Who Are The Punjabi People?


Punjabi Diaspora


Historical Role


Punjabi Art, Culture, and Cuisine


Language and Religion

There are about 130 million Indians and Pakistanis who use the Punjabi language as their mother tongue. Although some ethnic Punjab groups may use other variants of the language in another dialect depending on their origin like the Lahnda languages. Pakistan has about 76,335,300 native speakers, while India has 29,102,477 users of the Punjabi language. Some 102 million migrants around the world also use Punjabi as first language. Religion plays a major part in Punjabi life. In earlier times, Hindu and Buddhism ruled their way of life. Then, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity, and other minor religions were introduced and accepted by the Punjab people. Christians are either Catholic or Protestant, with more members in Pakistan than in India.

Modern Threats and Influences

Many Punjabi subgroups also belong to the Sikh religious faith, and these are an important subset of the larger Punjabi culture. The Sikhs originally ruled the Punjab regions from 1767 to 1799, after which they became subject to British rule. The problem of the Sikh extremists has arisen from their desire to be independent and form their own country of Khalistan, which would be located in the Punjab regions of India. This has resulted in the killings of people in the area. Since then, the declaration and sovereignty of the country of Khalistan has been on and off. Having started at the time of Prime Minister of Indira Gandhi, the Sikh extremists have continued to create civil strife and unrest in the Punjab region of India still today.

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