, in the western regions of Punjab that ultimately became Pakistani Punjab, all districts became almost exclusively Muslim by 1951.{{sfn|Dyson|2018|pp=188–189}}

==Geography==
Punjab is [[Pakistan]]'s second largest province by area after [[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Balochistan]] with an area of {{convert|205344|km2|abbr=off}}.<ref name="Punjab">{{cite web|title=Punjab|url=http://www.smeda.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69&Itemid=174|publisher=Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority|access-date=14 July 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625202613/http://www.smeda.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69&Itemid=174|archive-date=25 June 2016}}</ref> It occupies 25.8% of the total landmass of [[Pakistan]].<ref name="Punjab"/> Punjab province is bordered by [[Sindh]] to the south, the province of [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]] to the southwest, the province of [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] to the west, and the [[Islamabad Capital Territory]] and [[Azad Kashmir]] in the north. Punjab borders [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]] in the north, and the Indian states of [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] and [[Rajasthan]] to the east.

The capital and largest city is Lahore which was the capital of the wider Punjab region since 17th century. Other important cities include [[Faisalabad]], [[Rawalpindi]], [[Gujranwala]], [[Sargodha]], [[Multan]], [[Sialkot]], [[Bahawalpur]], [[Gujrat city|Gujrat]], [[Sheikhupura]], [[Jhelum]], [[Rahim Yar Khan]] and [[Sahiwal]]. The undivided Punjab region was home to six rivers, of which five flow through Pakistan's Punjab province. From west to east, the rivers are: the [[Indus River|Indus]], [[Jhelum River|Jhelum]], [[Chenab River|Chenab]], [[Ravi River|Ravi]] and [[Sutlej]]. It is the nation's only province that touches every other province; it also surrounds the [[Islamabad Capital Territory|federal enclave]] of the [[national capital]] city of [[Islamabad]].<ref name="Now or Never">{{cite web|first=Choudhary Rahmat |last=Ali |title=Now or Never. Are we to live or perish forever?|date=28 January 1933|url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Now_or_Never;_Are_We_to_Live_or_Perish_Forever%3F|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630210551/http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Now_or_Never;_Are_We_to_Live_or_Perish_Forever|archive-date=30 June 2008|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="Ikram1995">{{cite book|author=S. M. Ikram|title=Indian Muslims and partition of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7q9EubOYZmwC&pg=PA177|access-date=23 December 2011|date=1 January 1995|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn=978-81-7156-374-6|pages=177–|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521150524/http://books.google.com/books?id=7q9EubOYZmwC&pg=PA177|archive-date=21 May 2013|author-link=S. M. Ikram}}</ref>

===Topography===
[[File:Murree hill station,Pakistan.jpeg|thumb|Punjab features mountainous terrain near the [[hill station]] of [[Murree]].]]
[[File:Road Block due to landslide at Girdu.JPG|thumb|The route from [[Dera Ghazi Khan]] to [[Fort Munro]]|left]]
Punjab's landscape mostly consists of fertile alluvial plains of the [[Indus River]] and its four major tributaries in Pakistan, the [[Jhelum River|Jhelum]], [[Chenab River|Chenab]], [[Ravi River|Ravi]], and [[Sutlej]] rivers which traverse Punjab north to south – the fifth of the "five waters" of Punjab, the [[Beas River]], lies exclusively in the Indian state of Punjab. The landscape is amongst the most heavily irrigated on earth and canals can be found throughout the province. Punjab also includes several mountainous regions, including the [[Sulaiman Mountains]] in the southwest part of the province, the [[Margalla Hills]] in the north near [[Islamabad]], and the [[Salt Range]] which divides the most northerly portion of Punjab, the [[Pothohar Plateau]], from the rest of the province. Sparse [[deserts]] can be found in southern Punjab near the border with Rajasthan and the Sulaiman Range. Punjab also contains part of the [[Thal Desert|Thal]] and [[Cholistan Desert|Cholistan]] deserts. In the South, Punjab's elevation reaches {{convert|2327|m|ft|0}}{{citation needed|date=June 2017}} near the hill station of [[Fort Munro]] in Dera Ghazi Khan.

===Climate===

[[File:Punjab sunset.JPG|thumb|Sunset in Punjab, during summer]]
Most areas in Punjab experience extreme weather with foggy winters, often accompanied by rain. By mid-February the temperature begins to rise; springtime weather continues until mid-April, when the summer heat sets in.
The onset of the southwest [[monsoon]] is anticipated to reach Punjab by May, but since the early 1970s, the weather pattern has been irregular. The spring monsoon has either skipped over the area or has caused it to rain so hard that floods have resulted. June and July are oppressively hot. Although official estimates rarely place the temperature above 46&nbsp;°C, newspaper sources claim that it reaches 51&nbsp;°C and regularly carry reports about people who have succumbed to the heat. Heat records were broken in [[Multan]] in June 1993, when the [[Temperature measurement|mercury]] was reported to have risen to 54&nbsp;°C. In August the oppressive heat is punctuated by the rainy season, referred to as ''barsat'', which brings relief in its wake. The hardest part of the summer is then over, but cooler weather does not come until late October.

In early 2007, the province experienced one of the coldest winters in the last 70 years.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/06/nat47.htm|title= Mercury drops to freezing point – Dawn Pakistan|date= 6 January 2007}}</ref>

Punjab's region temperature ranges from −2° to 45&nbsp;°C, but can reach 50&nbsp;°C (122&nbsp;°F) in summer and can touch down to −10&nbsp;°C in winter.

Climatically, Punjab has three major seasons:<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web |url=http://punjabgovt.nic.in/punjabataglance/SomeFacts.htm |title=Welcome to Official Web site of Punjab, India |access-date=23 November 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051123230402/http://punjabgovt.nic.in/PUNJABATAGLANCE/SomeFacts.htm |archive-date=23 November 2005 }}</ref>

* Hot weather (April to early June) when temperature rises as high as {{convert|123|°F|°C|abbr=on}}.
* Rainy season (late June to September). Average annual rainfall ranges between 950 and 1300&nbsp;mm sub-mountain region and 500–800&nbsp;mm in the plains.
* Cold / Foggy / mild weather (October to March). Temperature goes down as low as {{convert|35.6|°F|°C|abbr=on}}.
{{clear}}
Weather extremes are notable from the hot and barren south to the cool hills of the north. The foothills of the [[Himalayas]] are found in the extreme north as well, and feature a much cooler and wetter climate, with snowfall common at higher altitudes.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}
== Demographics ==
{{See also|Punjabi Muslims|List of populated places in Punjab (Pakistan){{!}}List of populated places in Punjab}}

