Punjabi diaspora

ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਪ੍ਰਦੇਸ਼ੀ پنجابی ڈائیسپورا
Total population
2–2.5 million.[1]
Regions with significant populations
Canada	942,170 (2021)[2][a]
United Kingdom	700,000 (2006)[3]
United States	253,740[4]
Australia	239,033 (2021)[5]
Italy	200,000 (2019)[14]
Malaysia	56,400 (2019)[15]
Philippines	50,000 (2016)[16]
Indonesia	35,000 (2019)[17]
New Zealand	34,227 (2018)[18]
Sweden	24,000 (2013)[19]
Bangladesh	23,700 (2019)[20]
Germany	18,000 (2020)[21]
Nepal	10,000 (2019)[22]
Languages
Punjabi •Hindi-Urdu •English • others
Religion
Islam •Sikhism (incl.Nanakpanthi) •Hinduism •Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Indian diaspora,Pakistani diaspora,South Asian diaspora

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ThePunjabi diaspora consists of the descendants of ethnicPunjabis who emigrated out of thePunjab region inPakistan andIndia to the rest of the world. Punjabis are one of the largest ethnic groups in both thePakistani andIndian diasporas. The Punjabi diaspora numbers around the world has been given between 3 and 5 million, mainly concentrated inBritain,Canada, theUnited States,Western Europe,Southeast Asia, theMiddle East,Australia andNew Zealand.^[1]

Many families fromPunjab, Pakistan migrated to erstwhileEast Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) as it was one country at the time. Some of these families chose to remain in Bangladesh after its independence. One such example is the family of Bangladeshi-Punjabi cricketerJunaid Siddique.

Most Punjabis in Brazil areSikhs.

Punjabis migrated toAustralia from other parts of the Punjabi diaspora, as well from the state of Punjab itself. The Majority were Sikh^[23] and Hindu Punjabis are a minority.^[24]

Punjabis make up approximately 2.6% of the Canadian population as per the 2021 Canadian Census.^[25] The largest Punjabi community in Canada is in Ontario, with 397,867 Punjabis as of 2021 (making up 2.84% of the overall population), while British Columbia is home to approximately 315,000 Punjabis (making up 6.41% of the overall population).^[26] 85% ofSouth Asians inBritish Columbia are Punjabi Sikhs,^[27] including formerpremier of British Columbia,Ujjal Dosanjh and former leader of the federalNew Democratic Party (NDP),MP forBurnaby South,Jagmeet Singh.

Punjabi Canadians byprovince and territory (1991−2021)^[a]

Province/territory	2021[2]		2016[28]		2011[29]		2006[30]		2001[31]		1996[32]		1991[33]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Ontario	397,865	2.84%	282,065	2.13%	238,130	1.87%	201,720	1.68%	146,250	1.3%	99,135	0.93%	64,105	0.64%
British Columbia	315,000	6.41%	244,485	5.36%	213,315	4.9%	184,590	4.53%	142,785	3.69%	112,365	3.05%	77,830	2.4%
Alberta	126,385	3.03%	90,485	2.27%	62,815	1.74%	44,480	1.37%	28,460	0.97%	20,660	0.77%	15,165	0.6%
Manitoba	42,820	3.28%	22,900	1.85%	12,555	1.05%	7,600	0.67%	6,305	0.57%	5,445	0.49%	4,150	0.38%
Quebec	34,290	0.41%	17,860	0.22%	14,480	0.19%	15,435	0.21%	13,050	0.18%	9,155	0.13%	4,850	0.07%
Saskatchewan	13,310	1.21%	8,300	0.78%	3,250	0.32%	1,210	0.13%	925	0.1%	760	0.08%	635	0.07%
Nova Scotia	6,730	0.7%	1,010	0.11%	800	0.09%	625	0.07%	525	0.06%	765	0.09%	705	0.08%
New Brunswick	2,475	0.33%	205	0.03%	115	0.02%	130	0.02%	135	0.02%	80	0.01%	55	0.01%
Prince Edward Island	1,550	1.03%	185	0.13%	40	0.03%	15	0.01%	0	0%	30	0.02%	90	0.07%
Newfoundland and Labrador	1,040	0.21%	485	0.09%	115	0.02%	150	0.03%	150	0.03%	140	0.03%	235	0.04%
Yukon	490	1.24%	150	0.43%	105	0.31%	100	0.33%	90	0.32%	95	0.31%	50	0.18%
Northwest Territories	175	0.43%	105	0.26%	30	0.07%	25	0.06%	35	0.09%	60	0.09%	65	0.11%
Nunavut	30	0.08%	15	0.04%	15	0.05%	10	0.03%	10	0.04%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Canada	942,170	2.59%	668,240	1.94%	545,730	1.65%	456,090	1.46%	338,715	1.14%	248,695	0.87%	167,930	0.62%

