One of the four provinces of Pakistan, Punjab is located in the north-east of the country on the border with India. This is the most populous and the second largest administrative-territorial unit of the country, whose center - Islamabad - is the capital of Pakistan. Punjab is agriculturally and industrially developed state; its economic output comprises slightly over 50% of the country's economy.
Historically, the territory of modern Punjab was part of a larger region, other parts being Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, etc. The province was characterized by substantial confessional heterogeneity (Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims), and during the partition of British India, the part of Punjab that was populated by Muslims became the center of the movement for the creation of an independent Pakistan. Thus, the Muslim Punjab played a leading role in the state formation of Pakistan. Consequently, the Punjabis established the largest national political party (the Pakistan Muslim League) and occupied key military and political positions. As a result, the Punjabis are considered to be the dominant ethnic group in Pakistan, but at the same time, they are regarded as the titular group for the region.
The proportion of Punjabis in the province is about 75%. The marker of the differences between Punjabi and other ethnic groups is the Punjabi language, which belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. Punjabis alongside the majority of Pakistani profess Islam of the Sunni type. In addition to the Punjabis, a significant proportion (17.4%) of the region's population is the Sarayks ethnic group, whose language is considered a dialect of Punjabi.