{| class="toccolours" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="float:right; margin:0 0 1em 1em; font-size:95%;"
|-
! colspan="4" style="background:#ccf; text-align:center;"| Historical population figures<ref>The figures for 1998 are from [http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/pop_by_province/pop_by_province.html_Pages/statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/pop_by_province/pop_by_province pop by province – statpak.gov.pk]{{dead link|date=July 2018|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. The estimates for 2012 are from [http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-13514-Population-shoots-up-by-47-percent-since-1998 Population shoots up by 47 percent since 1998] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120701193658/http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-13514-Population-shoots-up-by-47-percent-since-1998 |date=1 July 2012 }}. Thenews.com.pk. Retrieved on 12 July 2013.</ref>{{sfn|India. Census Commissioner|1941|p=8}}{{efn|name=WestPunjab1941|1941 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Lahore District|Lahore]], [[Sialkot District|Sialkot]], [[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]], [[Sheikhupura District|Sheikhupura]], [[Gujrat District|Gujrat]], [[Shahpur District|Shahpur]], [[Jhelum District|Jhelum]], [[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi]], [[Attock District|Attock]], [[Mianwali District|Mianwali]], [[Montgomery District|Montgomery]], [[Lyallpur District|Lyallpur]], [[Jhang District|Jhang]], [[Multan District|Multan]], [[Muzaffargarh District|Muzaffargargh]], [[Dera Ghazi Khan District|Dera Ghazi Khan]]), one [[tehsil]] ([[Shakargarh Tehsil|Shakargarh]] – then part of [[Gurdaspur district|Gurdaspur District]]), one [[princely state]] ([[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]), and one tract (Biloch Trans–Frontier) in Punjab Province, British India that ultimately fell on the western side of the [[Radcliffe Line]]. See 1941 census data here: {{sfn|India. Census Commissioner|1941|p=8}}<br />Immediately following the [[Partition of India|partition of India in 1947]], these districts and tract would ultimately make up the subdivision of West Punjab, which also later included [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]. The state that makes up this region in the contemporary era is Punjab, Pakistan.}}{{efn|name=WestPunjab1931|1931 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Lahore District|Lahore]], [[Sialkot District|Sialkot]], [[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]], [[Sheikhupura District|Sheikhupura]], [[Gujrat District|Gujrat]], [[Shahpur District|Shahpur]], [[Jhelum District|Jhelum]], [[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi]], [[Attock District|Attock]], [[Mianwali District|Mianwali]], [[Montgomery District|Montgomery]], [[Lyallpur District|Lyallpur]], [[Jhang District|Jhang]], [[Multan District|Multan]], [[Muzaffargarh District|Muzaffargargh]], [[Dera Ghazi Khan District|Dera Ghazi Khan]]), one [[tehsil]] ([[Shakargarh Tehsil|Shakargarh]] – then part of [[Gurdaspur district|Gurdaspur District]]), one [[princely state]] ([[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]), and one tract (Biloch Trans–Frontier) in Punjab Province, British India that ultimately fell on the western side of the [[Radcliffe Line]]. See 1931 census data here:<ref name="punjab1931"/>{{rp|277}}<br />Immediately following the [[Partition of India|partition of India in 1947]], these districts and tract would ultimately make up the subdivision of West Punjab, which also later included [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]. The state that makes up this region in the contemporary era is Punjab, Pakistan.}}{{efn|name=WestPunjab1921|1921 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Lahore District|Lahore]], [[Sialkot District|Sialkot]], [[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]], [[Sheikhupura District|Sheikhupura]], [[Gujrat District|Gujrat]], [[Shahpur District|Shahpur]], [[Jhelum District|Jhelum]], [[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi]], [[Attock District|Attock]], [[Mianwali District|Mianwali]], [[Montgomery District|Montgomery]], [[Lyallpur District|Lyallpur]], [[Jhang District|Jhang]], [[Multan District|Multan]], [[Muzaffargarh District|Muzaffargargh]], [[Dera Ghazi Khan District|Dera Ghazi Khan]]), one [[tehsil]] ([[Shakargarh Tehsil|Shakargarh]] – then part of [[Gurdaspur district|Gurdaspur District]]), one [[princely state]] ([[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]), and one tract (Biloch Trans–Frontier) in Punjab Province, British India that ultimately fell on the western side of the [[Radcliffe Line]]. See 1921 census data here:<ref name="punjab1921"/>{{rp|29}}<br />Immediately following the partition of India in 1947, these districts and tract would ultimately make up the subdivision of West Punjab, which also later included [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]. The state that makes up this region in the contemporary era is Punjab, Pakistan.}}{{efn|name=WestPunjab1911|1911 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Lahore District|Lahore]], [[Sialkot District|Sialkot]], [[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]], [[Gujrat District|Gujrat]], [[Shahpur District|Shahpur]], [[Jhelum District|Jhelum]], [[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi]], [[Attock District|Attock]], [[Mianwali District|Mianwali]], [[Montgomery District|Montgomery]], [[Lyallpur District|Lyallpur]], [[Jhang District|Jhang]], [[Multan District|Multan]], [[Muzaffargarh District|Muzaffargargh]], [[Dera Ghazi Khan District|Dera Ghazi Khan]]), one [[tehsil]] ([[Shakargarh Tehsil|Shakargarh]] – then part of [[Gurdaspur district|Gurdaspur District]]), one [[princely state]] ([[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]), and one tract (Biloch Trans–Frontier) in Punjab Province, British India that ultimately fell on the western side of the [[Radcliffe Line]]. See 1911 census data here:<ref name="punjab1911"/>{{rp|27}}<ref name="punjab1911B"/>{{rp|27}}<br />Immediately following the partition of India in 1947, these districts and tract would ultimately make up the subdivision of West Punjab, which also later included [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]. The state that makes up this region in the contemporary era is Punjab, Pakistan.}}{{efn|name=WestPunjab1901|1901 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Lahore District|Lahore]], [[Sialkot District|Sialkot]], [[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]], [[Gujrat District|Gujrat]], [[Shahpur District|Shahpur]], [[Jhelum District|Jhelum]], [[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi]], [[Mianwali District|Mianwali]], [[Montgomery District|Montgomery]], [[Lyallpur District|Lyallpur]] (inscribed as the ''[[Punjab Canal Colonies#Chenab Colony|Chenab Colony]]'' on the 1901 census), [[Jhang District|Jhang]], [[Multan District|Multan]], [[Muzaffargarh District|Muzaffargargh]], [[Dera Ghazi Khan District|Dera Ghazi Khan]]), one [[tehsil]] ([[Shakargarh Tehsil|Shakargarh]] – then part of [[Gurdaspur district|Gurdaspur District]]), one [[princely state]] ([[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]), and one tract (Biloch Trans–Frontier) in Punjab Province, British India that ultimately fell on the western side of the [[Radcliffe Line]]. See 1901 census data here:<ref name="punjab1901" />{{rp|34}}<br />Immediately following the partition of India in 1947, these districts and tract would ultimately make up the subdivision of West Punjab, which also later included [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]. The state that makes up this region in the contemporary era is Punjab, Pakistan.}}{{efn|name=WestPunjab1891|1891 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Lahore District|Lahore]], [[Sialkot District|Sialkot]], [[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]], [[Gujrat District|Gujrat]], [[Shahpur District|Shahpur]], [[Jhelum District|Jhelum]], [[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi]], [[Montgomery District|Montgomery]], [[Jhang District|Jhang]], [[Multan District|Multan]], [[Muzaffargarh District|Muzaffargargh]], [[Dera Ghazi Khan District|Dera Ghazi Khan]]), one [[tehsil]] ([[Shakargarh Tehsil|Shakargarh]] – then part of [[Gurdaspur district|Gurdaspur District]]), one [[princely state]] ([[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]), and one tract (Biloch Trans–Frontier) in Punjab Province, British India that ultimately fell on the western side of the [[Radcliffe Line]]. See 1891 census data here:<ref name="punjab1891"/><ref name="punjab1891B"/><ref name="punjab1891C"/><br>Immediately following the partition of India in 1947, these districts and tract would ultimately make up the subdivision of West Punjab, which also later included [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]. The state that makes up this region in the contemporary era is Punjab, Pakistan.}}{{efn|name=WestPunjab1881|1881 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Lahore District|Lahore]], [[Sialkot District|Sialkot]], [[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]], [[Gujrat District|Gujrat]], [[Shahpur District|Shahpur]], [[Jhelum District|Jhelum]], [[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi]], [[Montgomery District|Montgomery]], [[Jhang District|Jhang]], [[Multan District|Multan]], [[Muzaffargarh District|Muzaffargargh]], [[Dera Ghazi Khan District|Dera Ghazi Khan]]), one [[tehsil]] ([[Shakargarh Tehsil|Shakargarh]] – then part of [[Gurdaspur district|Gurdaspur District]]), and one [[princely state]] ([[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]) in Punjab Province, British India that ultimately fell on the western side of the [[Radcliffe Line]]. See 1881 census data here:<ref name="punjab1881"/><ref name="punjab1881B"/><ref name="punjab1881C"/><br>Immediately following the partition of India in 1947, these districts and tract would ultimately make up the subdivision of West Punjab, which also later included [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]. The state that makes up this region in the contemporary era is Punjab, Pakistan.}}
|-
! Census !! style="text-align:right;"| Population || Urban || Rural
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1881 || style="text-align:right;"| 7,942,399 || {{N/a}} || {{N/a}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1891 || style="text-align:right;"| 8,895,342 || {{N/a}} || {{N/a}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1901 || style="text-align:right;"| 10,427,765 || {{N/a}} || {{N/a}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1911 || style="text-align:right;"| 11,104,585 || {{N/a}} || {{N/a}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1921 || style="text-align:right;"| 11,888,985 || {{N/a}} || {{N/a}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1931 || style="text-align:right;"| 14,040,798 || {{N/a}} || {{N/a}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1941 || style="text-align:right;"| 17,350,103 || {{N/a}} || {{N/a}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1951 || style="text-align:right;"| 20,540,762 || 3,568,076 || 16,972,686
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1961 || style="text-align:right;"| 25,463,974 || 5,475,922 || 19,988,052
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1972 || style="text-align:right;"| 37,607,423 || 9,182,695 || 28,424,728
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1981 || style="text-align:right;"| 47,292,441 || 13,051,646 || 34,240,795
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1998 || style="text-align:right;"| 73,621,290 || 23,019,025 || 50,602,265
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2017 || style="text-align:right;"| 110,012,615 || 40,401,164 || 70,008,451
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2023 || style="text-align:right;"| 127,688,922 || 51,975,967 || 75,712,955
|}
=== Population ===
The province is home to over half the population of [[Pakistan]], and is the world's [[List of first-level administrative divisions by population|second-most populous subnational entity]], and the most populous outside of [[India]] and [[China]].

