BALOCHI

The Balochi language has three main dialects of which one is spoken in Afghanistan, namely Western Balochi (ISO 639-3 [bgn]). Western Balochi is the only dialect spoken across Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.

There are approximately 415,000 Western Balochi speakers living in Helmand, Kandahar, and Nimruz provinces, and there are approximately 2.2 million Western Balochi speakers in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

Balochi has a written tradition, although a standard writing system has not been established. Some publishing of Balochi materials has occurred in both Pakistan and Iran.