| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 2,850,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Pakistan | 2,460,000[1][2] |
 India | 350,000[3] |
 United Kingdom | 20,000 (est.)[4] |
| Languages | |
| Punjabi (various dialects), Urdu, English, Hindi | |
| Religion | |
 Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Part of a series on |
| Punjabis |
|---|
 |
 Punjab portal |
| Part of a series on |
| Christianity in Pakistan |
|---|
| Background |
| People |
| Churches |
| Part of a series on |
| Christianity in India |
|---|
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Punjabi Christians are adherents of Christianity who identify ethnically, linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis. They are mainly found in the Pakistani province of Punjab, forming the largest religious minority. They are one of the four main ethnoreligious communities of the Punjab region with the others being Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus.[5] Punjabi Christians are traditionally divided into various castes,[5] and are largely descendants of Hindus who converted to Christianity during the British Raj in colonial India.[6]
Today, the Punjabi Christians reside in the Punjab region, which includes the countries of Pakistan and India; they are almost equally divided between Catholicism and Protestantism.[2][7] With an estimated three million living in the Pakistani province of Punjab, they account for 75 percent of the country's total Christian population.[2][8][9] They are the second-largest religious community in the province behind Muslims, comprising approximately 1.5 to 2.8 percent of its population.[10][11] In India, a significant Punjabi Christian community is also found in the Indian state of Punjab. With a population of roughly 350,000, they comprise 1.26 percent of the state's population according to official Indian government figures.[3]
- ^ "Religious Demographics of Pakistan" (PDF).
- ^ a b c Douglas Jacobsen (21 March 2011). The World's Christians: Who they are, Where they are, and How they got there. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 112–. ISBN 978-1-4443-9729-1.
- ^ a b "Christians seek political voice in India's Punjab state". UCA News. 7 May 2019. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ "2011 UK Census data - Religion". Office for National Statistics. 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ^ a b Anshu Malhotra; Farina Mir (21 February 2012). Punjab Reconsidered: History, Culture, and Practice. OUP India. pp. 352–. ISBN 978-0-19-908877-5.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Phan2011was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Gerard Mannion (25 November 2008). Church and Religious 'Other'. A&C Black. pp. 88–. ISBN 978-0-567-03286-7.
- ^ Weber, Jeremy (7 August 2009). "Were Pakistan's Deadly Gojra Riots Enough to Provoke Change?". Christianity Today. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
Punjab is the center of Pakistan's small Christian community—an estimated 3 million in the Muslim nation of 175 million...
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Dawn1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
FTwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Edward P. Lipton (2002). Religious Freedom in Asia. Nova Publishers. pp. 40–. ISBN 978-1-59033-391-4.