=== Languages ===
{{see also|Languages of Pakistan|Punjabi dialects and languages}}
{{Pie chart
|thumb = left
|caption = Languages of Punjab, Pakistan<br /><small>(2023 Census)</small><ref>{{Cite web|title=TABLE 11 : POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE, SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/punjab/dcr/table_11.pdf|access-date=2 April 2020 }}</ref>
|label1 = [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] |value1 = 67 |color1 = red
|label2 = [[Saraiki language|Saraiki]] |value2 = 20.64|color2 = orange
|label3 = [[Urdu]] |value3 = 7.18 |color3 = green
|label4 = [[Pashto]] |value4 = 1.87 |color4 = yellow
|label5=[[Balochi language|Balochi]]|value5=0.83|color5=blue
|label6=[[Mewati language|Mewati]]|value6=0.81|color6=grey
|label7=[[Hindko]]|value7=0.6|color7=purple|value8=1.02|color8=white|label8=Others}}

The major native language spoken in the Punjab is [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], representing the largest language spoken in the country. The Punjabi language is spoken in the form of many [[Punjabi dialects and languages|dialects]] across the province including [[Majhi dialect|Majhi]], [[Saraiki language|Multani]], [[Pothwari]], [[Thali dialect|Thali]], [[Jhangvi dialect|Jhangvi]], [[Dhanni dialect|Dhanni]], [[Shahpuri dialect|Shahpuri]], [[Derawali dialect|Derawali]], [[Riasti]], [[Doabi dialect|Doabi]], [[Chachhi dialect|Chachhi]], [[Awankari dialect|Awankari]], [[Ghebi dialect|Ghebi]], and others. Many of these dialects are grouped together in the form of varieties such as [[Saraiki language|Saraiki]] in the south consisting of southern dialects including Multani, Derawali and Riasti; and [[Hindko]] in the northwest consisting of a group of northwestern dialects.{{sfn|Shackle|1979|p=198}} Saraiki and Hindko varieties of the language have been separately enumerated from ''Punjabi (general)'' in [[Census in Pakistan|Pakistani censuses]] from 1981 and 2017, respectively.{{clear}}

