General Cultural Information:
Pakistan is located in South Asia and is about twice the size of California. It was built in 1947 and is located in Northwest India. It is located in the north, where most of the ancient tribes are still inhabited, and many ancient tribal cultures and customs still exist. Cultural Approaches In the north, starting from China and passing through Jammu and Kashmir is the famous ancient Silk Road. The 1,000-mile-long (1,609 km) Indus River and its tributaries run through the country from the Kashmir region to the Arabian Sea. Pakistan is made up of several provinces, including Punjab culture, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The 1947 partition of British India into the Muslim state of Pakistan (west and east) and Hindu-dominated India was never resolved satisfactorily, and India and Pakistan fought two wars in 1947-48 and 1965 over Kashmir. In 1971, a third war broke out between these countries, resulting in East Pakistan becoming an independent country from Bangladesh. In terms of its social values, Pakistani culture revolves around Islam. The region formed a distinct cultural unit within the major cultural complexes of South, Middle, and Central Asia, incorporating elements from various earlier invasion cultures. There are cultural differences between different ethnic groups in clothing, diet, and religion, especially where pre-Islamic practices differ from Islamic ones. Pakistan does not have a caste system, but some Hindu castes are part of everyday life in Pakistan, especially Punjabi and Sindhi. Tribal cultural practices are prevalent in rural areas of the country.
Population:
Estimated 184,404,791 (July 2010 estimate). Cultural Approaches Pakistanis are made up of many different cultures and ethnic groups: Punjabis, Kashmiris, Sindhis and Muhajars (immigrants from India at the time of partition and their descendants) in the east; Baluchi and Pashtun tribal cultures in the west; and former Dardak and Tajik communities in the north.
Languages of Pakistan: Although Urdu is the official language of Pakistan, it is spoken as a first language by only 8% of the population. 48% speak Punjabi, 12% Sindhi, 10% Saraki, 8% Pashto, 3% Baluchi and 11% other languages. English is the language of Pakistan’s elite and most of the government. Urdu is closely related to Hindi, but it is written in the Arabic alphabet. Urdu is a mixture of the languages of earlier invaders and settlers (including Arabic, Persian and Turkish) with the local Sanskrit.
Religion :
Pakistan was founded as an Islamic state and Islam is the religion of about 97% of the population (77% Sunni, 20% Shia). Members of various minority religions also live there, including Hindus, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs and Buddhists.
Islam dominates the personal, political, economic and legal lives of most Pakistanis. The Prophet of Islam founded Islam in the 7th century A.D. According to Islamic belief, he received messages from God and recorded them in what later became the Qur’an, the Islamic book that instructs Muslims on how to live their lives. Some of the obligations of a Muslim are praying five times a day at Fajr, noon, noon, sunset and evening, fasting during Ramadan, donating Zakat (2% of personal wealth) to those in need and performing Hajj. Go on Hajj. Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated at the end of Ramadan. “Great Eid” or Eid al-Adha is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims around the world to commemorate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael in obedience to God before God intervened and replaced him with a ram. Celebrations begin after Hajj. Muharram, the first month of the Muslim calendar, is a holy month, especially for Shiite Muslims, marking the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Muhammad Cultural Approaches.
Other religions in Pakistan also have special festivals/ceremonies and holidays, Christmas and Easter are special festivals for Pakistan’s 750,000 Christians.
The main festival in the Buddhist world is Baisakhi Purnima, the day of the birth of Buddha, who is believed to have attained the great wisdom of enlightenment during his lifetime. The Parsis of Pakistan celebrate their new year (Nowruz) on March 21. Hindus in Pakistan also have many festivals. Two of the most special are Diwali (the festival of lights) and Holi (the festival of colours).
Family Structure:
The family has always been the dominant institution in an individual’s life. People often define themselves by the groups they serve.
