The chief executive officer of the province is the Lieutenant-Governor. who is appointed by the Governor-General of India with the approval of the Crown. Since 1897 the province has had a legislative council of nine nominated members. There are 148 municipalities. in two-thirds of which the nmnicipal committees are elected by the rate-payers. District boards have oversight of the rural regions, and most of the districts are divided into smaller divisions with local boards.
The population, in 1901, numbered 22,455.819 (of which, however, 2,125,480 have since been deducted as belonging to the Northwest Frontier Province). Between 1890 and 1900 there was an increase of 7.13 per cent., as against an increase of 10.74 per cent. in the preceding decade. There were 202 inhabitants to the square mile, or considerably less than half the density of the Ganges Valley region. Since the Punjab lies at the northwest gateway of India. the numerous migrations and military expeditions from the west have passed through it, making it the scene of numerous conflicts. The result has been that in many respects it is different from the' other portions of India. The Caucasian blood is more pronounced, as is also the military spirit. The .Jats constitute a large part of the population. The Pathans have scattered settlements through out the province, and the Beluchis have settle ments on the Lower Indus. Over one-half of the people are Mohammedans—a larger per cent. than is found in other parts of India. The
Pathans and the Beluchis nearly all hold to that faith. A large number of Jats are Hindus. The Sikhs (q.v.) are an offshoot from the Hindu Jats. The Christians numbered in 1901 only 53. 587, of whom 30,839 are Europeans. The caste system, as adopted by the Indus Valley Jats, dif fers materially from the original system. The Sikhs have endeavored without success to abolish caste. As in other parts of India, most of the population lives in rural villages. Delhi. the largest city, had a population in 1901 of 208,300. Lahore, the capital, ranks second with 120,000. having decreased from 176,800 since 1891. In 1897 there were S507 schools of all grades, with 265.922 pupils. The cost of maintaining these was divided between the provincial and the local units of government supplemented from fees and other sources. For the history of the Punjab. see SIKHS; and for the language, see PANJABI LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Griffin, The Rajas of the PunBibliography. Griffin, The Rajas of the Pun- jab (2d ed., London, 1S72) : Report on the Ad ministration of the Punjab (Lahore. 1803-1902) ; Cunningham. Archrrological Surrey of Udlu, col. xiv. (London, 18821: Medlicott, Sketch of the Geology of the Punjab (Calcutta, 1888) : Gore. Lights and Sharks of Hill Lifr in the Afghan and Hindu Highlands of the Punjab (London. 1S95) : Latif. History of the Punjab from the Earliest Antiquity to the Present Time (ib., 18.96).