Region of Pakistan

Balochistan

Pakistan's largest and least-photographed province — deserts, coast, and dark skies.

The story of Balochistan

Balochistan covers 347,190 km² — 44 per cent of Pakistan — with about 6 per cent of its people. It is the least photographed province and the emptiest, which is exactly why the night sky and the coast look the way they do.

Hingol National Park, 6,190 km², holds the Princess of Hope rock pillar, the so-called Sphinx of Balochistan and the Chandragup mud volcanoes. The Makran Coastal Highway runs 653 km from Karachi to Gwadar past all of it.

Inland, Quetta sits at 1,680 metres ringed by the Chiltan and Takatu hills, and Ziarat holds the second-largest juniper forest in the world, some trees over 4,000 years old.

Best time to visit

October to March. Summers on the coast are humid; the highlands can snow in January.

Getting there

Quetta has domestic flights from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. The Makran Coastal Highway from Karachi to Gwadar is 653 km.

Landscape of Balochistan

Hingol

Pakistan's largest national park, with mud volcanoes and eroded rock towers.

Makran coast

653 km of highway between cliffs and the Arabian Sea.

Ziarat juniper

About 110,000 hectares of juniper, some trees millennia old.

Rivers and lakes of Balochistan

Astola Island

Pakistan's largest offshore island, 39 km from Pasni.

Hanna Lake

Reservoir outside Quetta, built in 1894.

Hingol river

One of the province's few perennial rivers, reaching the sea in the park.

Food of Balochistan

Sajji

Whole lamb or chicken salted and roasted upright beside a wood fire.

Kaak

Stone-baked bread cooked against hot rocks.

Quetta fruit

Apples, grapes, cherries and almonds from the highland orchards.

Heritage of Balochistan

Mughal architecture

Badshahi Mosque, Lahore Fort and Shalimar Gardens, built 1556–1707.

Domes and tilework

Blue Multani tiles and carved domes across Punjab and Sindh.

Forts

Rohtas, Derawar, Baltit and Ranikot, the largest fort wall in the world.

Culture and crafts of Balochistan

Truck art

Hand-painted trucks and rickshaws, a craft trade worth millions of rupees a year.

Bazaars

Copper, cloth, spice and book markets in every old city.

Festivals

Basant, Urs gatherings, Shandur polo and the Kalash calendar.

Wildlife of Balochistan

Houbara bustard

Winter migrant across the Chagai and Kharan deserts.

Balochistan markhor

A distinct straight-horned subspecies in Torghar.

Green turtles

Nesting beaches at Astola and along the Makran coast.

Main cities and places in Balochistan

Each one opens its own page: its story, rivers and lakes, food, heritage, culture, wildlife and what to see.

Markhor, the national animal of Pakistan

History of Balochistan

1849–1947
British Raj
The British built the Karachi–Lahore–Peshawar rail network, the Sukkur Barrage (1932) and the world's largest contiguous canal system in Punjab. The North-West Frontier Province and the tribal agencies became the front line of the Great Game with Russia, and the Khyber Pass was fortified against Afghanistan.
1971 – today
Modern Pakistan
The Karakoram Highway (opened 1978) connected Gilgit-Baltistan to China via the Khunjerab Pass at 4,693 m — the highest paved border crossing on Earth. Pakistan tested nuclear weapons in 1998 at Chagai (Balochistan). Today Pakistan is the world's fifth most populous country with 240 million people.

Full history of Pakistan

Culture, city by city

Quetta

The fruit garden of Pakistan — Baloch and Pashtun highland culture at 1,680 m.

Photographs from Balochistan

See all

No photographs published from Balochistan yet.

Questions about Balochistan

When is the best time to visit Balochistan in Pakistan?+

October to March. Summers on the coast are humid; the highlands can snow in January.

How do I get to Balochistan?+

Quetta has domestic flights from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. The Makran Coastal Highway from Karachi to Gwadar is 653 km.

Do foreigners need a permit to visit Balochistan?+

Foreigners need a No-Objection Certificate for most of Balochistan outside Quetta. Convoy escort is common on the Makran Coastal Highway.

What is Balochistan known for?+

Pakistan's largest and least-photographed province — deserts, coast, and dark skies.

Who takes the Balochistan photographs on Pixistan?+

Every Balochistan photograph on Pixistan is shot on location by a Pakistani photographer. Pixistan does not accept AI-generated or agency stock imagery.

License these photos

Full-resolution files in PKR.

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