Pakistan’s Culture is very diverse and practices most of the world’s religions. Pakistan Culture is a mixture of traditions from the many people who have settled, invaded, or passed through Pakistan throughout history. The result is that most Pakistani cultures are unique to this region and have developed over the centuries. Pakistan Culture has significantly been influenced by South Asia as well as Central Asia and the Middle East. There are four provinces of Pakistan and each has a different culture.
- Baluchistan
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Sindh
- Punjab
Baluchistan:
The Baluchistan region is located in southwestern Asia, north-eastern Africa, and western India. It encompasses the Pakistani province of Balochistan, the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, and parts of Afghanistan (Badghis, Farah, and Nimroz provinces). Baluchistan means “the Baloch country.” Baluch people, who speak Baluchi and Persian, comprise the Baluch population of Baluchistan. Baluchistan covers an area of about 347,190 square miles (900,000 square kilometers).
The Baluchistan region remains largely underdeveloped despite having rich natural resources such as oil, coal, copper ore, and natural gas. Baluchistan is Pakistan’s poorest province and least developed. Baluchistan is a very ethnically diverse region, composed of different Baloch tribes that speak Balochi and Pashto as their first languages and practice Sunni Islam.
The Baloch people emerged as a recognizable group in the 14th century. The Baluch are descendants of Baloch tribes that lived in Baluchistan, Punjab, Haryana, Sindh, and Balochistan. Baluch populations can be found across Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa:
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as North-West Frontier Province ) is one of the four administrative provinces of Pakistan, located in the northwestern region of the country along the international border with Afghanistan. It was formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) until 2010 and is known by its historical name of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The provincial capital and largest city are Peshawar, followed by Mardan. Furthermore, its culture changes with events like on iqbal day, people customize their homes.
It shares borders with Afghanistan to the west and northwest, Punjab Province to the south, Azad Kashmir, an autonomous region of India in the southeast, and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to the east. It covers an area of 78,402 km.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is divided into 27 districts (known as “Tehsils” in local languages). Each district is governed by a “Zilla Nazim” (District Mayor), who the people of the district directly elect for a five-year term. They are responsible for providing essential services such as (but not limited to) clean water, health care facilities, education facilities, adequate electricity, and communication services.
Sindh:
Sindh is a province of Pakistan. Sindhi people make up a majority in Sindh; Sindh gets its name from Sindhu or the Indus River. The civilization that sprung around the river has been called Sindhu-civilization or Sindhi Yen-civilization. In Sanskrit, Sindhu means river. Sindh is also known as Sindhiyoon or Sindhi-land. The Indus River has an impressive length of about 2,900 kilometers and flows from north to south in Sindh.
Sindh comprises one-sixth of Pakistan’s area, but it contains over half the population of Pakistan—about sixty-five million Sindhi and Saraiki people. Sindh is bounded by Iran on the west and Afghanistan on the northwest, while Balochistan borders it on the northeast, and Punjab lies to its east. Sindh’s coast touches Sindh’s coastal plain called “Kirthar” in the Sindhi language. Sindh is Pakistan’s most fertile region. Sindh is full of lush green valleys and the great Indus River.
Punjab:
Punjab is a historical region in northern India at the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers. The region’s boundaries are ill-defined, but some portions have been under the political influence or administrative control of various empires since antiquity. The whole area constitutes a critical historical and cultural unit, sometimes called Greater Punjab. Punjab is also called the breadbasket of India because it feeds the entire country. It is famous for its artesian wells, and fertile land is known as Khatri.
The main religion is Sikhism. The Culture of Punjab has many similarities with the Culture of Sindh and the Central Asian plains, which are contiguous to Punjab. Punjabis have always been fiercely independent, given to a high degree of entrepreneurship, artistic creativity, and hard work. This gritty independence still defines the spirit of the people of Punjab. It was once thought that Punjab would be the wheat bowl of India, but due to deforestation and misuse of water sources, Punjab’s agriculture has been going downhill.
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Conclusion:
The culture of Pakistan is a mix of many different cultures and ethnicities like the Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtun people. It is difficult to generalize Pakistani culture because it varies by region and ethnicity; however, some commonalities include food (rice), clothing (shalwar kameez) and dance (bhangra). Pakistan is a country that has been deeply impacted by both Western and Eastern cultures.
The culture of the country, as well as its provinces, varies greatly from one region to another because of this. There are five provinces in all–Punjab being the most populous with about half of the population living there. Sindh follows next with 42% followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 25%. Baluchistan comes after with 14% and finally Gilgit-Baltistan rounds out the group at 5%.