Balochi | |
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بلۏچی / بلوچی / Balòci / Балочи | |
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Pronunciation | [bəˈloːt͡ʃiː] |
Native to | Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan |
Region | Balochistan |
Ethnicity | Baloch |
Native speakers | 8.8 million (2017–2020)[1] |
Balochi Standard Alphabet | |
Official status | |
Official language in | ![]() |
Regulated by | Balochi Academy, Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan Balochi Academy Sarbaz, Sarbaz, Iran |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-2 | bal |
ISO 639-3 | bal – inclusive codeIndividual codes: bgp – Eastern Balochibgn – Western Balochibcc – Southern Balochi |
Glottolog | balo1260 |
Linguasphere | 58-AAB-a > 58-AAB-aa (East Balochi) + 58-AAB-ab (West Balochi) + 58-AAB-ac (South Balochi) + 58-AAB-ad (Bashkardi) |
![]() Approximate geographic distribution of Balochi | |
Balochi (بلۏچی, romanized: Balòci) is a Northwestern Iranian language, spoken primarily in the Balochistan region of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. In addition, there are speakers in Oman, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Turkmenistan, East Africa and in diaspora communities in other parts of the world.[2] The total number of speakers, according to Ethnologue, is 8.8 million.[1] Of these, 6.28 million are in Pakistan.[3]
According to Brian Spooner,[4]
Literacy for most Baloch-speakers is not in Balochi, but in Urdu in Pakistan and Persian in Afghanistan and Iran. Even now very few Baloch read Balochi, in any of the countries, even though the alphabet in which it is printed is essentially identical to Persian and Urdu.
Balochi belongs to the Western Iranian subgroup, and its original homeland is suggested to be around the central Caspian region.[5]
It [Balochi] is spoken by three to five million people in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Oman and the Persian Gulf states, Turkmenistan, East Africa, and diaspora communities in other parts of the world.
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