Urdu-speaking people
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Native speakers of Urdu are spread across South Asia.[note 1][13][14] The vast majority of them are Muslims of the Hindi–Urdu Belt of northern India,[note 2][15][16][17] followed by the Deccani people of the Deccan plateau in south-central India (who speak Deccani Urdu), the Muhajir people of Pakistan, Muslims in the Terai of Nepal, and the Biharis and Dhakaiyas of Old Dhaka in Bangladesh.[18][5] The historical centres of Urdu speakers include Delhi and Lucknow, as well as the Deccan, and in the modern era, Karachi.[19][20] Another defunct variety of the language was historically spoken in Lahore for centuries before the name "Urdu" first began to appear. However, little is known about this defunct Lahori variety as it has not been spoken for centuries.[21]
اہلِ زبانِ اردو | |
---|---|
Total population | |
68.62 million[1] (2019) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
India (diasporic Urdu Belt, a regional belt that consists of Hindi-Urdu belt states such as Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir, Bihar-mostly Patna and Darbanga, Khandesh, coastal Malwa region, Shimla district and Kangra district and other Indian states, many speakers live in various cities in South India, mostly Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai) Pakistan (Muhajirs in Karachi, Hyderabad & mainly across large cities in Sindh and other large Pakistani cities) | |
India | 50,772,631 (2011)[2] |
Pakistan | 14,706,159 - 30,000,000 (2017 census & 2013)[3][4][5][a] |
Nepal | 413,785 (2021)[6] |
United States | 397,502 (2013)[7] |
Bangladesh | 300,000 (2008)[8] |
United Kingdom | 270,000 (2011)[9] |
Canada | 210,815 (2016)[10] |
Australia | 69,131 (2016)[11] |
Languages | |
Urdu | |
Religion | |
Islam, small minority Christianity and Judaism | |
The term "Urdu-speakers" does not encompass culturally non-native speakers who may use Urdu as a first or second language, which would additionally account for a much larger number of total speakers in South Asia.[12]