Punjabi New Zealanders

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5.2% No religion
4.6% Hinduism
3.9% Islam
3.3% Christianity^[2]Related ethnic groupsIndian New Zealanders · Pakistani New Zealanders

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^ Include other religions

Punjabi New Zealanders are New Zealanders who are of Punjabi descent. Their ancestry originates wholly or partially in the Punjab region of South Asia, constituting a subgroup of Indian New Zealanders and Pakistani New Zealanders.^[3]

According to the 2018 New Zealand census, there were 34,227 Punjabi-speaking individuals in the country.^[1] Punjabi was the second most commonly spoken South Asian language in New Zealand after Hindi, and the 14th most common overall.^[1]

New Zealand has a historical and growing Sikh community, most of whom originate from Punjab.^[4][5] Punjabis were amongst the earliest immigrants from South Asia to arrive in New Zealand alongside the Gujaratis, during what was then the British Raj in the 1890s,^[5][6] and some of them married local Māori women, whose offspring became known as Māori Indians.^[7]

Notable Punjabi New Zealanders

• Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, National Party politician and former MP.^[8]
• Ashraf Choudhary, Labour Party politician and former MP.^[9]
• Billy Ibadulla, a Punjabi Christian and former Test cricketer for Pakistan, who emigrated to New Zealand in 1976.^[10]
• Abraham Salaman, a Punjabi Muslim merchant and herbalist who arrived in New Zealand in 1903.^[11]
• Amandeep Singh, first-class cricketer.^[12]
• Bhupinder Singh, first-class cricketer.^[13]
• Phomen Singh, confectioner who arrived in New Zealand in c. 1890.^[14]
• Ish Sodhi, New Zealand Test cricketer.^[15]
• Sukhi Turner, politician and former mayor of Dunedin.^[16]

See also

• Indian New Zealanders
• Pakistani New Zealanders
• Sikhism in New Zealand

References