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Baloch
بلوچ
Balōč
Baloch Khans.png
Sardar Ibrahim khan Sanjrani Iranian Baloch Khans in Qajar era, c. 1884
Total population
(Approx. 10 million (2017))
Regions with significant populations
 Pakistan 8,211,241 (2016)
 Iran 1,500,000 (2016)
 UAE 468,000 (2014)
 Oman 312,000 (1993)
 Turkmenistan 100,000 
 Saudi Arabia 16,000 
Languages
Balochi
Urdu, Pashto (in Afghanistan and Balochistan), Brahui, Arabic, Persian (in Iran)
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam

The Baloch or Baluch (Balochi: بلوچ‎) are a people who live mainly in the Balochistan region of the southeastern-most edge of the Iranian plateau in Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan, as well as in the Arabian Peninsula.

They mainly speak the Balochi language, a branch of Northwestern Iranian languages, and are an Iranic people. About 50% of the total Baloch population live in Balochistan, a western province of Pakistan; 40% of Baloch are settled in Sindh; and a significant number of Baloch people in Punjab of Pakistan. They make up nearly 3.6% of the Pakistani population, about 2% of Iran's population (1.5 million) and about 2% of Afghanistan's population.

Baloch people co-inhabit desert and mountainous regions along with Pashtuns, Baloch people practice Islam, are predominantly Sunni, and use Urdu as a lingua-franca to communicate with other ethnic groups, such as Pashtuns and Sindhis, similar to the rest of Pakistan.

The exact origin of the word 'Baloch' is unclear. Rawlinson (1873) believed that it is derived from the name of the Babylonian king and god Belus. Dames (1904) believed that it is derived from the Persian term for cockscomb, said to have been used as a crest on the helmets of Baloch troops in 6th century BCE. Herzfeld (1968) proposed that it is derived from the Median term brza-vaciya, which describes a loud or aggressive way of speaking. Naseer Dashti (2012) presents another possibility, that of being derived from the name of the ethnic group `Balaschik' living in Balashagan, between the Caspian Sea and Lake Van in present day Turkey and Azerbaizan, who are believed to have migrated to Balochistan during the Sassanid times. The remnants of the original name such as 'Balochuk' and 'Balochiki' are said to be still used as ethnic names in Balochistan.


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