Urdu (or اُردُو, pronounced [‘ʊrd̪uː]) is a standardized register of the Hindustani language. Urdu is historically associated with the Muslims of the region of Hindustan. It is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan, and an official language of six Indian states and one of the 22 scheduled languages in the Constitution of India. Urdu and Hindi are nearly identical in basic structure and grammar, and at a colloquial level also in vocabulary and phonology. Urdu is written right-to left in an extension of the Persian alphabet. Writing system: Urdu alphabet (Arabic script), Devanagari Official in: Pakistan, India