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Punjabi

South and Central Asian Peoples

The Punjabi are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the Punjab region, today divided between Pakistan and India, and one of the largest ethnic groups in South Asia. Punjabi society includes Muslim, Sikh and Hindu communities, and the region gave rise to Sikhism in the fifteenth century under Guru Nanak; the 1947 Partition of India divided Punjab along religious lines and triggered one of the largest and most violent mass migrations of the twentieth century. Punjabi culture is known for its Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi scripts, bhangra music and dance, and a strong tradition of agriculture across Punjab's fertile, canal-irrigated plains, often called the breadbasket of both Pakistan and India.

Facts
Group Type
Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group 1
Typical Region
Punjab region of northwestern India and eastern Pakistan 1
Population Estimate
c. 150 million 1
Primary Language
Punjabi (several Punjabi dialects) 1
Partially Attested
Subsistence Mode
Agriculture 1
Source states agriculture is the major economic feature of the Punjab region, not of the people specifically.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Punjabis
  • Opening paragraph, classification
    Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group
  • Opening paragraph, region
    Punjab region, comprising areas of northwestern India and eastern Pakistan
  • Infobox, population
    c. 150 million
  • Opening paragraph, language
    speak any of the several Punjabi dialects
  • Culture
    Agriculture has been the major economic feature of the Punjab
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