=== Religions ===
{{see also|Christianity in Punjab, Pakistan|Hinduism in Punjab, Pakistan|Religion in the Punjab}}
{{Pie chart
|thumb = Left
|caption = Religion in Punjab, Pakistan (2023 Census)<ref name="punjab2017"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Population by Religion |url= https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_9.pdf }}</ref>
|label1 = [[Islam]] |value1 = 97.75 |color1 = Green
|label2 = [[Christianity]] |value2 = 1.93 |color2 = Blue
|label3 = [[Hinduism]] |value3 = 0.19 |color3 = DarkOrange
|label4 = Others |value4 = 0.13 |color4 = Gray 
}}
According to the 2023 census, the population of Punjab, Pakistan was 127,688,922.<ref name="punjab2023"/> With 124,462,897 adherents, [[Islam in Pakistan|Muslims]] comprise the largest religious group, with a [[Sunni]] [[Hanafi]] majority and a [[Shia]] [[Ithna 'ashariyah]] minority, forming approximately 97.75 percent of the population.<ref name="punjab2023"/> The largest non-Muslim minority is [[Christianity in Pakistan|Christians]] with 2,458,924 adherents, forming roughly 1.93 percent of the population.<ref name="punjab2023"/> [[Hinduism in Pakistan|Hindus]] form 249,716 people, comprising approximately 0.20 percent of the population.<ref name="punjab2023"/> The other minorities include [[Sikhs]] and Parsis.<ref name="punjab2023"/>
<div style="overflow-x:auto; border: 1px solid #AAA; padding-left: 0.1em; padding-right: 0.1em">
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Religion in Punjab, Pakistan (1881–2023)
! rowspan="2" |[[Religion in Pakistan|Religious]]<br />group
! colspan="2" |1881<ref name="punjab1881">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25057656 |jstor=saoa.crl.25057656 |access-date=7 April 2024 |title=Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. I. |year=1881 }}</ref><ref name="punjab1881B">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25057657 |jstor=saoa.crl.25057657 |access-date=7 April 2024 |title=Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. II. |year=1881 |pages=14 }}</ref><ref name="punjab1881C">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25057658 |jstor=saoa.crl.25057658 |access-date=7 April 2024 |title=Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. III. |year=1881 |pages=14 }}</ref><ref name="Shakargarh1881">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.35264 |access-date=7 April 2024 |title=Gazetteers Of Gurdaspur District, 1883-84 |year=1884}}</ref>{{efn|name=WestPunjab1881}}
! colspan="2" |1891<ref name="punjab1891">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25318668 |jstor=saoa.crl.25318668 |access-date=30 November 2024 |title=Census of India, 1891 The Punjab and its feudatories, part I--The report on the census |year=1891 }}</ref><ref name="punjab1891B">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25318669 |jstor=saoa.crl.25318669 |access-date=30 November 2024 |title=Census of India, 1891 The Punjab and its feudatories, part II--Imperial Tables and Supplementary Returns for the British Territory |year=1891 |pages=14 }}</ref><ref name="punjab1891C">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25318670 |jstor=saoa.crl.25318670 |access-date=30 November 2024 |title=Census of India, 1891 The Punjab and its feudatories, part III--Imperial Tables and Supplementary Returns for the Native States, Together with a Caste Index |year=1891 |pages=8 }}</ref><ref name="Shakargarh1891">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.30607/ |access-date=30 November 2024 |title=Gazetteer of the Gurdaspur district, 1891-92 |year=1892}}</ref>{{efn|name=WestPunjab1891}}
! colspan="2" |1901<ref name="punjab1901">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25363739 |jstor=saoa.crl.25363739 |access-date=10 March 2024 |title=Census of India 1901. [Vol. 17A]. Imperial tables, I-VIII, X-XV, XVII and XVIII for the Punjab, with the native states under the political control of the Punjab Government, and for the North-west Frontier Province. |year=1901 |pages=34}}</ref><ref name="Shakargarh1901">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.105602 |access-date=10 March 2024 |title=Punjab District Gazetteers Gurdaspur District Vol.21 Statistical Tables |year=1913 |pages=62}}</ref>{{efn|name=WestPunjab1901}}
! colspan="2" |1911<ref name="punjab1911">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25393788 |jstor=saoa.crl.25393788 |access-date=3 March 2024 |title=Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables. |year=1911 |pages=27}}</ref><ref name="punjab1911B">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62718 |access-date=3 March 2024 |title=Census Of India 1911 Punjab Vol XIV Part II |year=1911 |author=Kaul, Harikishan |pages=27}}</ref>{{efn|name=WestPunjab1911}}
! colspan="2" |1921<ref name="punjab1921">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25430165 |jstor=saoa.crl.25430165 |access-date=17 February 2024 |title=Census of India 1921. Vol. 15, Punjab and Delhi. Pt. 2, Tables. |year=1921 |pages=29}}</ref>{{efn|name=WestPunjab1921}}
! colspan="2" |1931<ref name="punjab1931">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25793242 |jstor=saoa.crl.25793242 |access-date=4 February 2024 |title=Census of India 1931. Vol. 17, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables. |year=1931 |pages=277}}</ref>{{efn|name=WestPunjab1931}}
! colspan="2" |1941{{sfn|India. Census Commissioner|1941|p=42}}{{efn|name=WestPunjab1941}}
! colspan="2" |1951<ref name="punjab1951">{{cite web|url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/31311|title=Census of Pakistan, 1951 Population According to Religion Table 6|access-date=11 February 2024}}</ref>{{rp|12–21}}
! colspan="2" |1998<ref name="punjab1998">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/other/yearbooks//yearbook2014/16-16.pdf|title=Population Distribution by Religion, 1998 Census|access-date=23 January 2023}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |2017<ref name="punjab2017">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2017/tables/pakistan/Table09n.pdf|title=TABLE 9 – POPULATION BY SEX, RELIGION AND RURAL/URBAN|access-date=23 January 2023}}</ref><ref name="2017 Census">{{cite web|title=SALIENT FEATURES OF FINAL RESULTS CENSUS-2017|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//population_census/sailent_feature_%20census_2017.pdf|access-date=20 May 2021|archive-date=7 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407233606/https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//population_census/sailent_feature_%20census_2017.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |2023<ref name="punjab2023">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/digital-census/detailed-results|title=7th Population and Housing Census - Detailed Results Table-9 Population by sex, religion and rural/urban|website=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics|access-date=6 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Religious Demographics of Pakistan |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_9.pdf}}</ref>
|-
![[Population|{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}]]
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
|-
! [[Islam]] [[File:Star and Crescent.svg|15px]]
| 6,201,859
|{{Percentage | 6201859 | 7942399 | 2 }}
| 6,766,545
|{{Percentage | 6766545 | 8895342 | 2 }}
| 7,951,155
|{{Percentage | 7951155 | 10427765 | 2 }}
| 8,494,314
|{{Percentage | 8494314 | 11104585 | 2 }}
| 8,975,288
|{{Percentage | 8975288 | 11888985 | 2 }}
| 10,570,029
|{{Percentage | 10570029 | 14040798 | 2 }}
| 13,022,160
|{{Percentage | 13022160 | 17350103 | 2 }}
| 20,200,794
|{{Percentage | 20200794 | 20636702 | 2 }}
| 71,574,830
|{{Percentage | 71574830 | 73621290 | 2 }}
| 107,541,602
|{{Percentage | 107541602 | 109989655 | 2 }}
| 124,462,897
|{{Percentage | 124462897 | 127333305 | 2 }}
|-
! [[Hinduism]] [[File:Om.svg|15px]]{{efn|name=ad-dharmi|1931–1941 census: Including [[Ad-Dharmi]]s}}
| 1,449,913
|{{Percentage | 1449913 | 7942399 | 2 }}
| 1,727,810
|{{Percentage | 1727810 | 8895342 | 2 }}
| 1,944,363
|{{Percentage | 1944363 | 10427765 | 2 }}
| 1,645,758
|{{Percentage | 1645758 | 11104585 | 2 }}
| 1,797,141
|{{Percentage | 1797141 | 11888985 | 2 }}
| 1,957,878
|{{Percentage | 1957878 | 14040798 | 2 }}
| 2,373,466
|{{Percentage | 2373466 | 17350103 | 2 }}
| 33,052
|{{Percentage | 33052 | 20636702 | 2 }}
| 116,410
|{{Percentage | 116410 | 73621290 | 2 }}
| 211,641
|{{Percentage | 211641 | 109989655 | 2 }}
| 249,716
|{{Percentage | 249716 | 127333305 | 2 }}
|-
! [[Sikhism]] [[File:Khanda.svg|15px]]
| 272,908
|{{Percentage | 272908 | 7942399 | 2 }}
| 366,162
|{{Percentage | 366162 | 8895342 | 2 }}
| 483,999
|{{Percentage | 483999 | 10427765 | 2 }}
| 813,441
|{{Percentage | 813441 | 11104585 | 2 }}
| 863,091
|{{Percentage | 863091 | 11888985 | 2 }}
| 1,180,789
|{{Percentage | 1180789 | 14040798 | 2 }}
| 1,530,112
|{{Percentage | 1530112 | 17350103 | 2 }}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| 5,649
|{{Percentage | 5649 | 127333305 | 3 }}
|-
! [[Christianity]] [[File:Christian cross.svg|15px]]
| 12,992
|{{Percentage | 12992 | 7942399 | 2 }}
| 30,168
|{{Percentage | 30168 | 8895342 | 2 }}
| 42,371
|{{Percentage | 42371 | 10427765 | 2 }}
| 144,514
|{{Percentage | 144514 | 11104585 | 2 }}
| 247,030
|{{Percentage | 247030 | 11888985 | 2 }}
| 324,730
|{{Percentage | 324730 | 14040798 | 2 }}
| 395,311
|{{Percentage | 395311 | 17350103 | 2 }}
| 402,617
|{{Percentage | 402617 | 20636702 | 2 }}
| 1,699,843
|{{Percentage | 1699843 | 73621290 | 2 }}
| 2,063,063
|{{Percentage | 2063063 | 109989655 | 2 }}
| 2,458,924
|{{Percentage | 2458924 | 127333305 | 2 }}
|-
! [[Jainism]] [[File:Jain_Prateek_Chihna.svg|15px]]
| 4,352
|{{Percentage | 4352 | 7942399 | 2 }}
| 4,408
|{{Percentage | 4408 | 8895342 | 2 }}
| 5,562
|{{Percentage | 5562 | 10427765 | 2 }}
| 5,977
|{{Percentage | 5977 | 11104585 | 2 }}
| 5,930
|{{Percentage | 5930 | 11888985 | 2 }}
| 6,921
|{{Percentage | 6921 | 14040798 | 2 }}
| 9,520
|{{Percentage | 9520 | 17350103 | 2 }}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
|-
! [[Zoroastrianism]] [[File:Faravahar.svg|15px]]
| 354
|{{Percentage | 354 | 7942399 | 3 }}
| 215
|{{Percentage | 215 | 8895342 | 3 }}
| 300
|{{Percentage | 300 | 10427765 | 3 }}
| 377
|{{Percentage | 377 | 11104585 | 3 }}
| 309
|{{Percentage | 309 | 11888985 | 3 }}
| 413
|{{Percentage | 413 | 14040798 | 3 }}
| 312
|{{Percentage | 312 | 17350103 | 3 }}
| 195
|{{Percentage | 195 | 20636702 | 3 }}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| 358
|{{Percentage | 358 | 127333305 | 4 }}
|-
! [[Buddhism]] [[File:Dharma_Wheel_(2).svg|15px]]
| 0
|{{Percentage | 0 | 7942399 | 4 }}
| 0
|{{Percentage | 0 | 8895342 | 4 }}
| 6
|{{Percentage | 6 | 10427765 | 4 }}
| 168
|{{Percentage | 168 | 11104585 | 3 }}
| 172
|{{Percentage | 172 | 11888985 | 3 }}
| 32
|{{Percentage | 32 | 14040798 | 4 }}
| 87
|{{Percentage | 87 | 17350103 | 3 }}
| 9
|{{Percentage | 9 | 20636702 | 4 }}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
|-
! [[Judaism]] [[File:Star_of_David.svg|15px]]
|{{N/a}}
|{{N/a}}
| 17
|{{Percentage | 17 | 8895342 | 4 }}
| 9
|{{Percentage | 9 | 10427765 | 4 }}
| 36
|{{Percentage | 36 | 11104585 | 4 }}
| 16
|{{Percentage | 16 | 11888985 | 4 }}
| 6
|{{Percentage | 6 | 14040798 | 4 }}
| 7
|{{Percentage | 7 | 17350103 | 4 }}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
|-
! [[Ahmadiyya]] [[File:Liwa-e-Ahmadiyya_1-2.svg|15px]]
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| {{N/a}}
| 181,428
|{{Percentage | 181428 | 73621290 | 2 }}
| 158,021
|{{Percentage | 158021 | 109989655 | 2 }}
| 140,512
|{{Percentage | 140512 | 127333305 | 2 }}
|-
! Others
| 21
|{{Percentage | 21 | 7942399 | 4 }}
| 17
|{{Percentage | 17 | 8895342 | 4 }}
| 0
|{{Percentage | 0 | 10427765 | 4 }}
| 0
|{{Percentage | 0 | 11104585 | 4 }}
| 8
|{{Percentage | 8 | 11888985 | 4 }}
| 0
|{{Percentage | 0 | 14040798 | 4 }}
| 19,534
|{{Percentage | 19534 | 17350103 | 2 }}
| 35
|{{Percentage | 35 | 20636702 | 4 }}
| 48,779
|{{Percentage | 48779 | 73621290 | 2 }}
| 15,328
|{{Percentage | 15328 | 109989655 | 2 }}
| 15,249
|{{Percentage | 15249 | 127333305 | 2 }}
|- class="sortbottom"
! Total responses
! 7,942,399
!{{Percentage | 7942399 | 7942399 | 2 }}
! 8,895,342
!{{Percentage | 8895342 | 8895342 | 2 }}
! 10,427,765
!{{Percentage | 10427765 | 10427765 | 2 }}
! 11,104,585
!{{Percentage | 11104585 | 11104585 | 2 }}
! 11,888,985
!{{Percentage | 11888985 | 11888985 | 2 }}
! 14,040,798
!{{Percentage | 14040798 | 14040798 | 2 }}
! 17,350,103
!{{Percentage | 17350103 | 17350103 | 2 }}
! 20,636,702
!{{Percentage | 20636702 | 20651140 | 2 }}
! 73,621,290 
!{{Percentage | 73621290 | 73621290 | 2 }}
! 109,989,655
!{{Percentage | 109989655 | 109989655 | 2 }}
! 127,333,305
!{{Percentage | 127333305 | 127688922 | 2 }}
|- class="sortbottom"
! Total population
! 7,942,399
!{{Percentage | 7942399 | 7942399 | 2 }}
! 8,895,342
!{{Percentage | 8895342 | 8895342 | 2 }}
! 10,427,765
!{{Percentage | 10427765 | 10427765 | 2 }}
! 11,104,585
!{{Percentage | 11104585 | 11104585 | 2 }}
! 11,888,985
!{{Percentage | 11888985 | 11888985 | 2 }}
! 14,040,798
!{{Percentage | 14040798 | 14040798 | 2 }}
! 17,350,103
!{{Percentage | 17350103 | 17350103 | 2 }}
! 20,651,140
!{{Percentage | 20651140 | 20651140 | 2 }}
! 73,621,290 
!{{Percentage | 73621290 | 73621290 | 2 }}
! 109,989,655
!{{Percentage | 109989655 | 109989655 | 2 }}
! 127,688,922
!{{Percentage | 127688922 | 127688922 | 2 }}
|}
</div>

