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Desert of Registan

Registan desert south of Afghanistan (Kandahar / Helmand
François Balsan

KandaharAfghanistan • 1200 m

The Registan Desert is an extremely arid region and plateau located between the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar in southwestern Afghanistan. It is a 15-30 m sandy desert with areas of open rock and clay. It is sparsely populated by Pashtun and Baloch nomads. The desert is gradually encroaching on the surrounding agricultural areas.

The desert is in the eastern part of the Iranian plateau in southern Afghanistan. It is bounded by the Helmand River to the north and west, the Chagaev Mountains in the south and the Quetta-Pishinskim Plateau to the east. It covers an area of approximately 50,000 km², over 300 km long and up to 200 km wide. The plain is at an altitude of 2000 m in the east and drops to 600 m in the west. The climate is subtropical, continental and dry (with rainfall of up to 100 mm per year).

A severe drought in 1998 displaced some 100,000 nomadic people from the Registan desert region, most of whom moved to temporary settlements between the Arghandab and Helmand and Registan rivers.

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