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Chaman

‏‎ ‎چمن‎
Chaman ‏‎ ‎چمن‎
City
	Chaman Gate border between Pakistan and Afghanistan
	Chaman Chaman Chaman Chaman
	Coordinates: 30°55′20″N 66°26′41″E / 30.92222°N 66.44472°E
Country	Pakistan
Province	Balochistan
District	Chaman District
Government
• Malak	sayed mad khan
• malak	Lal khan
Elevation	1,338 m (4,390 ft)
Population (2023 Census)
• Total	130,139
• Rank	92nd in Pakistan; 5th in Balochistan (2023)
Time zone	UTC+5 (PST)
Postal code	86000
Area code	826
Number of Union Councils	13

Chaman (Pashto and Urdu: چمن) is the capital city of the Chaman District in Balochistan, Pakistan. It is located near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The city is situated south of the Wesh–Chaman border crossing with the neighbouring Kandahar province of Afghanistan.

Etymology

The name Chaman is thought to be derived from garden in Urdu.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] There is little verifiable evidence to a singular and apparently unfounded claim that the name partly derived from that of a Hindu trader in the city before the partition, as the area was known as Chaman much before this period.^[5]^[6]

History

Train station at Chaman near Khojak Tunnel in 1895, by William Henry Jackson

Chaman has been used by NATO forces as a major supply route into Afghanistan since 2000.^[7]

Thousands of Afghan refugees enter Pakistan via the Chaman route on a regular basis.^[8]

Bombings occurred in 2017,^[9] 2020 Chaman bombing, and 2021.^[10]

In December 2022, the Afghan Taliban forces launched indiscriminate fire at the Chaman border, twice in a week and caused civilian casualties on the Pakistani side.^[11]

In October 2023, the border crossing process was made more stringent, requiring a passport and visa, whereas previously only requiring a national identification card, to cross from Pakistan to Afghanistan. This has resulted in protests in the city.^[12]

Climate

With an influence from the local steppe climate, Chaman features a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh). The average annual temperature in Chaman is 19.0 °C, while the annual precipitation averages 232 mm. June is the driest month with virtually no rain rainfall, while January is the wettest month, with an average 65 mm of precipitation.

July is the hottest month of the year with an average temperature of 31.0 °C. January is the coldest month with an average temperature of 6.4 °C.

Climate data for Chaman
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	13.3 (55.9)	16.0 (60.8)	21.2 (70.2)	27.3 (81.1)	33.8 (92.8)	38.7 (101.7)	39.3 (102.7)	38.5 (101.3)	35.2 (95.4)	29.2 (84.6)	21.1 (70.0)	16.8 (62.2)	27.5 (81.6)
Daily mean °C (°F)	6.4 (43.5)	9.0 (48.2)	13.8 (56.8)	19.5 (67.1)	24.7 (76.5)	29.1 (84.4)	31.0 (87.8)	29.6 (85.3)	24.9 (76.8)	18.9 (66.0)	12.8 (55.0)	8.5 (47.3)	19.0 (66.2)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−0.4 (31.3)	2.1 (35.8)	6.5 (43.7)	11.7 (53.1)	15.6 (60.1)	19.5 (67.1)	22.7 (72.9)	20.7 (69.3)	14.7 (58.5)	8.7 (47.7)	3.6 (38.5)	0.3 (32.5)	10.5 (50.9)
Source: Climate-Data.org^[13]

Demographics

After the capital Quetta, Chaman is Balochistan's fifth-largest city according to the 2017 Pakistani census.^[14] The city is located at the Pashtun majority northern part of Balochistan.

Religious groups in Chaman City (1941 & 2017)^[a]
Religious group	1941^[15]^: 13–14		2017^[16]^[17]
Religious group	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Hinduism	2,898	43.58%	379	0.31%
Islam	2,812	42.29%	122,263	99.23%
Sikhism	697	10.48%	—	—
Christianity	242	3.64%	515	0.42%
Jainism	1	0.02%	—	—
Ahmadiyya	—	—	49	0.04%
Total population	6,650	100%	123,206	100%

Transport

Chaman has a railway station which accommodates services with Kandahar as well as other parts of Afghanistan. A slow passenger train runs between Chaman and Quetta daily. In 2008, it was proposed to extend this railway to Central Asia through Afghanistan. Chaman is on the Silk Road on the eastern side.

