Punjabi diaspora
The Punjabi diaspora consists of the descendants of ethnic Punjabis who emigrated out of the Punjab region in Pakistan and India to the rest of the world. Punjabis are one of the largest ethnic groups in both the Pakistani and [Non-resident Indian Indonesians|Indian and person of Indian origin|Indian diasporas]. The Punjabi diaspora numbers around the world has been given between 3 and 5 million, mainly concentrated in Britain, Canada, the United States, Western Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.
Bangladesh
Many families from Punjab, Pakistan migrated to erstwhile East Pakistan 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 cricketer Junaid Siddique.Brazil
Most Punjabis in Brazil are Sikhs.Punjabis migrated to Australia from other parts of the Punjabi diaspora, as well from the state of Punjab itself. The majority were Sikh and Hindu Punjabis are a minority.
Canada
Punjabis make up approximately 2.6% of the Canadian population as per the 2021 Canadian Census. The largest Punjabi community in Canada is in Ontario, with 397,867 Punjabis as of 2021, while British Columbia is home to approximately 315,000 Punjabis. 85% of South Asians in British Columbia are Punjabi Sikhs, including former premier of British Columbia, Ujjal Dosanjh and former leader of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP), MP for Burnaby South, Jagmeet Singh.Georgia
In 2012, around 2,000 farmers from Punjab, India migrated to Georgia to farm. As of 2018 about 200 of them are still living in Tsnori, a town in Kakheti region.Germany
The Punjabi Sikh diaspora in Germany is around 15,000-21,000.Greece
The first arrival of Punjabis in Greece came through the British Indian Army during World War I and World 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 the 2015 European migrant crisis, many immigrants including Punjabis illegally entered Greece.Indonesia
Punjabis are the second largest Indian group in Indonesia, right after Tamil people, some of them are known as film producer, politician and athlete such as Manoj Punjabi, H. S. Dillon, Gurnam Singh, Ayu Azhari, and Musa 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.Hong Kong
Among Hong Kong Indian adolescents, Punjabi is the third most common language after English and Cantonese. The Punjabis were influential in the military, and in line with the British military thinking of the time Punjabi Sikhs, Punjabi Hindus and Punjabi Muslims formed two separate regiments. The regiments were as follows:- Punjab regiment: 25,000 soldiers
- Sikh Regiment: 10,000 soldiers
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.
Iran
Around 60 Punjabi Sikh families reside in Iran. The Punjabi language is also taught at Kendriya Vidyalaya Tehran, an Indian co-educational school in Baharestan District, Tehran.Italy
The Punjabi Sikh diaspora in Italy is a growing minority in Italy. The country has the second biggest Sikh population in Europe after the United Kingdom. It is estimated that there are more than 200,000 Sikhs in Italy.Japan
There are 71,000 Punjabis. In Japan 98% of the Punjabis are Sikh and 1.5% of the Punjabis are Christian.Kenya
Most Kenyan Asians are Gujaratis, but the second largest group are Punjabis. All three major religious groups are represented in the Punjabi population. The artisan Ramgharia caste used to be the largest group amongst the Sikhs.Malaysia
Although most Malaysian Indians are Tamils, there were also many Punjabis that immigrated to Malaysia. 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. Robin Cohen estimates the number of Malaysian Sikhs as 30, 000. Recent figures state that there are 130,000 Sikhs in Malaysia.New Zealand
In New Zealand, Punjabis are one of the largest group of Indian New Zealanders.Persian Gulf states
In the Gulf states, the largest group among Pakistani expatriates are the Punjabis.Philippines
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.Singapore
The third largest group among Indo-Singaporeans in 1980 were Punjabis, at 7.8% of the Indo-Singaporean population.Spain
Between the 1980s and the 1990s, many Punjabis migrated to Spain due to relaxed immigration policies and a labour shortage. Many consisted of Sikh agricultural and manufacturing labourers, as well as business owners.Thailand
Most Indians in Thailand are Punjabis.Trinidad and Tobago
The Sikh community in Trinidad and Tobago, numbering at about 300, consists of the descendants of the few Punjabis who came during the indentureship period and Punjabi Sikhs who came in the twentieth and twenty-first century. The Sikhs have a gurdwara in Tunapuna dating back to 1929. There were also Punjabi Hindus and Punjabi Muslims who came during the indentured period as well in the twentieth and twenty-first century. Bhangra has also had a minor impact on the local Indian Bhojpuri-derived chutney music, with few songs mixing bhangra rhythms to create a chutney bhangra style.The founder of Solo Beverage Company, one of the largest beverage companies in Trinidad and Tobago, Serjad Makmadeen, was born in 1910 in Princes Town to Makmadeen, a Punjabi Muslim who emigrated from Punjab in then British India to Trinidad, and his wife Rosalin Jamaria, a Dougla who emigrated from Martinique. One of the most notorious gangster and pirate of the twentieth century in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean, Boysie Singh was born in Woodbrook, Port of Spain in 1908 to a Punjabi Hindu father who immigrated as a fugitive to Trinidad to escape persecution in British India. Ranjit Kumar, one of the founding fathers of Trinidad and Tobago, a "Moulder of the Nation", and an Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian civil rights activist, was born in 1912 in Rawalpindi, Punjab, British India to a Punjabi Hindu family. He immigrated to Trinidad and Tobago in 1935 to distribute the first Indian 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 an alderman on the Port of Spain City Council and the founder of the Challenger newspaper, educating the public on engineering, irrigation and flooding problems.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, around two-thirds of direct migrants from South Asia were Punjabi. The remaining third is mostly Gujarati and Bengali. 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 were also Punjabi or Gujarati.
United Kingdom is also known as the birthplace of bhangra music, a style of non traditional Punjabi music created by the Punjabi diaspora.