Punjabi diaspora

The Punjabi diaspora refers to the descendants of ethnic Punjabis who emigrated out of the Punjab region to the rest of world. Punjabis are one of the largest ethnic groups in both the Pakistani and Indian diasporas. The Punjabi diaspora numbers around 10 million, mainly concentrated in Britain, North America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.^[1]

Australia

Punjabis migrated to Australia from other parts of the Punjabi diaspora, as well from the state of Punjab itself. The Majority were Sikh & Hindu Punjabis instead of Muslims being the majority.^[2]

Canada

85% of Indo-Canadians in British Columbia and Ontario are Punjabi Sikhs.^[3]

Gulf states

In the Gulf states, the largest group among Pakistani expatriates are the Punjabis, then Pashtuns.^[4]

Hong Kong

Among Hong Kong Indian adolescents, Punjabi is the most common language other than Cantonese.^[5] The Punjabis were influential in the military, and in line with the British military thinking of the time (namely, the late 19th century and early 20th century) Punjabi Sikhs,Punjabi Hindus and Punjabi Muslims formed two separate regiments.The regiments were as follows:

• Punjabi regiment-25,000 soldiers(50% Muslim,40% Hindu and 10% Sikh)
• Sikh Regiment-10,000 soldiers(80% Sikh,20% Hindu)

In 1939, Hong Kong's police force included 272 Europeans, 774 Indians (mainly Punjabis) and 1140 Chinese.^[6] Punjabis dominated Hong Kong's police force until the 1950s.^[7]

From the 2006 Government by-census results, it shows a poupluation of roughly 20,444 Indians and roughly 11,111 Pakistanis residing at the former British territory. .^[8]

Kenya

Most Kenyan Asians are Gujaratis, but the second largest group are Punjabis. There is also a small Goan minority.^[9]

Malaysia

Although most Malaysian Indians are Tamils, there were also many Punjabis that immigrated to Malaysia. According to Amarjit Kaur as of 1993 there were 60, 000 Punjabis in Malaysia.^[10] Robin Cohen estimates the number of Malaysian Sikhs as 30, 000 (as of 1995).^[6] Recent figures state that there are 130,000 Sikhs in Malaysia.^[11]

New Zealand

In New Zealand, Punjabis are one of the largest group of Indian New Zealanders.^[12]

Singapore

The third largest group among Indo-Singaporeans in 1980 were Punjabis (after Tamils - who form a majority of Indo-Singaporeans - and Malayalis), at 7.8% of the Indo-Singaporean population.^[13]

Thailand

Most Indians in Thailand are Punjabis.^[14]

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, around two-thirds of direct migrants (excluding South Asians that immigrated from the Caribbean, Fiji and other regions) from South Asia were Punjabi. The remaining third is mostly Marwaris and Bengali.^[15] They form a majority of both the South Asian British Sikh and Muslim communities.

Most "twice-migrants" were also Punjabi or Marwaris.^[16]

Population of Sikhs by UK Censuses

^[17]

United States

The earliest South Asian immigrants to the United States were Punjabis, who mostly immigrated to the West Coast, particularly California.^[18] Half of Pakistani Americans are Punjabis.^[19] 85% of the early Indian immigrants to the US were Sikhs, although they were branded by White Americans as "Hindoos".^[20] 90% of Indians who settled in the Central Valley of California were Punjabi Sikhs.^[21]

Native speakers of Punjabi per country

References