Panjabi today by Viv Edwards

Panjabi is ranked thirteenth among the world's languages with an estimated 85 million speakers, and is one of the 15 official languages of India.

Panjabi speakers form one of the most important south Asian communities in the UK. Not all, however, came direct from India and Pakistan; some also came via East Africa where they had settled as traders earlier in the century. Most East African Panjabis were professionals and businessmen; those from India tended to come from more rural backgrounds.

Listen online to programmes in Panjabi:

BBC Asian Network

The most important time of settlement was from the late 1950s to the early 1970s when large numbers settled in the industrial Midlands, the south and the northern textile towns. A 2000 survey of London school children showed that Panjabi was the third most common language in the capital. Large numbers of speakers are concentrated in two areas - a western zone which includes Hounslow, Hillingdon and Ealing, and an eastern zone encompassing Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Newham and Lewisham. More recently there has been some movement of Panjabi speakers from larger cities to areas such as Gloucestershire.

Of the three religious groups who speak Panjabi, only Sikhs actively promote its use in writing through community schools and GCSEs and A-levels in mainstream schools. The Sikh temple or gurdwara ('guru's door'), which forms the centre of religious, social and community life, is often the venue for Panjabi classes for children.

The Panjabi community has made an important contribution to British popular culture in the form of bhangra music. The same percussion instruments - the dhol, dholak and tabla - which provide the rhythms for traditional bhangra music form the foundation for strong melds with musical influences from the west and widespread use of Panjabi lyrics. Bhangra has been very popular not only with British Asians but also with mainstream youth, with bands like Apache Indian making appearance in the UK charts.

Three weekly, one fortnightly and three monthly news publications serve the UK Panjabi community, as do Panjab Radio and Desi Radio in London. The BBC Asian Network also broadcasts programmes in Panjabi. Outside the capital, Asian Sound Radio in Manchester, Radio XL in Birmingham and Sunrise Radio-Yorkshire broadcast some Panjabi language programmes. Prime TV is also available for viewers who understand Urdu and Panjabi in Europe.