Nimruz Province of Afghanistan

Nimruz is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, in the south-west of the country on the borders of Iran and Pakistan. The name Nimruz means "mid-day" in Persian. Nimruz covers 41,000 km² and has a population of 149,000 (2002 estimate). It is the most sparsely populated province in the country, located in the Sistan Basin. A substantial part of the province is the desert area of Dashti Margo.

History;

The area now composing Nimruz was once part of the historical region of Sistan(Balochistan), which over the centuries was held by powers ranging from the Medean Empire to Alexander the Great, to the Kushan Empire before being conquered and converted to Islam by the Arab Rashidun Caliphate. The area later came under the Saffarid dynasty (861-1003 CE), one of the first Iranian dynasties of the Islamic era.

Under the modern Afghan governments, the province was known as Chakhansur Province until 1968, when it became Nimruz Province. The city of Zaranj was established in 1970, and became the capital.

As the Taliban came to power in the area in 1995, they seized the road-controlling town of Delaram (then in southwestern Farah Province), and came to an agreement with the Mujahideen forces holding Nimroz that the fate of the province would not be decided until a clear victor emerged in the capture of Kabul. However, the Taliban advanced on Nimruz only days later, and the Mujahideen under command of Abdul Karim Brahui (later governor of Nimruz) withdrew to Iran. The Mujahideen briefly recaptured Zaranj later in 1995, but the city was retaken by the Taliban, and the capital later moved from Zaranj to the more Pashtun-populated town of Ghurghuri. The Taliban fled, losing control of the province, following U.S. airstrikes in November 2001.

Ethnography;

61% people are Balochs, forming the majority in the province, and Pashtuns are 27% of the population. There are also some Tajiks. Around 85% of the people in Nimruz live in rural areas while 15% live in urban areas.

District	Population
Chahar Burjak	8,080
Chakhansur	11,165
Kang	13,514
Khash Rod	35,381
Zaranj	49,851

Capital;

Zaranj

Area;

41,005 km² (15,832 sq mi)

Population;

149,000 (2002)

Main Languages;

Balochi

Pashto

Persian