Demographics of Islamabad

Islamabad had an estimated population of 1.21 million in 2009. The current population, in 2011, is estimated to be around 1.70 million.^[1]

Urdu, the national and first official language of the country, is predominantly spoken within the city due to the ethnic mix of populations. English, the second official language, is also commonly understood. Other languages include Punjabi, Pashto and Pothohari. The mother tongue of the majority of the population is Punjabi, at 72%. 10% of the population are native Sindhi speakers, 10% are native Pushto speakers, and 8% other languages.^[2] The total migrant population of the city is 397,731, with the majority from Punjab (241,977). Around 76,614 of the migrated population came from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 75,143 from Sindh, 24,438 from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and 21,372 from other countries. Smaller populations emigrated from Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Balochistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan.^[3]

Islam is the largest religion in the city, with 95.53% of the population Muslim. In rural areas this percentage is 98.80%, while in urban areas the percentage of Muslims is 93.83%. The second largest religion is Christianity, with 4.07% of the population, 0.94% in rural areas and 5.70% in the city. Hinduism accounts for 0.02% of the population, and other minorities 0.03%.^[4]

The majority of the population lies in the age group of 15–64 years, around 59.38%. Only 2.73% of the population is above 65 years of age; 37.90% is below the age of 15.^[5] Islamabad has the highest literacy rate in Pakistan, at 87%. 9.8% of the population has done intermediate education (equivalent to grades 11 and 12). 10.26% have a bachelor or equivalent degree while 5.2% have a master or equivalent degree.^[6] The labour force of Islamabad is 185,213^[7] and the unemployment rate is 15.70%.^[8]

References

1. ^ http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/23/islamabads-population-surges.html
2. ^ Population Census Organization, Govt. of Pakistan. "POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE". http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_mother_tongue.pdf. 
3. ^ Population Census Organization, Govt. of Pakistan. "MIGRANT POPULATION BY PLACE OF BIRTH". http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/migrant.pdf. 
4. ^ Population Census Organization, Govt. of Pakistan. "POPULATION BY RELIGION". http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_religion.pdf. 
5. ^ Population Census Organization, Govt. of Pakistan. "POPULATION BY SELECTIVE AGE GROUPS". http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_age_group.pdf. 
6. ^ Population Census Organization, Govt. of Pakistan. "Population by Level of Education". http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/pop_education/pop_education_rural_urban.html. 
7. ^ Population Census Organization, Govt. of Pakistan. "LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATES". http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/labour_force.pdf. 
8. ^ Population Census Organization, Govt. of Pakistan. "UN-EMPLOYMENT RATES". http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/unemployment_rates.pdf.