Balochi language

Balochi
Balochi
بلۏچی Balòci
	Balòci (Balochi) written Balo-Rabi in Nastaliq style.
Native to	Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan
Region	Balochistan
Ethnicity	Baloch
Native speakers	8.8 million (2017–2020)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Western Iranian Northwestern Balochi; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Balochi Standard Alphabet
Official status
Official language in	Pakistan Balochistan;
Regulated by	Balochi Academy, Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan ; Balochi Academy Sarbaz, Sarbaz, Iran
Language codes
ISO 639-2	bal
ISO 639-3	bal – inclusive code; Individual codes:; bgp – Eastern Balochi; bgn – Western Balochi; bcc – 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. The total number of speakers, according to Ethnologue, is 8.8 million. Of these, 6.28 million are in Pakistan.

According to Brian Spooner,

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.

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