Nimruz Province
Encyclopedia
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" or "half-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
.
was once part of the historical region of Sistan, 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
in the 7th century. The area came under the Saffarid dynasty
in 860 CE with its capital being the city of Zaranj
in Nimruz, which was one of the first local dynasties of the Islamic era. Its founder Yaqub Saffari was born and raised in this region. The territory became part of the Ghaznavids followed by the Ghurids, Timurids, and Safavids.
In the early 18th century, the region fell to the Afghan
Hotaki dynasty until they were removed from power in 1738 by Nader Shah
of Khorasan
. By 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani
made it part of Afghanistan after he conquered the territory from northeastern Iran to the Indian subcontinent. Under the modern Afghan governments, the province was known as Chakhansur Province
until 1968, when it became Nimruz Province. The city of Zaranj became the capital of Nimroz province.
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. The 215th Corps in Lashkar Gah is in charge of the military
while the Afghan National Police
are in charge of the law inforcement and the Afghan Border Police
are securing the nation's border with Iran and Pakistan. The area is known for major drugs and weapons smuggling between Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. Many foreign militants also use the area to go back and forth between the 3 nations.
, however big airplanes could not land and take off there. In 2011 the construction work on a new airport took place that was funded by the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, the new airfield costing $1,250,000 would be constructed in a year on 6.75km2 of land. The new airport would be built in a desert, 22km of Zaranj
. The facility would pave the ground for big planes to operate, there were incidents in 1995 and 2008 where two N-32 planes had skidded off the airstrip and hit nearby houses.
Provinces of Afghanistan
The provinces of Afghanistan are the primary administrative divisions of Afghanistan. As of 2004, there are thirty-four provinces in the country. Each province is further divided into smaller districts....
, in the south-west of the country on the borders of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. The name Nimruz means "mid-day" or "half-day" in Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
. 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
Sistan Basin
The Sistan Basin is an inland endorheic basin encompassing large parts of southwestern Afghanistan and southeastern Iran, one of the driest regions in the world and an area subjected to prolonged droughts...
. A substantial part of the province is the desert area of Dashti Margo
Dashti Margo
Dashti Margo , Dasht-e Mārgow, Dasht-e Margoh, lit. "Desert of Death" is a desert region in the southern provinces of Helmand and Nimruz in Afghanistan. The desert is adjacent to the Khash Desert and Registan Desert. The area is about 150,000 km2; the elevation is some 500–700 m...
.
History
The area now composing Nimruz Province of AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
was once part of the historical region of Sistan, which over the centuries was held by powers ranging from the Medean Empire
Medes
The MedesThe Medes...
to Alexander the Great, to the Kushan Empire
Kushan Empire
The Kushan Empire originally formed in the early 1st century AD under Kujula Kadphises in the territories of ancient Bactria on either side of the middle course of the Oxus in what is now northern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and southern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.During the 1st and early 2nd centuries...
before being conquered and converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
by the Arab Rashidun Caliphate
Rashidun Caliphate
The Rashidun Caliphate , comprising the first four caliphs in Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death in 632, Year 10 A.H.. At its height, the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant, Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and Central Asia...
in the 7th century. The area came under the Saffarid dynasty
Saffarid dynasty
The Saffarids or the Saffarid dynasty was a Persian empire which ruled in Sistan , a historical region in southeastern Iran, southwestern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan...
in 860 CE with its capital being the city of Zaranj
Zaranj
Zaranj or Zarang is a border town in south-western Afghanistan, with a population of approximately 49,851 people as of 2004. It is the capital of Nimruz province and is situated next to Milak, Iran. It is linked by highways with Lashkar Gah to the east, Farah to the north and Zabol in Iran to the...
in Nimruz, which was one of the first local dynasties of the Islamic era. Its founder Yaqub Saffari was born and raised in this region. The territory became part of the Ghaznavids followed by the Ghurids, Timurids, and Safavids.
In the early 18th century, the region fell to the Afghan
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
Hotaki dynasty until they were removed from power in 1738 by Nader Shah
Nader Shah
Nāder Shāh Afshār ruled as Shah of Iran and was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty. Because of his military genius, some historians have described him as the Napoleon of Persia or the Second Alexander...
of Khorasan
Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...
. By 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani
Ahmad Shah Durrani
Ahmad Shah Durrani , also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī and born as Ahmad Khān, was the founder of the Durrani Empire in 1747 and is regarded by many to be the founder of the modern state of Afghanistan.Ahmad Khan enlisted as a young soldier in the military of the Afsharid kingdom and quickly rose...
made it part of Afghanistan after he conquered the territory from northeastern Iran to the Indian subcontinent. Under the modern Afghan governments, the province was known as Chakhansur Province
Chakhansur District
Chakhansur is a sparsely inhabited district near Nimroz / Zaranj in Nimruz Province in Afghanistan. Its population is approximately 406...
until 1968, when it became Nimruz Province. The city of Zaranj became the capital of Nimroz province.
