Jamat e Islami Punjab

About Punjab

The population of the province is estimated to be 86,084,000 in 2005 and is home to over half the population of Pakistan. Nearly 60% of Pakistan's population lives in the Pakistani Punjab. Punjab is Pakistan's second largest province with respect to area at 205,344 km² (79,284 square miles) and is located at the northwestern edge of the geologic Indian plate in South Asia. The provincial level-capital and main city of the Punjab is Lahore, which has been the historical capital of the region. Other important cities include Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, and Rawalpindi. The province is home to six rivers: the Indus, Beas, Sutlej, Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi.

The province is a mainly a fertile region along the river valleys, while sparse deserts can be found near the border with IndiaIndus River and its many tributaries traverse the Punjab from north to south. The landscape is amongst the most heavily irrigated land on earth and canals can be found throughout the province. 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 Balochistan. The region contains the Thar and Cholistan deserts. The

The major language spoken in the Punjab is Punjabi and Punjabis comprise the largest ethnic group. Punjabis themselves are a heterogeneous group comprising different tribes and communities, although caste in Pakistani Punjab has more to do with traditional occupations such as blacksmiths or artisans as opposed to rigid social stratifications.

The most important tribes within Punjab include the Gakhars, Jats, the Arain, the Gujjars and the Rajputs. Other smaller tribes are the: Awans, Rawns, and Maliks. In addition, there is a significant shift towards the usage of Urdu by the educated classes of the province as the Punjabis are the most ardent supporters of the nation-state of Pakistan and all of its national institutions. There is also a nationalist movement amongst the somewhat related Seraikis in the south of Punjab and many wish to see a separate the region into a new province of Seraikistan. Other smaller groups in the province include Hindko, Pakhtuns, Balochs, Kashmiris, Potohari and others.

The population of Punjab is over 99% Muslim with a Sunni majority and Shia minority. There are small non-Muslims groups of Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs, because of its strategic location in the Indian sub-continent, wave after wave of migrants poured into the area and settled on its fertile lands and today, although originally belonging to the Aryan stock, there has been some settlements of Iranians, Central Asians, and Afghans who have come individually or in groups.

The dialects spoken in different regions of the land have a common vocabulary and a shared heritage. The shared heritage also extends to a common faith, Islam.