Trade

The town is an important trade point in the Balochistan region, providing a gateway on the trade routes between Afghanistan and Karachi. It underwent development during the martial law period of 1977 - 1985. People of the city import many things like cars, motor bikes and motor rickshaws. Besides, they import Japanese, Chinese and UAE phones, cosmetics, perfumes, and many other consumer goods from Afghanistan to Pakistan.^[7]

Sports

Football is the most popular sport in the city, which have produced notable footballers for the Pakistan national football team including Muhammad Essa, Kaleemullah, Mehmood Khan, Jadid Khan Pathan, and Fareed Ullah.^[18]

The Chaman Derby between popular clubs Afghan Chaman and Muslim FC, share intense rivalry which have managed to command the highest crowds in Pakistani domestic football.^[19]^[20]^[21]^[22]

Notable people

Muhammad Essa, footballer
Kaleemullah Khan, footballer
Mehmood Khan, footballer
Jadid Khan Pathan, footballer
Fareed Ullah, footballer
Asghar Khan Achakzai, President of the Awami National Party
Mohammad Asghar (cricketer)

Notes

^ 1941: Data for the entirety of the town of Chaman, which included Chaman Municipality and Chaman Cantonment.^[15]^: 13–14

References

^ "Balochistān (Pakistan): Province and Major Cities, Municipalities & Towns". Balochistān (Pakistan): Province and Major Cities, Municipalities & Towns. Citypopulation.de website. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
^ "Eyewitness: 'Heat, dust and desolation'". 2001-09-28. Retrieved 2024-08-03. The Pakistani border of Chaman lies at the foot of the Khozak pass. "Chaman" means garden in Urdu - a name which seems a cruel joke in this drought-ridden landscape.
^ ameer.hamza (2011-05-03). "Smuggler's paradise". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2024-08-03. Chaman means 'garden' in Urdu. And, as I will soon witness, there isn't much in the way of gardens out there. The people of Chaman don't like gardens. They like smuggling.
^ "Spotlight on 'garden city'". DAWN.COM. 2006-07-19. Retrieved 2024-08-03. Unfamiliar with the lie of the land, the first-time visitor to Chaman, which literally means a garden in Urdu, is puzzled by the city's narrow, dusty lanes, howling winds and, above all, bleak and desolate landscape, with no sight of verdure for miles...
^ ^a ^b DHNS. "The Chaman tale!". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
^ Achakzai, Matiullah (2014-08-25). "Far from the glare, Chaman's Hindus live in peace". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
^ ^a ^b "Pakistan Blast Sets NATO Fuel Convoy Ablaze". Voice Of America News website. 31 August 2008. Archived from the original on 3 September 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
^ Mian Saifur Rehman. "Afghan refugees not being harassed". The News International (newspaper). Retrieved 19 July 2021.
^ Shah, Syed Ali (2017-07-10). "DPO Killa Abdullah martyred in Chaman blast". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
^ Shahid, Saleem (2021-03-24). "Three killed, 13 injured in Chaman bomb blast". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
^ "Afghanistan-Pakistan border shelling kills civilians". BBC News. 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
^ ur-Rehman, Zia (July 23, 2024). "When Pakistan Tightened a Border, Thousands of Lives Were Upended". The New York Times.
^ "Climate: Chaman on Climate-Data.org website". Retrieved 19 July 2021.
^ "POPULATION AND HOUSEHOLD DETAIL FROM BLOCK TO DISTRICT LEVEL BALOCHISTAN (KILLA ABDULLAH DISTRICT)" (PDF). KILLLA ABDULLAH_BLOCKWISE.pdf. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 3 January 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
^ ^a ^b "CENSUS OF INDIA, 1941 VOLUME XIV BALUCHISTAN". Retrieved 27 January 2023.
^ "Final Results (Census-2017)". Retrieved 27 January 2023.
^ "District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2017) TABLE 9 - POPULATION BY SEX, RELIGION AND RURAL/URBAN" (PDF). Retrieved 27 January 2023.
^ Reporter, The Newspaper's Sports (2015-04-22). "Hassan's hat-trick propels Navy into last eight". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
^ Sohail, Shahrukh (2020-08-09). "FOOTBALL: A LEAGUE FOR PAKISTAN FOOTBALL". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
^ InpaperMagazine, From (2013-01-13). "In-depth: Pakistan football". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
^ Raheel, Natasha (2021-09-30). "Balochistan football needs representation: Qadeer". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
^ Wasim, Umaid (2021-11-26). "Balochistan's boundless passion for football has nowhere to go but an event is keeping the flame alive". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2024-05-30.