27 Interesting Facts about Urdu

This post is a list of interesting and fun facts about the Urdu language. These facts include information about where Urdu is spoken, how common Urdu is today and the history of Urdu.

Have you ever wondered about the Urdu language? Things like, why is Urdu so similar to Hindi? What even is the difference between Urdu and Hindi? Is Urdu related to Arabic or Persian? Where did Urdu originate?

I have you covered – here are an array of interesting facts about Urdu that will answer many of your questions and more…

27 Fun and Interesting Facts about Urdu

Interesting Facts about Urdu

Urdu is the official national language of Pakistan.
Urdu is also commonly spoken across South Asian, especially in some parts of India like the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Hyderabad and Uttar Pradesh.
It is estimated that Urdu is spoken by 100 million people across the world!
That makes Urdu the 11th most commonly spoken language in the world!
In the UK, it is estimated that there are 400,000 people who speak Urdu
In the USA, it is estimated there are 300,000 people who speak Urdu
The most similar language to Urdu is Hindi – you may have noticed this if you’ve ever watched a Bollywood movie! Spoken Urdu and Hindi are almost identical, aside from a few words, phrases and tone of speaking. If you know Hindi, it’ll make Urdu extremely easy to learn, and vice versa.
Spoken Hindi and Urdu may be similar, but the scripts in which they are written are completely different!
In terms of script, Urdu is over 90% similar to Persian and Arabic. If you ever learnt how to read the Quran as a child, learning how to read Urdu will not be a huge feat for you. I’ve written about this here.
Urdu vocabulary also borrows about 40% from Arabic and Persian. So again, if you know Arabic or Persian already, learning Urdu won’t be a huge challenge – and vice versa!
Urdu is written from left to right
Traditional Urdu is written in a font called nastaliq which is also used for Persian
It’s believed that Urdu developed around the 12th century in Delhi
Until the end of the 18th century, Urdu was not known as Urdu! Other names for Urdu used before the 18th century included: Hindvi, Dehlvi, Lahori, Lashkari and Hindustani
Urdu became a unifying symbol for Muslims during the 19th-century tensions and the colonization by the British Empire
Urdu comes from the Turkish word ‘Urdo’ meaning army
Some common words used in English that originate from Urdu: khaki, pyjama, cummerband
Urdu is known to be a a poetic language. There is a vast body of poetry and literature written in Urdu
Urdu is spoken a lot across the Middle East due to the number of Pakistanis who live there
Urdu is almost spoken by over 5 million Afghanistanis – this may be due to the number of Afghanistanis who sought refuge in Pakistan
The Urdu language has 36 letters
Amir Khusrau (1253–1325 AD) is considered to be the first Urdu writer – he was a Persian poet, musician and scholar associated with the rulers of the Delhi Sultanate
Urdu is on the list of significant languages compiled by the U.S. State Department.
Research suggests 720 hours of serious study is required to reach basic proficiency in Urdu (6 hours a day for 4 months). Furthermore, to achieve complete mastery of Urdu it would take a study time of 1100 hours (approximately 6 hours a day for 6 months)
India has more than 2900 daily Urdu newspapers
The words of the Pakistani national anthem are all words that are Urdu and Persian except the word ‘ka’ (of).
Two of the most famous, influential poets of Urdu literature are Mirza Ghalib and Allama Iqbal

How many of these facts did you know?

Do you have any unique, interesting and fun facts about Urdu you’d like to share? If you do, please leave them in the comments section below! I would love to hear them and add them to the list!

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