==Government and administration==
{{Main|Government of Punjab, Pakistan}}
{{See also|Provincial Assembly of the Punjab|Chief Minister of Punjab, Pakistan|Governor of Punjab, Pakistan}}
[[File:Beautiful view of Punjab Assembly Lahore - panoramio.jpg|thumb|Punjab assembly, Lahore]]
The Government of Punjab is a provincial government in the federal structure of Pakistan, is based in [[Lahore]], the capital of the Punjab Province. The Chief Minister of Punjab (CM) is elected by the [[Provincial Assembly of the Punjab]] to serve as the head of the provincial government in Punjab, Pakistan. The current Chief Minister is [[Maryam Nawaz|Maryam Nawaz Sharif]], who is also the first ever woman Chief Minister of any province in Pakistan. The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the province of Punjab, which is located in Lahore in eastern Pakistan. The Assembly was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of Pakistan as having a total of 371 seats, with 66 seats reserved for women and eight reserved for non-Muslims.

There are 48 departments in Punjab government. Each Department is headed by a Provincial Minister (Politician) and a Provincial Secretary (A civil servant of usually BPS-20 or BPS-21). All Ministers report to the Chief Minister, who is the Chief Executive. All Secretaries report to the Chief Secretary of Punjab, who is usually a BPS-22 Civil Servant. The Chief Secretary in turn, reports to the Chief Minister. In addition to these departments, there are several Autonomous Bodies and Attached Departments that report directly to either the Secretaries or the Chief Secretary.

===Divisions===
[[File:New District wise map Punjab province 2022-Prepared by Vijay Kumar.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Map of the Pakistani Punjab divisions]]{{Excerpt|Divisions of Punjab, Pakistan#List of divisions by population over the years}}

===Districts===
{{Excerpt|List of districts in Punjab, Pakistan#List of the Districts by area, population, density, literacy rate etc.}}

==Major cities==
{{Main|List of cities in Punjab (Pakistan)|List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population}}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; border: #999 solid 1px; text-align: lcenter;"
|-
! colspan="5" style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;"| '''List of major cities in Punjab'''
|-
! style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;"| Rank
! style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;"| City
! style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;"| District
! style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;"| Population
! style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;"| Image

|-
| style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;"| 1 ||align=left | '''[[Lahore]]''' ||align=left | [[Lahore District|Lahore]] || 11,126,285 || [[File:Badshahi Mosquee, Lahore.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;"| 2 ||align=left | '''[[Faisalabad]]''' ||align=left | [[Faisalabad District|Faisalabad]] || 3,204,726 || [[File:Clock Tower Faisalabad by Usman Nadeem.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;"| 3 ||align=left | '''[[Rawalpindi]]''' ||align=left | [[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi]] || 2,098,231 || [[File:Perspective view from main gate - Christ Church, Rawalpindi.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;" | 4 || align="left" | '''[[Gujranwala]]'''|| align="left" |[[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]]|| 2,027,001 || [[File:Nishan-E-Manzil Gujranwala 20140925.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;" | 5 || align="left" | '''[[Multan]]'''|| align="left" |[[Multan District|Multan]]|| 1,871,843 || [[File:Shah Rukn e Alam by M Ali Mir 03.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;" | 6 || align="left" | '''[[Bahawalpur]]'''|| align="left" |[[Bahawalpur District|Bahawalpur]]|| 762,111 || [[File:Front Elevation of Noor Mahal.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;"| 7 ||align=left | '''[[Sargodha]]''' ||align=left | [[Sargodha District|Sargodha]] || 659,862 || [[File:Central Library of University of Sargodha.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;" | 8 || align="left" | '''[[Sialkot]]'''|| align="left" |[[Sialkot District|Sialkot]]|| 655,852 || [[File:Clock Tower, Sialkot 21.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;" | 9 || align="left" | '''[[Sheikhupura]]'''|| align="left" |[[Sheikhupura District|Sheikhupura]]|| 473,129 || [[File:Hiran Minar- monument to Mansraj.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;" | 10 || align="left" | '''[[Rahim Yar Khan]]'''|| align="left" |[[Rahim Yar Khan District|Rahim Yar Khan]]|| 420,419 || [[File:Bhong Mosaue Main Building.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;"| 11 ||align=left | '''[[Jhang]]''' ||align=left | [[Jhang District|Jhang]] || 414,131 || [[File:Shrine of Sufi Saint Sultan Bahu, Jhang .jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;" | 12 || align="left" | '''[[Dera Ghazi Khan]]'''|| align="left" |[[Dera Ghazi Khan District|Dera Ghazi Khan]]|| 399,064 || [[File:Statue of horses, D.G. Khan.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;" | 13 || align="left" | '''[[Gujrat city|Gujrat]]'''|| align="left" |[[Gujrat District|Gujrat]]|| 390,533 || [[File:Mosque in Gujrat Pakistan.JPG|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;" | 14 || align="left" | '''[[Sahiwal]]'''|| align="left" |[[Sahiwal District|Sahiwal]]|| 389,605 || [[File:Ravi bridge.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:YellowGreen;" | 15 || align="left" | '''[[Wah Cantonment]]'''|| align="left" |[[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi]]|| 380,103 || [[File:Central Mosque (Markai Jamia Masjid), Wah Cantt.jpg|200px]]
|-
| colspan="5" style="text-align:center; background:#f5f5f5;"| '''Source: pbscensus 2017'''<ref name="DISTRICT WISE CENSUS RESULTS CENSUS 2017">{{cite web|url=http://www.pbscensus.gov.pk/sites/default/files/DISTRICT_WISE_CENSUS_RESULTS_CENSUS_2017.pdf|title=DISTRICT WISE CENSUS RESULTS CENSUS 2017|publisher=www.pbscensus.gov.pk|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829164748/http://www.pbscensus.gov.pk/sites/default/files/DISTRICT_WISE_CENSUS_RESULTS_CENSUS_2017.pdf|archive-date=29 August 2017}}</ref>
|-
| colspan="5" style="text-align:center; background:#f5f5f5;"| '''This is a list of city proper populations and does not indicate metro populations.'''
|}

