Nimroz

Nimruz or Nimroz (Balochi: ; Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southwestern part of the country. It lies to the east of the Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Iran and north of Balochistan, Pakistan, also bordering the Afghan provinces of Farah and Helmand. It has a population of about 186,963 people. The province is divided into five districts, encompassing about 649 villages. The city of Zaranj serves as the provincial capital and Zaranj Airport, which is located in that city, serves as a domestic airport for the province. The recently-built Kamal Khan Dam is located in Chahar Burjak District. The name Nimruz means "mid-day" or "half-day" in Persian Language and Balochi. The name is believed to indicate that the meridian cutting the old world in half passes through this region. Nimruz covers 43,000 km2. It is the most sparsely populated province in the country, located in the Sistan Basin. A substantial part of the province is the barren desert area of Dashti Margo. In 2021, the Taliban gained control of the province during the 2021 Taliban offensive. The name Zaranj was derived from Persian word ‘Zranka’ and is considered to be one of the oldest cities in Nimruz Province Top Tourist Places to Visit in Zaranj, Nimruz, Afghanistan. The area now composing Nimruz province of Afghanistan was once part of the historical region of Sistan, which over the many centuries was held by the Achaemenid Empire, Alexander the Great and others before being conquered and converted to Islam by the Muslim Arabs in the seventh century. The region became part of the Saffarid dynasty in 860 CE with its capital at Zaranj, 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.