Demographics

The population and demographic distribution of Karachi during last 150 years have greatly changed.
Historical populations
Censusyear
Population

1856
56,875
1872
56,753
1881
73,560
1891
105,199
1901
136,297
1911
186,771
1921
244,162
1931
300,799
1941
435,887
1951
1,068,459
1961
1,912,598
1972
3,426,310
1981
5,208,132
1998
9,269,265
2005
(estimated) 14 mn.
Non governmental and international sources report that Karachi's current population is estimated to be 14 to 15 million — a thirty-seven-fold increase over its population in 1947 (400,000). The city's population is currently growing at about 5% per year (mainly on account of rural-urban internal migration). Currently, Karachi is counted as one of the largest megacities of the world.Karachi has been bearing over one million Aghan refugees since Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. On the other hand, hundred of thousands of illegal Bengali immigrants are also settled in Karachi. They form a significant part of slum areas in Karachi.The breakup of Karachi's population is as follows: Males form 53.7% of Karachiites. 37.6% of which are under the age of 15. 4.4% are older than 50. 22.1% of the city's population are migrants from other places.According to 1998 census the linguistic breakup of the city is as follows. Urdu 48.52%; Punjabi 13.94%; Sindhi 7.22%; Pushto 11.42%; Balochi 4.34%; Seraiki 2.11%; Others 12.4%. The others include Gujarati, Memon, Brahui, Makrani, Khowar, Burushaski Irani and Bengali.According to the census the religious breakup of the city is as follows. Muslim 96.49%; Christian 2.35%; Hindu 0.83%; Ahmadi 0.17%; Others 0.13%. The others include Parsi, Zikri and Buddhist