ith approximately 75 million people living in the "land of the five rivers," Punjabis make up over 60% of the country's population. This numerical superiority, along with their living in the most fertile and prosperous region of Pakistan, explains the fact that Punjabis constitute a large proportion of the country's political and social elite. Punjabis also figure prominently among the leading military figures who play an important role in the government of the country.

Most farmers in the central parts of the Punjab own their land. The situation is very different from the region's southwest parts, and Sindh generally, where aristocratic land- owning families still dominate and peasants have to give a percentage of their harvest to their landlords as payment for cultivating the land.

Punjabi traditional dress is characterized for males by the wearing of a shirt over a long cloth wrap known as a dhoti . On the head a turban is normally worn, except in informal situations. Female Punjabi dress is not distinctively different from that of Pakistani women generally, namely the wide trousers and long shirt known as the shalwarkamiz, with a dupatta , a veil. Punjabis are usually well-built, tall, and fair- complexioned compared to Pakistanis of other regions.