As the Taliban
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was founded in 1996 when the Taliban began their rule of Afghanistan and ended with their fall from power in 2001...
came to power in the area in 1995, they seized the road-controlling town of Delaram
Delaram
Delaram is a city and a district in western Afghanistan. It is a major transportation center, with several major road converging on the area, including Highway 1 known as the Ring Road, Route 515 to Farah City, Route 522 to Gulistan and Route 606 to Iran. The district center contains a large...
(then in southwestern Farah Province
Farah Province
Farah is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the southwest of the country. Its capital is Farah. Farah is a spacious and sparsely populated province that lies on the Iranian border...
), 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
Abdul Karim Brahui
Abdul Karim Brahui is a politician in Afghanistan. He is the current Governor of Nimroz Province and has served previously as a minister in the Cabinet of Afghanistan. From February 2009 to August 2010, Brahui served as the Minister of Refugees...
(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. The 215th Corps in Lashkar Gah is in charge of the military
Military of Afghanistan
The military of Afghanistan is composed of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Army Air Force . Being a landlocked country, Afghanistan has no navy, and the private security forces who are sometimes seen wearing military uniforms are not part of Afghanistan's military...
while the Afghan National Police
Afghan National Police
The Afghan National Police - ANP - is the primary national police force in Afghanistan. It serves as a single law enforcement agency all across the country. The Afghan police force was first created with the establishment of the Afghan nation in the early 18th century...
are in charge of the law inforcement and the Afghan Border Police
Afghan Border Police
The Afghan Border Police secure Afghanistan's border and international airports. The ABP is also responsible to administer the country's immigration process and administer customs regulations. The ABP's anti-narcotic efforts are a prominent concern to the international community at present...
are securing the nation's border with Iran and Pakistan. The area is known for major drugs and weapons smuggling between Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. Many foreign militants also use the area to go back and forth between the 3 nations.
Demography
According to a 2006 provincial assessment provided by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).Districts
| District | Capital | Population | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chahar Burjak Chahar Burjak District Chahar Burjak District is a district of Nimruz Province, Afghanistan. At just under 22,000 square kilometers in area, it is the largest district in Afghanistan.-Notable people:... |
8,080 | ||
| Chakhansur Chakhansur District Chakhansur is a sparsely inhabited district near Nimroz / Zaranj in Nimruz Province in Afghanistan. Its population is approximately 406... |
11,165 | ||
| Kang Kang District Kang District is a district of Nimruz Province, Afghanistan.... |
13,514 | ||
| Khash Rod Khash Rod District Khash Rod District is a district of Nimruz Province, Afghanistan. Majority of he population is Baluch.... |
35,381 | ||
| Zaranj Zaranj District Zaranj District is a district of Nimruz Province, Afghanistan, containing the provincial capital city of Zaranj.Rourte 606 connects Zaranj to Delaram which helps the Trade, and the toll-customs revenues have grown.-Demographics:... |
Zaranj Zaranj Zaranj or Zarang is a border town in south-western Afghanistan, with a population of approximately 49,851 people as of 2004. It is the capital of Nimruz province and is situated next to Milak, Iran. It is linked by highways with Lashkar Gah to the east, Farah to the north and Zabol in Iran to the... (capital city) |
49,851 |
Governors
The current governor is Abdul Karim Barahawi.Amenities
An airport was built on three kilometres of land in 1969 that had a small runway and was located near residential houses in the provincial capital ZaranjZaranj
Zaranj or Zarang is a border town in south-western Afghanistan, with a population of approximately 49,851 people as of 2004. It is the capital of Nimruz province and is situated next to Milak, Iran. It is linked by highways with Lashkar Gah to the east, Farah to the north and Zabol in Iran to the...
, however big airplanes could not land and take off there. In 2011 the construction work on a new airport took place that was funded by the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, the new airfield costing $1,250,000 would be constructed in a year on 6.75km2 of land. The new airport would be built in a desert, 22km of Zaranj
Zaranj
Zaranj or Zarang is a border town in south-western Afghanistan, with a population of approximately 49,851 people as of 2004. It is the capital of Nimruz province and is situated next to Milak, Iran. It is linked by highways with Lashkar Gah to the east, Farah to the north and Zabol in Iran to the...
. The facility would pave the ground for big planes to operate, there were incidents in 1995 and 2008 where two N-32 planes had skidded off the airstrip and hit nearby houses.