==Economy==
{{Further|Dadukhel mine}}

[[File:GDP by Province.jpg|thumb|right|GDP by Province]]
Punjab has the [[List of Pakistani provinces by GDP|largest economy]] in Pakistan, contributing most to the national GDP. The province's economy has quadrupled since 1972.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/PAKISTANEXTN/Resources/293051-1241610364594/6097548-1257441952102/balochistaneconomicreportvol2.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501074227/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/PAKISTANEXTN/Resources/293051-1241610364594/6097548-1257441952102/balochistaneconomicreportvol2.pdf|url-status=dead|title=World Bank Document<!-- Bot generated title -->|archive-date=1 May 2011|access-date=19 December 2019}}</ref> Its share of Pakistan's GDP was 54.7% in 2000 and 59% as of 2010. It is especially dominant in the service and agriculture sectors of Pakistan's economy. With its contribution ranging from 52.1% to 64.5% in the Service Sector and 56.1% to 61.5% in the agriculture sector. It is also a major manpower contributor because it has the largest pool of professionals and highly skilled (technically trained) manpower in Pakistan. It is also dominant in the manufacturing sector, though the dominance is not as huge, with historical contributions ranging from a low of 44% to a high of 52.6%.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.spdc.org.pk/pubs/nps/nps5.pdf|title=Provincial Accounts of Pakistan: Methodology and Estimates 1973–2000|access-date=19 December 2019}}{{Dead link|date=December 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In 2007, Punjab achieved a growth rate of 7.8%<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=152370|title=The News International: Latest, Breaking, Pakistan, Sports and Video News|access-date=22 April 2015|archive-date=28 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728093450/https://www.thenews.com.pk/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and during the period 2002–03 to 2007–08, its economy grew at a rate of between 7% and 8% per year.<ref>A PricewaterhouseCoopers study released in 2009, surveying the 2008 GDP of the top cities in the world, calculated Faisalabad's GDP (PPP) at $35&nbsp;billion. The city was third in Pakistan behind Karachi ($78&nbsp;billion) and Lahore ($40&nbsp;billion). Faisalabad's GDP is projected to rise to $37&nbsp;billion in 2025 at a growth rate of 5.7%, higher than the growth rates of 5.5% and 5.6% predicted for Karachi and Lahore.[2][ "PricewaterhouseCoopers Media Centre". Ukmediacentre.pwc.com. 1 June 2005.][http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/in-paper-magazine/economic-and-business/micro-credit,-income-distribution,-poverty-789 – Last Paragraph]{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and during 2008–09 grew at 6% against the total GDP growth of Pakistan at 4%.

Despite the lack of a coastline, Punjab is the most industrialised province of Pakistan;<ref name="auto"/> its manufacturing industries produce textiles, sports goods, heavy machinery, electrical appliances, surgical instruments, vehicles, auto parts, metals, sugar mill plants, aircraft, cement, agricultural machinery, bicycles and rickshaws, floor coverings, and processed foods. In 2003, the province manufactured 90% of the paper and paper boards, 71% of the fertilizers, 69% of the sugar and 40% of the cement of Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web |title=Punjab Gateway |url=http://203.215.180.58/portal/docimages/9327manufacturing.pdf |url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070705111033/http://203.215.180.58/portal/docimages/9327manufacturing.pdf |archive-date=5 July 2007}}</ref>
[[File:Industrial Zones Punjab.jpg|thumb|right|Industrial Zones Punjab, Source:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.findpk.com/yp/Biz_Guide/html/industrial_zones_punjab.html|title=Industrial Zone Punjab, Pakistan|first=ZAHID|last=IKRAM|website=findpk.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711003615/http://www.findpk.com/yp/Biz_Guide/html/industrial_zones_punjab.html|archive-date=11 July 2011}}</ref>]]
Lahore and Gujranwala Divisions have the largest concentration of small light engineering units. The district of Sialkot excels in sports goods, surgical instruments and cutlery goods. Industrial estates are being developed by Punjab government to boost industrialization in province, [[Quaid e Azam Business Park Sheikhupura]] is one of the industrial areas which is being developed near Sheikhupura on Lahore-Islamabad motorway.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://pie.com.pk/quaid-e-azam-business-park | title=PIEDMC – Punjab Industrial Estate Development and Management Company}}</ref>

Punjab has the lowest poverty rates in Pakistan, although a divide is present between the northern and southern parts of the province.<ref name="tribune.com.pk" /> [[Sialkot District]] in the prosperous northern part of the province has a poverty rate of 5.63%,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Arif |first1=G. M. |title=Poverty Profile of Pakistan |url=http://www.bisp.gov.pk/PIDEReports/poverty.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213111826/http://www.bisp.gov.pk/PIDEReports/poverty.pdf |archive-date=13 December 2016 |access-date=14 July 2016 |website=Benazir Income Support Programme |publisher=Government of Pakistan |quote=See Table 5, Page 12}}</ref> while [[Rajanpur District]] in the poorer south has a poverty rate of 60.05%.<ref name="auto1" />

==Education==
{{See also|List of schools in Punjab, Pakistan}}[[File:Government College University Tower in Lahore.jpg|thumb|[[Government College University, Lahore]]]]
The literacy rate has increased greatly over the last 40 years (see the table below). Punjab has the highest [[List of administrative units of Pakistan by Human Development Index|Human Development Index]] out of all of Pakistan's provinces at 0.550.<ref name="Subnational HDR">{{Cite web|url=https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/shdi/PAK/?levels=1%2B4&interpolation=1&extrapolation=0&nearest_real=0&colour_scales=global|language=en|access-date=8 August 2021|title=Sub-national HDI – Subnational HDI – Table – Global Data Lab }}</ref>

{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
! Year || Literacy Rate
|-
| 1972 || 20.7%
|-
| 1981 || 27.4%
|-
| 1998 || 46.56%
|-
| 2009 || 59.6%	 	
|-
| 2021 || 66.3%<ref name="propakistani.pk">{{cite news | url=https://propakistani.pk/2022/06/09/kp-achieves-highest-literacy-rate-among-all-provinces/ | title=KP Achieves Highest Literacy Rate Growth Among All Provinces | newspaper=Propakistani | date=9 June 2022 }}</ref>

|}

Sources:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001459/145959e.pdf|title=Pakistan: where and who are the world's illiterates?; Background paper for the Education for all global monitoring report 2006: literacy for life; 2005<!-- Bot generated title -->|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091223003430/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001459/145959e.pdf|archive-date=23 December 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/119101/rural-women-uphold-pakistans-literacy-rate/|title=Rural women uphold Pakistan's literacy rate|date=15 February 2011|work=The Express Tribune|access-date=22 April 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015023752/http://tribune.com.pk/story/119101/rural-women-uphold-pakistans-literacy-rate/|archive-date=15 October 2014}}</ref>

This is a chart of the education market of Punjab estimated by the government in 1998.
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
! Qualification || Urban || Rural || Total || Enrollment Ratio(%)
|-
| – || '''23,019,025''' || '''50,602,265''' || '''73,621,290''' || —
|-
| Below Primary || 3,356,173 || 11,598,039 || 14,954,212 || 100.00
|-
| Primary || 6,205,929 || 18,039,707 || 24,245,636 || 79.68
|-
| Middle || 5,140,148 || 10,818,764 || 15,958,912 || 46.75
|-
| Matriculation || 4,624,522 || 7,119,738 || 11,744,260 || 25.07
|-
| Intermediate || 1,862,239 || 1,821,681 || 3,683,920 || 9.12
|-
| BA, BSc... degrees || 110,491 || 96,144 || 206,635 || 4.12
|-
| MA, MSc... degrees || 1,226,914 || 764,094 || 1,991,008 || 3.84
|-
| Diploma, Certificate... || 418,946 || 222,649 || 641,595 || 1.13
|-
| Other qualifications || 73,663 || 121,449 || 195,112 || 0.26
|}

===List of universities===
{{Excerpt|List of universities of Punjab, Pakistan|List of universities}}

=== List of medical colleges ===
{{Excerpt|List of medical schools in Punjab, Pakistan|List of medical colleges|subsections=yes}}

==Culture==
{{Main|Punjabi culture}}
[[File:Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam 2014-07-31.jpg|thumb|[[Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam]], [[Multan]] (1320 AD)]]
The culture in Punjab grew out of the settlements along the five rivers, which served as an important route to the [[Near East]] as early as the ancient [[Indus Valley civilisation|Indus Valley civilization]], dating back to [[30th century BC|3000 BCE]].<ref name="Nayar1">{{Cite book |last=Nayar |first=Kamala Elizabeth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7pO-IZY218C&pg=PA7 |title=The Punjabis in British Columbia: Location, Labour, First Nations, and Multiculturalism |date=2012 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-4070-5 |language=en}}</ref> [[Agriculture]] has been the major economic feature of the Punjab and has therefore formed the foundation of Punjabi culture, with one's social status being determined by landownership.<ref name="Nayar1"/> Punjab emerged as an important agricultural region, especially following the [[Green Revolution]] during the mid-1960's to the mid-1970's, has been described as the "breadbasket of both India and Pakistan".<ref name="Nayar1"/>

