Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan and one of the official languages of India. It is the first language of about 70 million people and is spoken by over 230 million people worldwide. Urdu is a part of the Hindustani language family, and is mutually intelligible with Hindi. Using the Nasta’liq style of the Persian alphabet, Urdu is traditionally associated with the Muslim population of the region, while Hindi (using the Devanagari script) is connected with the Hindu community. Visitors to Islamic holy cities, such as Mecca, will find signage in Arabic, Urdu, and English. Ideal for businesspeople, travelers, and students, this dictionary includes: 20,000 dictionary entries, complete with Urdu script and transliteration Phonetics that are intuitive for English speakers Easy-to-use alphabet and pronunciation sections
