Basic introduction into Pakistan...

[Ivan the Immigrant]

Let me put it this way: I really don't know much about Pakistan. All I know is it is situated north of India and south of Afghanistan. Capital and largest city is Islamabad. Official language is Urdu. Dominant religion is Islam. From what I can tell for sure is existance of at least two provinces: Vaziristan which is somewhat most nationalistic part of Pakistan and Balochistan on the south which is somewhat rebel province inhabited with ethnic minority. And I know Pakistan is allied to China and on the hostilities with India over Kashmiere. Now, don't get me wrong but I would rather someone explain me about Pakistan from first hand than reading boring Wikipedia because first hand information is always more valuable.

I hope I am not boring here but my first question would be: What is actually Vaziristan? And who lives there: ethnic Pakistani people or they are some other ethnic minority?

Yes, this thread might be very banal, I am aware of that...

 

[313ghazi]

The first thing you should know is there is no ethnic Pakistani. Pakistan is a country made up of multiple ethnicities. What binds us is our religion.

Before British colonialism there was no Afghanistan/Pakistan/India/Bangladesh, it was a collection of different empires and kingdoms. At some points all of it was under 1 ruler, at other points only some.

Up until 1300 years ago this was a hindu and buddhist region. Other religions were also followed here. Then about 1300 years ago Islam spread into the area. For about 1000 years after that it was a Muslim empire. Then it was broken down into lots of different hindu and Muslim empires (when the sikh religion was formed they made their own kingdoms).

The British came a few hundred years ago and conquered the whole region. They split the communities by religion and ethnicity and used these divides to control people by setting them against each other.

By the time the British left (1947) the Muslims in India who had been rulers for over a thousand years now didn't have the same level of control and wanted a seperate state. The British had deliberately setup the region so that if it was a single state it would fall into civil war. This was the original map that was proposed - http://brilliantmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/original-pakistan.jpg

Eventually we got our own country which we know as modern Pakistan and Bangladesh. Bangladesh used to be called East Pakistan but betrayed us and became independent in 1971.

 

[bananarepublic]

Vaziristan might actually be waziristan part of FATA (federally administered tribal area) and is not a province... And Pakistan has four provinces Punjab, Sindh ,Kpk and baluchistan ... While it also has three semi autonomous regions Gilgit-baltistan, azad jammu and kashmir and FATA

 

[313ghazi]

Here are some maps to help you understand the ethnic mixup

 

[Ivan the Immigrant]

Aha, thank you all for those posts above. That's precisely what I was asking about. So, can we say that Punjabi is major ethnicity in modern Pakistan?

And also, what is Urdu? Is Urdu the same as Punjabi language maybe?

 

[Mr.Cringeworth]

All I know is it is situated north of India and south of Afghanistan.

No it's located towards west of India and east of Afghanistan.

. Capital and largest city is Islamabad.

again not true Karachi is the largest city.

existance of at least two provinces: Vaziristan

Waziristan is not a province it's part of a province Khybar pakhtun khwa (KPK) some of it's area is also in FATA (federally administered tribal area).

what I can tell for sure is existance of at least two provinces

there are legally five provinces of Pakistan
1.Khybar pakhtun khwa (KPK)
2.Balochistan
3.Sindh
4.Punjab
5.Gilgit baltistan (GB).

 

[Ivan the Immigrant]

I believe I start to understand it: Waziri(people who live in Waziristan) are most likely Pashtun ethnic people than, right?

And in all, we can say there are 4 major ethnic groups in Pakistan:

Punjabi
Pashtun
S....what is the word...Sindh or Sindhi
Balochi

Am I right about that?

Also word Sindhi is very simmilar with Hindi, so my presumption would be they are probably related to Indian people more than others..

 

[Mr.Cringeworth]

Waziri(people who live in Waziristan) are most likely Pashtun ethnic people than, right?

yes.

S....what is the word

Sindhi.

Also word Sindhi is very simmilar with Hindi, so my presumption would be they are probably related to Indian people more than others..

they used to, not anymore.

 

[Ivan the Immigrant]

On the other hand, are there Punjabi people who live in India? This all confuses me...because from my ignorance I always related Punjabi with India rather than Pakistan. I was actually so stupid that I always thought that Punjabi were important ethnic majority or minority in India. But now I understand it is quite the opposite...:facepalm:
(I hope you will forgive me for being such ignorant...

 

[RealNapster]

On the other hand, are there Punjabi people who live in India? This all confuses me...because from my ignorance I always related Punjabi with India rather than Pakistan. I was actually so stupid that I always thought that Punjabi were important ethnic majority or minority in India. But now I understand it is quite the opposite...:facepalm:

During Partition of British India. Punjab Province split into two. so half Punjab is with India while Half Punjab is in Pakistan.

 

[Ivan the Immigrant]

During Partition of British India. Punjab Province split into two. so half Punjab is with India while Half Punjab is in Pakistan.

Now I am getting clear picture.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

No it's located towards west of India

North West.

The British came a few hundred years ago and conquered the whole region. They split the communities by religion and ethnicity and used these divides to control people by setting them against each other.

No they did "split" anybody. As you even say they "conquered" dozens of states and instead of "splitting" them they united them. Yes united them.

Here is what South Asia would have looked like if British did not unite these entities, emirates, kingdoms, states etc.

I always related Punjabi with India rather than Pakistan.

50% of Pakistan is Punjabi
2.5 of India is Punjabi.

 

[Joe Shearer]

North West.

No they did "split" anybody. As you even say they "conquered" dozens of states and instead of "splitting" them they united them. Yes united them.

Here is what South Asia would have looked like if British did not unite these entities, emirates, kingdoms, states etc.

50% of Pakistan is Punjabi
2.5 of India is Punjabi.

I saw what you did.

 

[Max]

I believe I start to understand it: Waziri(people who live in Waziristan) are most likely Pashtun ethnic people than, right?

And in all, we can say there are 4 major ethnic groups in Pakistan:

Punjabi
Pashtun
S....what is the word...Sindh or Sindhi
Balochi

Am I right about that?

Also word Sindhi is very simmilar with Hindi, so my presumption would be they are probably related to Indian people more than others..

Now I am getting clear picture.

Sindhi are not related to present day indians in anyways, they are different ethnic group all togather with their own language, only Punjabi is shared ethnic group who make them less then 3% of india.

word india is derived from Indus river which flows through Pakistan (93% of indus flows in Pakistan), India is also called Hind in Arabic and Persian which is also derived from Sindh. It was ancient name of present day Pakistan, Iranian used to call us Hindush etc when we were part of their empire, later invader extended this term to presnet day india, indian ocean, subcontinet all is named after our land, the land of Indus.

Also larger part of Punjab belong to Pakistan not half. Punjabi only make less then 3% of india.

 

[Mr.Cringeworth]

instead of "splitting" them they united them.

and that is what caused most of the problems pre partition @Ivan the Immigrant .