bgn ISO 639
بلوچی (Balochi) Autonyms
Balochi, Western
Visualizations
A language of Pakistan
- ISO 639
- bgn
- Alternate Names
- Baloci, Baluchi, Baluci
- Autonym
- بلوچی (Balochi)
- Population
- 1,050,000 in Pakistan (2017 census). Total users in all countries: 2,264,350.
- Location
- Balochistan province: northwest; Sindh province: Dadu district.
- Language Maps
- Afghanistan, Southern Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
- Language Status
- 5* (Developing).
- Classification
- Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western, Northwestern, Balochi
- Dialects
- Lashari, Rakhshani (Raxshani), Sarawani. Strongly influenced by Farsi, but not intelligible with Farsi [prs]. A member of macrolanguage Baluchi [bal].
- Language Use
- Used as L2 by Brahui [brh].
- Language Development
- Literacy rate in L1: 1%–5%. Literacy rate in L2: 5%–15%. Taught as subject in some tertiary schools. Newspapers. Radio. Dictionary. Grammar. Texts. Bible portions: 1984–2005.
- Writing
- Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab]. Arabic script, Nastaliq variant [Aran], primary usage. Cyrillic script [Cyrl], used in Turkmenistan.
- Other Comments
- Balochi is the official spelling in Pakistan. A small body of literature. Muslim.
- Language Resources
- OLAC resources in and about Balochi, Western
Also Spoken in
- Location
- Helmand, Kandahar, and Nimroz, provinces: Zaranj city and Helmand river areas.
- Dialects
- Rakhshani (Raxshani).
- Language Status
- 5 (Developing)
- Language Use
- Home, community. Used by all. Also use Brahui [brh], with a high degree of bilingualism. Also use Dari [prs], with a high degree of bilingualism.
- Language Development
- Literacy rate in L1: 5%–10%. Literacy rate in L2: 15%–25%. Literacy in Pashto and Dari. The Afghanistan Ministry of Education has produced Western Balochi language textbooks for first through twelfth grades. But as of November 2021, these books had not yet been distributed to schools.
- Other Comments
- Largely nomadic. Muslim. View other languages of Afghanistan
Language Name
Balochi, Western
User Population
415,000 in Afghanistan (2017 J. Leclerc).
- Location
- Kerman province: Rigan and Fahraj counties; Sistan and Baluchestan province: north; South Khorasan province: northeast.
- Dialects
- Rakhshani (Raxshani), Sarawani.
- Language Status
- 5 (Developing)
- Language Use
- Also use Iranian Persian [pes]. Used as L2 by Brahui [brh].
- Other Comments
- Distinct from Eastern Balochi [bgp] and Southern Balochi [bcc]. Muslim. View other languages of Iran
Language Name
Balochi, Western
User Population
744,000 in Iran (2019). All Balochi in Iran: 2,000,000 (2019).
- Location
- Scattered.
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Tajikistan
Language Name
Balochi, Western
User Population
6,350 in Tajikistan (2017).
- Location
- Mary province: 2 areas, one northeast of capital, the other on Murgap river upstream from Mary city.
- Language Status
- 6a (Vigorous)
- Language Use
- Also use Turkmen [tuk], as a literary language.
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. Distinct from Eastern [bgp] and Southern Balochi [bcc]. Muslim. View other languages of Turkmenistan
Language Name
Balochi, Western
User Population
49,000 in Turkmenistan (Leclerc 2019b), based on ethnicity.
