Languages of Pakistan
Pakistan is heir to one of the most ancient civilizations in the world along with Iraq and Egypt. They also had ancient indigenous languages before being replaced by their present-day languages. These languages have not been used in the domains of power because the rulers of these regions were generally foreigners. But the foreigners, whether the Persians, ancient Greeks, Arabs, Turco-Mongols as well as the British, have all influenced the indigenous languages so that their vocabulary is multilingual and varied. As the people of these areas converted to Islam, Arabic and Persian words influenced and became part of their identity, and remain so. In a sense, it is their very presence, as well as the Arabic-based scripts of all 75 Pakistani languages, which gave them a cultural unity.