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The Baloch or Baluch (Balochi: ????) are native to the Balochistan region in the Iranian plateau.

They are an Iranian people and mainly speak Balochi language which itself is a branch of the Iranian languages, and more specifically of the Northwestern Iranian languages. The Baloch-speaking population worldwide is estimated to be in the range of 10 to 15 million. They make up 2% of Iran's population (1.5 million), there are many Baloch living in other parts of the world, with the bulk living in theGCC countries of the Persian Gulf. However, the exact number of Baloch and GCC citizens of Balochi ancestry is difficult to determine.

About 60% percent of the Baloch live in East Balochistan, a western province of Pakistan.^[10] Around 25% percent inhabit the eastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 35 to 40% Pakistani Sindhis claim Baloch ancestry^{[citation needed]} and are settled in Sindh and also a significant number of Baloch people in South Punjab of Pakistan. Many of the rest live in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, India, United Arab Emirates and in some parts of Africa, namely Kenya, and Tanzania (Tabora has a large community). Small communities of Baluch people also live in Europe particularly Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England and in Perth, Australia, where they arrived in the 19th century.^{[citation needed] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baloch_people}