The PunjabiSikh diaspora in Germany is around 15,000-21,000.^{[citation needed]}

In 2012, around 2,000 farmers from Punjab, India migrated toGeorgia to farm.^[34] As of 2018 about 200 of them are still living inTsnori, a town inKakheti region.^[35]

The first arrival of Punjabis in Greece came through theBritish Indian Army duringWorld War I andWorld War II. Since the 1990s, many Sikh migrants from Punjab came to Greece to work on shipping lines, in agriculture, construction, and as taxi drivers. During the2015 European migrant crisis, many immigrants including Punjabis illegally entered Greece.^[36]

Among Hong Kong Indian adolescents, Punjabi is the third most common language afterEnglish andCantonese.^[37] 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:

• Punjab 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 272Europeans, 774Indians (mainly Punjabis) and 1140Chinese.^[38] Punjabis dominated Hong Kong's police force until the 1950s.^[39]

From the 2006 government by-census results, it shows a population of roughly 20,444 Indians and roughly 11,111 Pakistanis residing at the former British territory.^[40]

Around 60 Punjabi Sikh families reside in Iran.^[41] The Punjabi language is also taught atKendriya Vidyalaya Tehran, an Indian co-educational school inBaharestan District,Tehran.^[42]

The PunjabiSikh diaspora in Italy is a growing minority inItaly. The country has the second biggestSikh population inEurope after theUnited Kingdom. It is estimated that there are more than 200,000 Sikhs in Italy.^[48]

There are 71,000 Punjabis. InJapan 98% of the Punjabis areSikh and 1.5% of the Punjabis areChristian.^[49]

MostKenyan Asians areGujaratis, but the second largest group arePunjabis.^[50] All three major religious groups (Sikh, Muslim and Hindu) are represented in the Punjabi population. The artisanRamgharia caste used to be the largest group amongst the Sikhs.^[51]

Although mostMalaysian Indians areTamils, there were also many Punjabis that immigrated toMalaysia. They are known to be the third largest Indian ethnic group in Malaysia, after the Tamils and Malayalees. According to Amarjit Kaur as of 1993 there were 60, 000 Punjabis in Malaysia.^[52] Robin Cohen estimates the number of Malaysian Sikhs as 30, 000 (as of 1995).^[38] Recent figures state that there are 130,000 Sikhs in Malaysia.^[53]

In New Zealand, Punjabis are one of the largest group ofIndian New Zealanders.^[54]

In the Gulf states, the largest group among Pakistani expatriates are the Punjabis.^[55]

Punjabis are the second largestIndian group in Indonesia, right afterTamil people, some of them are known as film producer, politician and athlete such asManoj Punjabi,H. S. Dillon,Gurnam Singh,Ayu Azhari, andMusa Rajekshah. Punjabis in Indonesia adheres primarily to Sikhism, Hinduism and Islam, according to some source, the population of ethnic Punjabis are estimated to be around 35,000 to 60,000.^[56]

