ShahmukhiShahmukhi (, ਸ਼ਾਹਮੁਖੀ) is an Abjad developed from the Perso-Arabic alphabet script, used for the Punjabi language. It came into use in Punjabi Sufi literature, from the 12th century and onwards. It is generally written in the Nastaʿlīq calligraphic hand, which is also used for Urdu. Shahmukhi script is the standard script in Pakistani Punjab used for Punjabi. Perso-Arabic is one of two scripts used for Punjabi, the other being Gurmukhi used in the Indian Punjab. Shahmukhi is written from right to left, while Gurmukhi is written from left to right.
Pakistani diasporaOverseas Pakistanis (), or the Pakistani diaspora, refers to Pakistanis who live outside of Pakistan. These include citizens that have migrated to another country as well as people born abroad of Pakistani descent. According to the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, approximately 8.8 million Pakistanis live abroad according to December 2017 estimates. According to Ministry of Emigration and Overseas Employment, data released in 2023, states that more than 10.
Dialect continuumA dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varieties may not be. This is a typical occurrence with widely spread languages and language families around the world, when these languages did not spread recently.
Languages of IndiaLanguages spoken in the Republic of India belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-Aryan languages spoken by 78.05% of Indians and the Dravidian languages spoken by 19.64% of Indians; both families together are sometimes known as Indic languages. Languages spoken by the remaining 2.31% of the population belong to the Austroasiatic, Sino–Tibetan, Tai–Kadai, and a few other minor language families and isolates. According to the People's Linguistic Survey of India, India has the second highest number of languages (780), after Papua New Guinea (840).
Marwari languageMarwari (मारवाड़ी, IAST: Mārwāṛī; also rendered as Marwadi or Marvadi) is a Rajasthani language spoken in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is also found in the neighbouring states of Gujarat and Haryana, some adjacent areas in Eastern parts of Pakistan, and some migrant communities in Nepal. With some 7.8 million or so speakers (ce. 2011), it is one of the largest varieties of Rajasthani. Most speakers live in Rajasthan and a few in Nepal. There are two dozen dialects of Marwari.
Hunza ValleyThe Hunza Valley (ہُنزا دِش; ) is a mountainous valley in the northern part of the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan, formed by the Hunza River, bordering Ishkoman to the northwest, Shigar to the southeast, Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor to the north, and the Xinjiang region of China to the northeast. The Hunza Valley is a mountainous valley in the northern part of the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan, formed by the Hunza River, bordering Ishkoman to the northwest, Shigar to the southeast, Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor to the north and the Xinjiang region of China to the northeast.
