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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Pakistan
Index
Population: 1994 (July) estimated 129 million;
annual
growth rate officially estimated at 3.1 percent.
Ethnic Groups: In general percentages of
population
similar to linguistic groups: Punjabis 66 percent, Sindhis
13
percent, Pakhtuns 9 percent, Baloch 3 percent,
muhajirs
(immigrants from India and their descendants) 8 percent,
and
other ethnic groups 1 percent.
Language: Urdu official language, but English in
general use in government, military, business, and higher
education. Urdu spoken as native tongue by only 8 percent
of
population, Punjabi by about 48 percent, the Punjabi
variant
Siraiki by 10 percent, Sindhi by about 12 percent, Pakhtu
or Pashto by about 8 or 9 percent, Balochi, 3 percent,
Hindko, 2
percent, and Brahui, 1 percent. Native speakers of other
languages, including English and Burushaski, account for 8
percent of population.
Religion: About 97 percent of Pakistanis are
Muslim, 77
percent of whom are Sunnis and 20 percent Shia; remaining
3
percent of population divided equally among Christians,
Hindus,
and other religions.
Education and Literacy: In 1992 overall literacy
rate
estimated at more than 36 percent for adult population.
Literacy
rates substantially lower for women. In 1990 only
forty-five
educated women for every 100 educated men. Education
organized
into five levels: primary (grades one through five);
middle
(grades six through eight); high (grades nine and ten);
intermediate (grades eleven and twelve); and university
undergraduate and graduate programs. Preparatory classes
(kachi, or nursery) formally incorporated into the
system
in 1988.
Health and Welfare: Substandard housing,
inadequate
sanitation and water supply, and widespread malnutrition
contribute to spread of disease and to high infant,
childhood,
and maternal mortality. Leading causes of death
gastroenteritis,
respiratory infections, congenital abnormalities,
tuberculosis,
malaria, and typhoid fever.
Data as of April 1994
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