Sistan and Baluchestan province
Sistan and Baluchestan
استان سیستان و بلوچستان | |
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![]() Sistan and Baluchestan province and its counties | |
![]() Map of Iran with Sistan and Baluchestan province highlighted | |
Coordinates: 29°29′33″N 60°52′01″E / 29.4924°N 60.8669°ECoordinates: 29°29′33″N 60°52′01″E / 29.4924°N 60.8669°E | |
Country | Iran |
Capital | Zahedan |
Counties | 26 |
Government | |
• Governor-general | Hossein Modarres-Khiabani |
Area | |
• Total | 180,726 km2 (69,779 sq mi) |
Population (2016)[1] | |
• Total | 2,775,014 |
• Density | 15/km2 (40/sq mi) |
Demonym | Balochi |
Time zone | UTC+03:30 (IRST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+04:30 (IRST) |
Main language(s) | Baluchi Persian |
HDI (2017) | 0.688[2] medium · 31st |
Sistan and Baluchestan Province (Persian: استان سيستان و بلوچستان, romanized: Ostân-e Sistân o Balučestân; Balochi: سیستان و بلۏچستان, romanized: Sistân o Balučestân) is the second largest province of the 31 provinces of Iran, after Kerman province. It is in the southeast of the country, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, and its capital is Zahedan.[3][4] The province has an area of 180,726 km2 and a population of 2.5 million.[5]
The Baloch form a majority of the population and the Persian Sistani a minority. Smaller communities of Kurds (in the eastern highlands and near Iranshahr); the expatriate Brahui (on the border between Iran and Pakistan); and other resident and itinerant ethnic groups, such as the Romani, are also found within the province.
Geography and culture
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
1996 | 1,722,579 | — |
2006 | 2,405,742 | +39.7% |
2011 | 2,534,327 | +5.3% |
2016 | 2,775,014 | +9.5% |
amar.org.ir |
The whole of the province had been previously called Baluchestan, but the government added Sistan to the end of Baluchestan. After the 1979 revolution, the name of province was changed to Sistan and Baluchestan.
Today, Sistan refers to the narrow strip of the northern margin of the province and Baluchestan stretches north to south from Zahedan County to Chabahar County. The province borders South Khorasan province in the north, Kerman province and Hormozgan province in the west, the Gulf of Oman in the south, and Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east.
Sistan and Baluchestan province is one of the driest regions of Iran, with a slight increase in rainfall from east to west, and a rise in humidity in the coastal regions. The province is subject to seasonal winds from different directions, the most important of which are the 120-day wind of Sistan, known in Baluchi as Levar; the seventh wind (Gav-kosh); the south wind (Nambi); the Hooshak wind; the humid and seasonal winds of the Indian Ocean; the north wind ((Gurich)); and the western wind (Gard)).
Most of the population are Balōch and speak the Baluchi language, although there also exists among them a small community of speakers of the Indo-Aryan language Jadgali.[6]: 25 Baluchestan means "Land of the Balōch"; Sistan represents the minority who speak the Sistani dialect of Persian.[citation needed]
Administrative divisions
Sistan and Baluchestan province is subdivided into 26 counties: Bampur County, Chabahar County, Dalgan County, Dashtiari County, Fanuj County, Golshan County, Hamun County, Hirmand County, Iranshahr County, Khash County, Konarak County, Lashar County, Mehrestan County, Mirjaveh County, Nik Shahr County, Nimruz County, Qasr-e Qand County, Rask County, Saravan County, Sarbaz County, Sib and Suran County, Taftan County, Zabol County, Zahedan County, Zarabad County, and Zehak County.
Cities
The following table shows the ten largest cities of Sistan and Baluchestan Province:[7]
Rank | Name | Population (2016) |
---|---|---|
1 | Zahedan | 587,730 |
2 | Zabol | 134,950 |
3 | Iranshahr | 113,750 |
4 | Chabahar | 106,739 |
5 | Saravan | 60,014 |
6 | Khash | 56,584 |
7 | Konarak | 43,258 |
8 | Jaleq | 18,098 |
9 | Nik Shahr | 17,732 |
10 | Pishin | 16,011 |
Religion
The minority Sistani people of Sistan and Baluchestan province are Shia Muslims, and the majority Baloch people of the Baluchestan area in the province are Sunni Muslims.[8]
History
In the epigraphs of Bistoon and Persepolis, Sistan is mentioned as one of the eastern territories of Darius the Great. The name Sistan, as mentioned above, is derived from Saka (also sometimes Saga, or Sagastan), a Central Asian tribe that had taken control over this area in the year 128 BC. During the Arsacid Dynasty (248 BC to 224 AD), the province became the seat of Suren-Pahlav Clan. From the Sassanid period until the early Islamic period, Sistan flourished considerably.
During the reign of Ardashir I of Persia, Sistan came under the jurisdiction of the Sassanids, and in 644 AD, the Arab Muslims gained control as the Persian empire was in its final moments of collapsing.
