Baloch-Pakhtun Unity Day Date in the current year: August 31, 2024

The Baloch and the Pashtuns (also known as Pakhtuns or Pukhtuns) are nomadic peoples that belong to the Iranic peoples. The total Baloch population is approximately 10 million (about the half of them live in Balochistan, a province of Pakistan), and the Pashtuns are estimated to number circa 49 million, with more than 30 million living in Pakistan and over 13 million living in Afghanistan.

The historical regions inhabited by the Baloch and the Pashtuns are part of present-day Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, which has caused a number of ethic conflicts throughout the 20th and 21st century. For example, Pakistani and Iranian Balochi separatist groups have been fighting for the independence of Pakistani and Iranian Balochistan since the proclamation of Pakistan’s independence in 1948. And Afghanistan has made a claim on the Pashtun areas of Pakistan.

Baloch-Pakhtun Unity Day was created in 1949 in order to emphasize the unity and brotherhood of two kindred peoples. Although it is considered to be an international observance, it is celebrated mainly in Afghanistan.