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Languages

Languages of Pakistan

IslamabadLocal time

Languages, writing systems and language context

پاکستان

COUNTRY LANGUAGE PROFILE

اردو

Urdu

Text direction: RTL

Urdu is the national language. The Constitution permits English to be used for official purposes subject to Article 251, while provincial languages may be promoted and used under provincial law.

Core languages shown

Country-level reference set

Urdu

First listed core language

Not a speaker-share estimate

Writing systems represented

Across the core language set

RTL

Primary text direction

Additional directions noted below

Language Overview

UrduEnglish

Read the Characters

Urdu · 40 characters

How to Read the Language Landscape

PolicyLegal and administrative language status may differ between national and subnational government.

Everyday useA language can be socially dominant without being the only language used at home, school, work or in media.

Community diversityIndigenous, minority, migrant and sign languages can remain important even when they are not part of a short national headline list.

Frequently Asked Questions

What languages are used in Pakistan?

Urdu is the national language. The Constitution permits English to be used for official purposes subject to Article 251, while provincial languages may be promoted and used under provincial law.

What writing systems are used in Pakistan?

The represented writing system is Perso-Arabic, Latin and the primary direction shown is right to left.

Sources & methodology

View sources used for this page

Constitution of Pakistan

Primary constitutional source from the National Assembly. Article 251 identifies Urdu as the national language and permits English for official purposes subject to the constitutional transition provision.

Unicode CLDR: Country/Region Names

Localized country display-name reference. CLDR names are customary UI/display names, not claims about a state’s full constitutional long-form name.

Unicode: Supported Scripts

Reference for the writing-system/script families represented in the character component.

Unicode: Writing Direction and Bidirectional Text

Reference for left-to-right and right-to-left script direction and bidirectional text behavior.

Unicode Character Database: NamesList

Reference for Unicode character names used as small readout labels under selected character samples; these labels are not presented as a complete transliteration standard.