The people of Pakistan who identify

The people of Pakistan who identify as "Pakistani" got this definition with the division from India in the late 1940s. This split was primarily done in order to give the Muslims a separate political entity therefore being a Muslim is an essential part of the definition today. However, there are few Pakistanis who are devout Muslims and the state was formed, in many ways, in order to prevent being ruled by Hindus. Despite this, the identity of "Pakistani" is now tied to being Muslim, even if many people are Muslim in name only and don't practice the religion regularly. Most people prefer to identify based on their individual ethnicity and there are hundreds of ethnicities in Pakistan. Although nearly all of these ethnic identities consider Islam a part of their identity, each has a distinct language, foods, dress, and other cultural aspects, which make each group fairly unique.