Pakistani Americans

Jennifer M. Klein

Pakistani Americans are the immigrants and their descendants from Pakistan, a country of 169.3 million, as of 2007 estimates. Pakistani Americans represent the diverse groups of Pakistan, including the different linguistic, political, religious, and ethnic groups. The five major languages in Pakistan are Urdu, Punjabi, Singhi, Pashto (Pushtu), and Baluchi. The majority of Pakistani Americans are either Punjabi- or Urdu-speaking. Although a majority of Pakistani Americans are Muslims by religion, others identify themselves as Hindus, Christians, Parsis, Baha'is, or Sikhs. According to the 2000 Census, there were a total of 223,475 people resident in the United States who had been born in Pakistan, of whom 42.3 percent were U.S. citizens. This entry will look at the background of immigration from Pakistan to the United States and the contemporary picture of Pakistani Americans. Recordings of Pakistani immigration to the U.S. began in 1947 when Pakistan became an independent nation. Between the ...

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