=== Fairs and festivals ===
{{Main|Punjabi festivals (Pakistan)}}The [[Islamic holidays|Islamic festivals]] are typically observed.<ref name="Official Holidays 2016">[http://www.schools.punjab.gov.pk/system/files/Notification_2.pdf Official Holidays 2016] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517025526/http://www.schools.punjab.gov.pk/system/files/Notification_2.pdf |date=17 May 2017 }}, Government of Punjab – Pakistan (2016)</ref><ref name="kmc.gos.pk">[http://www.kmc.gos.pk/Contents.aspx?id=48 Official Holidays 2016] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901090935/http://kmc.gos.pk/Contents.aspx?id=48|date=1 September 2018}}, Karachi Metropolitan, Sindh, Pakistan</ref> Non-Islamic festivals include [[Lohri]], [[Basant (festival)|Basant]] and [[Vaisakhi]], which are usually celebrated as seasonal festivals.<ref name="autogenerated5">[https://books.google.com/books?id=1O0eAQAAMAAJ&q=makara Census of India, 1961: Punjab. Manage of Publications]</ref> The Islamic festivals are set according to the lunar [[Islamic calendar]] (Hijri), and the date falls earlier by 10 to 13 days from year to year.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Jacqueline Suthren Hirst |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bBOpAgAAQBAJ |title=Religious Traditions in Modern South Asia |author2=John Zavos |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-136-62668-5 |page=274}}; [https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/india/eid-ul-fitar Eid ul-Fitar], Ramzan Id/Eid-ul-Fitar in India, Festival Dates</ref>

Some Islamic clerics and some politicians have attempted to ban the participation of non-Islamic festivals because of the religious basis,<ref>[https://www.dawn.com/news/1315376 The ban on fun], IRFAN HUSAIN, Dawn, 18 February 2017</ref> and they being declared [[haram]] (forbidden in Islam).<ref>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/sunday-special/columns/the-barricaded-muslim-mind/286436.html The barricaded Muslim mind] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404023014/https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/sunday-special/columns/the-barricaded-muslim-mind/286436.html |date=4 April 2023 }}, Saba Naqvi (28 August 2016), Quote: "Earlier, Muslim villagers would participate in Hindu festivals; now they think that would be haraam, so stay away. Visiting dargahs is also haraam"</ref>

== Tourism ==
{{Main|Tourism in Punjab, Pakistan}}[[File:Lahore Fort.jpg|thumb|The [[Lahore Fort]], a landmark built during the Mughal era, is a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]|250x250px]]
[[File:Another_great_bastion_of_Rohtas_Fort_by_Usman_Ghani.jpg|left|thumb|[[Rohtas Fort]], a UNESCO world heritage site, was built upon a hill overlooking the [[Pothohar Plateau]].]]
[[File:Derawar-fort-pak.png|thumb|[[Derawar Fort]] in [[Cholistan Desert]], a UNESCO World Heritage Site|left]]
Tourism in Punjab is regulated by the ''Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab''.<ref>{{cite web |date=9 April 2010 |title=Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab Official Website |url=http://www.tdcp.gop.pk/ |access-date=27 September 2010 |publisher=Tdcp.gop.pk}}</ref> The province has a number of large cosmopolitan cities, including the provincial capital [[Lahore]]. Major visitor attractions there include [[Lahore Fort]] and [[Shalimar Gardens (Lahore)|Shalimar Gardens]], which are now recognised [[World Heritage Sites]]. The [[Walled City of Lahore]], [[Badshahi Mosque]], [[Wazir Khan Mosque]], [[Tomb of Jahangir|Tomb of Jahangir and Nur Jahan]], [[Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan|Tomb of Asaf Khan]], [[Chauburji]] and other major sites are visited by tourists each year.

[[Rawalpindi|Murree]] is a famous hill station stop for tourists.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ministry of Tourism: Punjab Attractions |url=http://www.tourism.gov.pk/punjab.html |access-date=27 September 2010 |publisher=Tourism.gov.pk |archive-date=12 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612192820/http://www.tourism.gov.pk/punjab.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Pharwala|Pharwala Fort]], which was built by an ancient Hindu civilisation, is on the outskirts of the city. The city of [[Sheikhupura]] also has a number of sites from the Mughal Empire, including the World Heritage-listed [[Rohtas Fort]] near [[Jhelum]]. The [[Katasraj temple]] in the city of [[Chakwal District|Chakwal]] is a major destination for Hindu devotees. The [[Khewra Salt Mines]] is one of the oldest mines in South Asia. [[Faisalabad]]'s [[Clock Tower, Faisalabad|clock tower and eight bazaars]] were designed to represent the [[Union Jack]].<ref>{{cite web |author=khalid |title=Tourism in Punjab, Pakistan |url=http://www.vista-tourism.com/geography/punjab.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815002400/http://www.vista-tourism.com/geography/punjab.htm |archive-date=15 August 2010 |access-date=27 September 2010 |publisher=Vista-tourism.com}}</ref>
[[File:Noor_mahal.jpg|thumb|[[Noor Mahal]], [[Bahawalpur]]]]
The province's southward is arid. [[Multan]] is known for its [[Mausoleums of Multan|mausoleums]] of saints and [[Pir (Sufism)|Sufi pirs]]. The [[Multan Museum]], Multan fort, DHA 360° zoo and Nuagaza tombs are significant attractions in the city. The city of [[Bahawalpur]] is located near the [[Cholistan Desert|Cholistan]] and [[Thar Desert|Thar]] deserts. [[Derawar Fort]] in the [[Cholistan Desert]] is the site for the annual [[Cholistan Jeep Rally]]. The city is also near the ancient site of [[Uch Sharif]] which was once a [[Delhi Sultanate]] stronghold. The [[Noor Mahal]], Sadiq Ghar Palace, and Darbar Mall were built during the reign of the [[Nawabs]]. The [[Lal Suhanra National Park]] is a major zoological garden on the outskirts of the city.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lal Suhanra Park Bahawalpur |url=https://bahawalpur.org/lal-suhanra-national-park/ |website=bahawalpur.org|date=18 July 2022 }}</ref>

==Social issues==
{{See also|Punjabi Language Movement}}[[File:Punjabi prachar demand.jpg|thumb|A demonstration by Punjabis at Lahore, Pakistan, demanding to make Punjabi as official language of instruction in schools of the Punjab.|left]]The use of Urdu and English as the near exclusive languages of broadcasting, the public sector, and formal education have led some to fear that the Punjabi language in the province is being relegated to a low-status language and that it is being denied an environment where it can flourish.<ref>Sarah Veach, Katy Williamson, [http://languagemanuals.weebly.com/uploads/4/8/5/3/4853169/punjabi.pdf Punjabi Culture and Language Manual] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113700/http://languagemanuals.weebly.com/uploads/4/8/5/3/4853169/punjabi.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }} ([https://archive.org/stream/Punjabi-CultureAndLanguageManual#page/n0/mode/2up archived]), Texas State University, p.&nbsp;6, retrieved 14 May 2016.</ref><ref name="apnaorg">{{cite web|url=http://apnaorg.com/articles/ishtiaq8/|publisher=apnaorg.com|title=Punjabis Without Punjabi|access-date=13 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-date=25 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525144848/http://apnaorg.com/articles/ishtiaq8/}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web|url=http://ppinewsagency.com/inferiority-complex-declining-punjabi-language-punjab-university-vice-chancellor/|publisher=ppinewsagency.com|title=Inferiority complex declining Punjabi language: Punjab University Vice-Chancellor|agency=Pakistan Press International|access-date=13 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127220151/http://ppinewsagency.com/inferiority-complex-declining-punjabi-language-punjab-university-vice-chancellor/|archive-date=27 November 2016}}
</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/880483/urdu-isation-of-punjab/|title=Urdu-isation of Punjab – The Express Tribune|date=4 May 2015|newspaper=The Express Tribune|language=en-US|access-date=30 December 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127215535/http://tribune.com.pk/story/880483/urdu-isation-of-punjab/|archive-date=27 November 2016}}</ref>