The Philippines has over 50,000 Punjabi Indians as recently as the year 2016, not including illegal Punjabi Indian immigrants. This makes the Philippines having the 6th highest population of Punjabi Indians in the world.^[16]

The third largest group amongIndo-Singaporeans in 1980 were Punjabis (afterTamils - who form a majority of Indo-Singaporeans - andMalayalis), at 7.8% of the Indo-Singaporean population.^[57]

Between the 1980s and the 1990s, many Punjabis migrated to Spain due to relaxed immigration policies and a labour shortage.^[36] Many consisted of Sikh agricultural and manufacturing labourers, as well as business owners.

MostIndians in Thailand are Punjabis.^[58]

TheSikh community inTrinidad and Tobago, numbering at about 300, consists of the descendants of the fewPunjabis who came during theindentureship period andPunjabi Sikhs who came in the twentieth and twenty-first century. The Sikhs have agurdwara inTunapuna dating back to 1929. There were alsoPunjabi Hindus andPunjabi Muslims who came during the indentured period as well in the twentieth and twenty-first century.^[59]Bhangra has also had a minor impact on the local IndianBhojpuri-derivedchutney music, with few songs mixing bhangra rhythms to create achutney bhangra style.^[60]

The founder ofSolo Beverage Company, one of the largest beverage companies in Trinidad and Tobago, Serjad Makmadeen (a.k.a. Joseph Charles), was born in 1910 inPrinces Town to Makmadeen, aPunjabi Muslim who emigrated from Punjab in thenBritish India to Trinidad, and his wife Rosalin Jamaria, aDougla (mixedIndian andAfrican heritage) who emigrated fromMartinique.^[61] One of the most notorious gangster and pirate of the twentieth century in Trinidad and Tobago and the widerCaribbean,Boysie Singh was born inWoodbrook, Port of Spain in 1908 to aPunjabi Hindu father who immigrated as a fugitive to Trinidad to escape persecution in British India.^[62][63][64] Ranjit Kumar, one of the founding fathers of Trinidad and Tobago, a "Moulder of the Nation", and anIndo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian civil rights activist, was born in 1912 inRawalpindi,Punjab,British India (present-dayPunjab,Pakistan) to aPunjabi Hindu family.^[65] He immigrated to Trinidad and Tobago in 1935 to distribute the firstIndian films there and later became an engineer in the Trinidad and Tobago Works Department, where he was responsible for constructing numerous major roads and irrigation and drainage systems. He was also analderman on thePort of Spain City Council and the founder of theChallenger newspaper, educating the public on engineering, irrigation and flooding problems.^[66]

In the United Kingdom, around two-thirds of direct migrants from South Asia were Punjabi. The remaining third is mostlyGujarati andBengali.^[67] They form a majority of both the South Asian British Sikh and Hindu communities.

Most "twice-migrants" - a term describing South Asian descendants who migrated to the United Kingdom not directly from South Asia (mainly from theIndian diaspora in Southeast Africa and other British Colonies) were alsoPunjabi orGujarati.^[68]

United Kingdom is also known as the birthplace ofbhangra music, a style of non traditional Punjabi music created by the Punjabi diaspora.^{[citation needed]}

The earliest South Asian immigrants to the United States were Punjabis, who mostly immigrated to theWest Coast, particularlyCalifornia.^[69] Half ofPakistani Americans are Punjabis.^[70] 85% of the early Indian immigrants to the US were Sikhs, although they were incorrectly branded byWhite Americans as "Hindus".^[71] 90% of Indians who settled in theCentral Valley ofCalifornia were Punjabi Sikhs.^[72] The firstAsian American and member of a non-Abrahamic faith elected to theUS Congress wasDalip Singh Saund, a Punjabi Sikh.

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• Punjabi diaspora
• Punjab
• Pakistani diaspora
• Ethnic groups in India

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