During the reign of the second Sunni caliph, Omar ibn Al-Khattab, this territory was conquered by the Arabs and an Arab commander was assigned as governor. The famous Persian ruler Ya'qub-i Laith Saffari, whose descendants dominated this area for many centuries, later became governor of this province. In 916 AD, Baluchestan was ruled by the Daylamids and thereafter the Seljuqids, when it became a part of Kerman. Dynasties such as the Saffarids, Samanids, Qaznavids, and Seljuqids, also ruled over this territory.
In 1508 AD, Shah Ismail I of the Safavid dynasty conquered Sistan, and during the reign of Nader Shah, there was further turmoil.
Sistan and Baluchestan today
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Chabahar_coast.jpg/300px-Chabahar_coast.jpg)
Sistan and Baluchestan is the poorest of Iran's 31 provinces, with a HDI score of 0.688.[2]
The government of Iran has been implementing new plans such as creating the Chabahar Free Trade-Industrial Zone.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/Martian_Mountains_in_Chabahar_region_in_Sistan_and_Baluchestan_Province_%C2%A9Solmaz_Daryani.jpg/300px-Martian_Mountains_in_Chabahar_region_in_Sistan_and_Baluchestan_Province_%C2%A9Solmaz_Daryani.jpg)
Colleges and universities
- University of Sistan and Baluchestan
- Chabahar Maritime University
- Zabol University
- Islamic Azad University of Iranshahr
- Islamic Azad University of Zahedan[9]
- Zahedan University of Medical Sciences[10]
- Zabol University of Medical Sciences
- International University of Chabahar
- Velayat University of Iranshar
- Jamiah Darul Uloom Zahedan
Landmarks such as the Firuzabad Castle, Rostam Castle and the Naseri Castle are located in the province.
Transportation
Road transport
![]() | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (March 2022) |
National rail network
The city of Zahedan has been connected to Quetta in Pakistan for a century with a broad gauge railway. It has weekly trains for Kovaitah. Recently a railway from Bam, Iran to Zahedan has been inaugurated. There may be plans to build railway lines from Zahedan to Chabahar.[11]
Airports
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Aerial_view_of_Beris%2C_2004-02-01.jpg/300px-Aerial_view_of_Beris%2C_2004-02-01.jpg)
Sistan va Baluchistan Province has two main passenger airports:
- Zahedan Airport
- Chabahar Airport (Konarak Airport)
Ports
Port of Chabahar in south of province is the main port to be connected by a new railway to Zahedan in future. India is investing on this port. The port stands on Coast of Makran and is 70 km in west of Gwadar, Pakistan.[12]
Industry
Industry is new to the province. Efforts have been done and tax, customs and financial motivations have caused more industrial investment, new projects, new producing jobs and improvement of industry. The most important factories are the Khash cement factory with production of 2600 tons cement daily and three other cement.
Factories under construction:
- Cotton cloth and fishing net weaving factories and the brick factory can be named as well.
The province has important geological and metal mineral potentials such as chrome, copper, granite, antimony, talc, manganese, iron, lead, zinc, tin, nickel, platinum, gold and silver.
One of the main mines in this province is Chel Kooreh copper mine in 120 km north of Zahedan.
Sistan embroidery has been an ancient handicraft of the region that has been traced as far back as 5th-century BC, originating from the Scythians.[13]
See also
- Bazman, volcano mountain
- Baloch people
- Sistan region
- Balochistan region
- Balochistan, Afghanistan
- Balochistan, Pakistan
References
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ^ "معرفی استان سیستان و بلوچستان". hprc.zaums.ac.ir. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "آشنایی با استان سیستان و بلوچستان". hamshahrionline.ir. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Selected Findings of National Population and Housing Census, 2011
- ^ Delforooz, Behrooz Barjasteh (2008). "A sociolinguistic survey of among the Jagdal in Iranian Balochistan". In Jahani, Carina; Korn, Agnes; Titus, Paul Brian (eds.). The Baloch and others: linguistic, historical and socio-political perspectives on pluralism in Balochistan. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag. pp. 23–44. ISBN 978-3-89500-591-6.
- ^ "Sistan and Baluchestan (Iran): Counties & Cities – Population Statistics, Charts and Map". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- ^ Sistan and Baluchestan Province tabnak.ir. Retrieved 20 July 2020
- ^ "دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد زاهدان". iauzah.ac.ir. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
- ^ "Zahedan University of Medical Sciences(zdmu)". 17 July 2007. Archived from the original on 17 July 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
- ^ http://www.investiniran.ir/OIETA_content///fa/pprojects/chabahar.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- ^ "From Gwadar to Chabahar, the Makran Coast Is Becoming an Arena for Rivalry Between Powers". The Wire.
- ^ "هفتهزار سال هنر در یک سرزمین" [Seven thousand years of art in one land]. ایسنا (in Persian). 15 March 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
Bibliography
- W. Barthold (1984). "Sistan, the Southern Part of Afghanistan, and Baluchistan". An Historical Geography of Iran. Translated by Svat Soucek. Princeton University Press. pp. 64–86. ISBN 978-1-4008-5322-9.
External links
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- Sistan and Baluchestan Province
- Balochistan
- Balochi-speaking countries and territories
- Provinces of Iran
- Gulf of Oman