Balochistan[1](Balochi: بلوچستان) or Baluchistan is an arid, mountainous region that includes part of southern and southwestern Afghanistan. It extends into southeastern Iran and western Pakistan and is named after the Baloch people.[2][3]
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Northern Balochistan/ Afghan Balochistan is Nimroz, south of Helmand, Kandahar[4] and south-west of Farah province of Afghanistan. Northern Balochistan has an area of approximately (70,000 km²). It became part of Afghanistan after the Perso-Baluch Boundary was drawn.[5]
The Baluch are an Iranian ethnic group that numbers around 200,000 in Afghanistan. The main Baloch areas located in Balochistan province in Pakistan and Sistan and Baluchistan province of Iran. Many also live in southern Afghanistan. They are most likely an offshoot of the Kurds and reached Afghanistan sometime between 1000 and 1300 BCE. Mainly pastoral and desert dwellers, the Baluch are Sunni Muslim.[6] The Baluch population in Afghanistan number approximately 600,000 of which 400,000 are Balochi speakers and 200,000 Brahui speakers.[7] The majority of the Baluch people live in southern Afghanistan.[7] The Balochi speakers are mostly settled in Nimruz and Farah provinces. The Brahui speakers mainly inhabit Kandahar province. In Helmand, the Balochi and Brahui-speaker Balochs intermingle. Balochs in other parts of Afghanistan speak Pashto and Dari.[7] During the Soviet war in Afghanistan and Afghan Civil War (1989-1992) many Pashtuns settled in northern parts of Afghan Balochistan/ Northern Balochistan.[4][8]
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