Registan Desert

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The Registan Desert is an extremely arid plateau region located between Helmand and Kandahar provinces in southwestern Afghanistan. It is a sandy desert consisting of small, red sandhills about 50 to 100 feet high, sand covered planes, and open rocky and clay areas. It is sparsely populated by Baluchi and Pashtun nomads. The desert is gradually encroaching on surrounding agricultural areas.[1]

A severe drought in 1998 caused the displacement of approximately 100,000 nomadic people from the Registan desert region.[2] Most of them are now living in temporary settlements between the Arghandab and Helmand Rivers and Registan. A large number are also being supported by the UN in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kandahar Province. The UN is currently seeking strategies to return the nomads to their traditional livelihood of raising livestock in Registan.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://forums.hypography.com/archive/t-10758.html Science Forums article, March 14, 2007
  2. ^ Nomadic Peoples, Volume 8, Number 2, December 2004 , pp. 214-229(16)

[edit] External links