User:BalochMedia/sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Baloch' or Baluch (بلوچ) are an ethnic group that belong to the larger Persian people including Kurds and Lurs. Baluch people mainly inhabit the Baluchestan region and Sistan va Baluchestan in the southeast corner of the Persian plateau in Western Asia since their departure from Mesopotamia due to reasons largely believed to be continuous wars and chaos in Ancient Persia that pushed them towards their present location in Sistan va Baluchestan in present day Iran and later towards Baluchestan and parts of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, as well as on the other side of the Gulf of Oman in Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain.
Total population | |
---|---|
approximately 9 million | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Baluchestan (region) | 6.2 million (2008)[citation needed] |
Iran | 1.484 million (2009)[1][2] |
Afghanistan | 567,920 (2009)[3] |
Oman | 425,000 (2009)[4][5] |
United Arab Emirates | 100,000 [6] |
28,000 (1993)[citation needed] | |
Kuwait | 20,000 (1993)[citation needed] |
Qatar | 13,000 (2007)[citation needed] |
Saudi Arabia | 12,000 (2007) [citation needed] |
Somalia | 8,200 (2007) [citation needed] |
Bahrain | 25,000 (2009) [citation needed] |
Languages | |
Baluchi, Kurdish, Pashto, Mazandarani, Persian and Avestan | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Kurdish people, Pashtuns, Mazandaranis, Lurs and other Iranic groups |
The Baluch people mainly speak Baluchi, which is a branch of the Persian languages is highly influenced by that of Mesopotamia and share similarities with the Avestan, Kurdish language, Persian and others. Baluch inhabit mountainous terrains and deserts and maintain a very distinct cultural identity.
Some 70 percent of the total Baluch population live in Baluchestan. About 22 percent inhabit the Iranian region of Sistan va Baluchestan. Much of the remaining live in Afghanistan, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait. Small communities of Baluch people also live in Sweden, and Perth, Australia where they arrived in 1800's.