In August 2015, the Pakistan Academy of Letters, International Writer's Council (IWC) and World Punjabi Congress (WPC) organised the ''Khawaja Farid Conference'' and demanded that a Punjabi-language university should be established in [[Lahore]] and that Punjabi language should be declared as the medium of instruction at the primary level.<ref name="The Nation 2011">{{cite web|url=http://nation.com.pk/lahore/21-Feb-2011/Rally-for-ending-150yearold-ban-on-education-in-Punjabi|title=Rally for ending 150-year-old 'ban on education in Punjabi|date=21 February 2011|website=The Nation|access-date=15 September 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307142807/http://nation.com.pk/lahore/21-Feb-2011/Rally-for-ending-150yearold-ban-on-education-in-Punjabi|archive-date=7 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://nation.com.pk/lahore/26-Aug-2015/sufi-poets-can-guarantee-unity|title=Sufi poets can guarantee unity|date=26 August 2015|magazine=The Nation|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030021751/http://nation.com.pk/lahore/26-Aug-2015/sufi-poets-can-guarantee-unity|archive-date=30 October 2015}}</ref> In September 2015, a case was filed in [[Supreme Court of Pakistan]] against [[Government of Punjab, Pakistan]] as it did not take any step to implement the Punjabi language in the province.<ref name="The Nation 2015">{{cite web|url=http://nation.com.pk/blogs/15-Sep-2015/supreme-court-s-urdu-verdict-no-language-can-be-imposed-from-above|title=Supreme Court's Urdu verdict: No language can be imposed from above|date=15 September 2015|website=The Nation|access-date=15 September 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916165410/http://nation.com.pk/blogs/15-Sep-2015/supreme-court-s-urdu-verdict-no-language-can-be-imposed-from-above|archive-date=16 September 2015}}</ref><ref name="Business Recorder 2015">{{cite web|url=http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/109-world-top-news/254518-two-member-sc-bench-refers-punjabi-language-case-to-cjp.html|title=Two-member SC bench refers Punjabi language case to CJP|date=14 September 2015|website=Business Recorder|access-date=15 September 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021133224/http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/109-world-top-news/254518-two-member-sc-bench-refers-punjabi-language-case-to-cjp.html|archive-date=21 October 2015}}</ref> Additionally, several thousand Punjabis gather in [[Lahore]] every year on [[International Mother Language Day]].

[[Hafiz Muhammad Saeed|Hafiz Saeed]], chief of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah (JuD), has questioned Pakistan's decision to adopt Urdu as its national language in a country where majority of people speak Punjabi language, citing his interpretation of Islamic doctrine as encouraging education in the mother-tongue.<ref>"Pakistan should have adopted Punjabi as national language: Hafiz Saeed" ''Zee News''. 6 March 2016
*{{cite web|url=http://zeenews.india.com/news/south-asia/pakistan-should-have-adopted-punjabi-as-national-language-hafiz-saeed_1862842.html|publisher=Zee News|title=Pakistan should have adopted Punjabi as national language: Hafiz Saeed &#124; Zee News|access-date=13 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525141615/http://zeenews.india.com/news/south-asia/pakistan-should-have-adopted-punjabi-as-national-language-hafiz-saeed_1862842.html|archive-date=25 May 2017|date=6 March 2016}}
</ref>  Some of the organisations and activists that demand the promotion of the Punjabi language include:
* Cultural and research institutes: Punjabi Adabi Board, the Khoj Garh Research Centre, Punjabi Prachar, Institute for Peace and Secular Studies, Adbi Sangat, Khaaksaar Tehreek, Saanjh, Maan Boli Research Centre, Punjabi Sangat Pakistan, Punjabi Markaz, Sver International.
* Trade unions and youth groups: Punjabi Writers Forum, National Students Federation, Punjabi Union-Pakistan, Punjabi National Conference, National Youth Forum, Punjabi Writers Forum, National Students Federation, Punjabi Union, Pakistan, and the Punjabi National Conference.
* Notable activists include Tariq Jatala, Farhad Iqbal, Diep Saeeda, Khalil Ojla, Afzal Sahir, Jamil Ahmad Paul, Mazhar Tirmazi, Mushtaq Sufi, Biya Je, Tohid Ahmad Chattha and Bilal Shaker Kahaloon, Nazeer Kahut.<ref>"Mind your language—The movement for the preservation of Punjabi". ''The Herald''. 2 September 2106.
*{{cite web|url=http://herald.dawn.com/news/1153482|publisher=herald.dawn.com|title=Mind your language—The movement for the preservation of Punjabi – People & Society – Herald|access-date=13 January 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223065731/http://herald.dawn.com/news/1153482|archive-date=23 December 2016|date=4 August 2016}}</ref><ref>"Punjabi in schools: Pro-Punjabi outfits in Pakistan threaten hunger strike". ''The Times of India''. 4 October 2015.
*{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Punjabi-in-schools-Pro-Punjabi-outfits-in-Pakistan-threaten-hunger-strike/articleshow/49214265.cms|publisher=timesofindia.indiatimes.com|title=Punjabi in schools: Pro-Punjabi outfits in Pakistan threaten hunger strike – Times of India|newspaper=The Times of India |date=4 October 2015 |access-date=13 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927231834/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Punjabi-in-schools-Pro-Punjabi-outfits-in-Pakistan-threaten-hunger-strike/articleshow/49214265.cms|archive-date=27 September 2016}}
</ref><ref>"Rally for Ending the 150-year-old Ban on Education in Punjabi" ''The Nation.'' 21 February 2011.
*{{cite web|url=http://nation.com.pk/lahore/21-Feb-2011/Rally-for-ending-150yearold-ban-on-education-in-Punjabi|publisher=nation.com.pk|title=Rally for ending 150-year-old 'ban on education in Punjabi|access-date=13 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307142807/http://nation.com.pk/lahore/21-Feb-2011/Rally-for-ending-150yearold-ban-on-education-in-Punjabi|archive-date=7 March 2016|date=21 February 2011}}
</ref>

==Notable people==
*[[List of people from Punjab, Pakistan]], also includes people born in what is today Indian Punjab but moved to Pakistan after partition
*[[List of Punjabi people]], also includes people of Punjabi ethnicity from India and elsewhere

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Portal|Pakistan|Geography|Punjab}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Cite book |last=Amjad |first=Yahya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P60yAAAAIAAJ&q=tarikh+i+pakistan+yahya |title=Tarikh-i Pakistan : qadim daur—zamanah-yi ma qabl az tarikh : Pakistan ki sarzamin par aj se paune do karor sal pahle |date=1989 |language=ur}}
* {{citation|last=Dyson|first=Tim|title=A Population History of India: From the First Modern People to the Present Day|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ|year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-882905-8}}
* {{cite report|author=India. Census Commissioner|year=1941|series=Census of India, 1941 |volume=VI |title=Punjab |location=Delhi |jstor=saoa.crl.28215541 |jstor-access=free}}
* {{citation |author=Pakistan Narcotics Control Board|author-link=Pakistan Narcotics Control Board |title=National survey on drug abuse in Pakistan|date=1986|publisher=[[The University of Michigan]]}}
* {{cite book |author=[[Radha Kumud Mookerji]] |year=1989 |edition=2nd |orig-year=1951 |title=Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=81-208-0423-6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Roseberry |first=J. Royal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iAMNAAAAIAAJ |title=Imperial Rule in Punjab: The Conquest and Administration of Multan, 1818-1881 |year=1987 |publisher=Manohar |isbn=978-81-85054-28-5}}
*{{Cite journal| last=Shackle| first=Christopher| author-link=Christopher Shackle| title=Problems of classification in Pakistan Panjab| journal=Transactions of the Philological Society| date=1979| volume=77| issue=1| pages=191–210| doi=10.1111/j.1467-968X.1979.tb00857.x| issn=0079-1636}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|voy=Punjab (Pakistan)}}
{{commons}}
*{{Official website|http://www.punjab.gov.pk}}
* Guide to [https://web.archive.org/web/20170919203232/http://dmoz.pk/Provinces/Punjab/ Punjab, Pakistan]

{{Punjab, Pakistan topics}}
{{Five rivers of the Punjab|state=collapsed}}
{{Administrative units of Pakistan}}
{{Districts of Punjab, Pakistan|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Punjab, Pakistan| ]]
[[Category:Provinces of Pakistan]]
[[Category:1970 establishments in Pakistan]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1970]]
[[Category:Punjabi-speaking countries and territories]]