Indo-European · ISO 639-3 pan · pa
Panjabi Language پنجابی
Panjabi is an Indo-European language spoken by about 200 million people in 6 countries. It is written in the Gurmukhi, Perso-Arabic and Latin scripts.
Where Panjabi is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Panjabi
Language family
- Indo-European
- Classical Indo-European
- Indo-Iranian
- Indo-Aryan
- Middle-Modern Indo-Aryan
- Continental Indo-Aryan
- Indo-Aryan Northwestern zone
- Sindhi-Lahnda
- Greater Panjabic
- Eastern Panjabic
- Panjabi
Writing system
Gurmukhi, Perso-Arabic and Latin scripts
Related languages
About the Panjabi language
Panjabi (پنجابی) is spoken by about 200 million people, which makes it the 10th most spoken language in the world — just behind French (208 million) and ahead of Indonesian (199 million). It belongs to the Indo-European language family and, more precisely, to the Eastern Panjabic group within the Indo-Iranian branch.
Where is Panjabi spoken?
Panjabi is used in 6 countries. The largest communities live in Pakistan (177 million), India (39 million), United Kingdom (2.5 million), Canada (1.0 million) and Singapore (24,113). More than half of the population speaks it in Pakistan — the places where travellers will hear it everywhere.
Share of the population that speaks Panjabi: Pakistan 70% (177 million), India 2.8% (39 million), United Kingdom 3.6% (2.5 million), Canada 2.6% (1.0 million), Singapore 0.4% (24,113) and Kenya <0.1% (9,901).
Panjabi is not a national official language anywhere. It also has regional official status in India.
Writing system and status
Panjabi is written in the Gurmukhi, Perso-Arabic and Latin scripts. It is a safe, widely transmitted language: children still learn it at home as their first language.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Western Panjabi, Saraiki, Northern Hindko, Pahari-Potwari, Sindhi, Hindi and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-1 pa, ISO 639-3 pan.
Frequently asked questions about Panjabi
How many people speak Panjabi?
Where is Panjabi spoken?
What language family does Panjabi belong to?
What is Panjabi called in Panjabi?
Is Panjabi an endangered language?
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT). Speaker numbers include first- and second-language speakers where sources report them.