▁ 1 9 6 0 s ▁to ▁standard ise ▁a ▁script ▁and ▁promote ▁the ▁language . ▁The ▁national ▁census ▁of ▁Pakistan ▁has ▁tab ulated ▁the ▁pre val ence ▁of ▁S ara iki ▁speak ers ▁since ▁ 1 9 8 1 . ▁ ▁Ge ographical ▁distribution ▁ ▁S ara iki ▁is ▁primarily ▁spoken ▁in ▁the ▁south - western ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁province ▁of ▁P un j ab . ▁To ▁the ▁west , ▁it ▁is ▁set ▁off ▁from ▁the ▁Pas ht o - ▁and ▁Bal och i - spe aking ▁areas ▁by ▁the ▁S ule iman ▁Range , ▁while ▁to ▁the ▁south - east ▁the ▁Th ar ▁desert ▁div ides ▁it ▁from ▁the ▁Mar w ari ▁language . ▁Its ▁other ▁boundaries ▁are ▁less ▁well - defined : ▁P un j abi ▁is ▁spoken ▁to ▁the ▁east ; ▁S ind hi ▁is ▁found ▁to ▁the ▁south , ▁after ▁the ▁border ▁with ▁S ind h ▁province ; ▁to ▁the ▁north , ▁the ▁southern ▁edge ▁of ▁the ▁Salt ▁Range ▁is ▁the ▁rough ▁divide ▁with ▁the ▁northern ▁vari eties ▁of ▁Western ▁P un j abi . ▁ ▁Pakistan ▁Today , ▁ 2 5 . 9 ▁million ▁people ▁from ▁North ▁S ind h , ▁South ▁P un j ab , ▁South ▁K hy ber ▁Pak ht unk h wa ▁and ▁Eastern ▁Bal och istan ▁province ▁speak ▁S ara iki . ▁ ▁The ▁first ▁national ▁census ▁of ▁Pakistan ▁to ▁gather ▁data ▁on ▁the ▁pre val ence ▁of ▁S ara iki ▁was ▁the ▁census ▁of ▁ 1 9 8 1 . ▁In