Zaranj زرنج
Zaranj Location in Afghanistan
Coordinates: 30°57′36″N 61°51′36″E / 30.96°N 61.86°E / 30.96; 61.86Coordinates: 30°57′36″N 61°51′36″E / 30.96°N 61.86°E / 30.96; 61.86
Country	Afghanistan
Province	Nimruz Province
District
Population (2004)[1]
• Total	49,851
Time zone	UTC+4:30

Zaranj or Zarang (Pashto: زرنج Persian: زرنج‎) is a border town in south-western Afghanistan, with a population of approximately 49,851 people as of 2004.^[1] It is the capital of Nimruz province and is situated next to Milak, Iran. It is linked by highways with Lashkar Gah to the east, Farah to the north and Zabol in Iran to the west. Zaranj serves as the border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran, which is of significant importance to the trade-route between Central Asia and the Middle East.

Demographics & population[link]

Like in the rest of Afghanistan, no exact population numbers are unavailable. The Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) along with UNHCR and Central Statistics Office (CSO) of Afghanistan estimated the population of the district to be around 49,851 (2004). The main population of Zaranj city is Tajik, followed by Baluchs and the remaining is Pashtun.

History[link]

Zaranj is an ancient city which derives its name from Old Persian Zaranka ("waterland"; cf. Pashto dzaranda).^[2] In Greek, this word became Drangiana. Other historical names for Zaranj include Zirra,^[3] Zarangia, Zarani etc.^[4]

Per Arab geographers, prior to Zaranj the capital of Sistan was Ram Shahristan (Abrashariyar). Ram Shahristan had been supplied with water by a canal from the Helmand River, but its dam broke, the area was deprived of water, and the populace moved three days' march to found Zaranj.^[5]

In 661, a small Arab garrison reestablished its authority in the region after having temporarily lost control due to skirmishes and revolts.^[6] A Nestorian Christian community is recorded in Zaranj in the sixth century, and by the end of the eighth century there was a Jacobite diocese of Zaranj.^[7] In the 9th century Zaranj was the capital of the Saffarid dynasty, whose founder was Ya'qub-i Laith Saffari.^[8]

Recent developments[link]

A new highway called Route 606 was built between Zaranj and Delaram by the Indian Government's Border Roads Organization at a cost of about US $136 million to open up a link between the deep sea port at Chabahar in Iran to Afghanistan's main ring road highway system which connects Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif and Kunduz. The 215-km long highway, a symbol of India's developmental work in the war-ravaged country, was handed over to Afghan authorities by Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on 22 January 2009 in the presence of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta. "Completion of the road reflects the determination of both India and Afghanistan that nothing can prevent or hinder collaboration between the two countries," Mukherjee said at a function to mark this handover. On the occasion, Karzai said, the completion of the project is a message to those who want to stop cooperation between India and Afghanistan. "Our cooperation will not stop". The Taliban was opposed to this project and launched frequent attacks on the construction workers in an attempt to force the winding up of the work. A total of six Indians, including a Border Roads Organisation driver and four ITBP soldiers, and 129 Afghans were killed in these attacks.

The province has been one of the 7 (Nimruz, Helmand, Kandahar, Oruzgan, Ghazni, Paktika and Zabul) where the Taliban have been recently regrouping.^{[citation needed]}

Due to its proximity to Iran, Persian artifacts and carpets or other merchandise are available in Zaranj. In addition, Iran recently^[when?] received permission from the Afghan government to excavate the site of the Saffarid capital in Zaranj.^[9]

The city is served by Zaranj Airport.

See also[link]

• Zaranj Airport
• Provincial Reconstruction Team

References[link]

Greg Ray
Nationality	American
Born	(1966-08-03) August 3, 1966 (age 45) Dallas, Texas
Retired	2004
Indy Racing League IndyCar Series
Years active	1997-2004
Teams	Knapp Motorsports A. J. Foyt Enterprises Team Menard Sam Schmidt Motorsports Access Motorsports
Starts	73
Wins	5
Poles	14* (does not include Charlotte 1999)
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	1st in 1999
Previous series
1992-1994 1996	Toyota Atlantic Indy Lights
Championship titles
1999	Indy Racing League Champion

Greg Ray (born August 3, 1966, in Dallas, Texas) is a former IRL IndyCar Series driver.

After winning the SCCA national Formula Atlantic championship in 1993, he moved up to the CART-sanctioned Toyota Atlantic series in 1994.

In 1997 he made his Indy Racing League debut driving for Thomas Knapp in an unsponsored black #97 car. He made his mark on the series a year later during qualifying for the 1998 Indianapolis 500. Driving the same, plain, black #97, he qualified second behind A.J. Foyt's driver Billy Boat. The car attracted sponsorship from local businesses and the national anti-tobacco campaign, and became known as Ash Kicker Racing. Though he failed to finish that race, he scored several good results in subsequent races and caught the eye of successful businessman and team owner John Menard.

In 1999 he won the IRL championship on the strength of three victories. However, 2000 was a difficult season with only one victory. He qualified on pole for the Indianapolis 500 but subsequently finished last (33rd). In 2001 Ray and Menard had split, and his replacement Jaques Lazier won his first victory at the Chicagoland Speedway.

Things continued to go downhill from there, as Ray bounced around three separate cars in 2002 before starting his own team in 2003, Access Motorsports, the lone team utilizing a Panoz chassis with Honda engines. He gained sponsorship from TrimSpa but failed to light up the scoreboard and in 2004, he ran a few races before giving his seat to former Infiniti Pro Series champion Mark Taylor. The team closed at the end of the year from a lack of sponsorship.

Ray had 5 wins in his 74 IRL starts.

Racing record[link]

American open–wheel[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

IndyCar[link]

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points
1996–1997	Knapp	NHM	LVS	WDW	PHX	INDY 25	TXS 8	PPIR 17	CLT 22	NH2 Wth	LV2 30							29th	73
1998	Knapp	WDW 25	PHX 11	INDY 18	TXS 2	NHM				ATL 24	TX2 21	LVS 25						21st	128
	Foyt						DOV 15	CLT 17	PPIR
1999	Menard	WDW 21	PHX 21	INDY 21	TXS 2	PPIR 1	ATL 23	DOV 1	PPI2 1	LVS 21	TX2 3							1st	293
2000	Menard	WDW 17	PHX 19	LVS 9	INDY 33	TXS 15	PPIR 20	ATL 1	KTY 7	TX2 26								13th	172
2001	Menard	PHX 22	HMS 21	ATL 1	INDY 17	TXS 11	PPIR 18	RIR DNS	KAN 14	NSH 18	KTY 13	STL	CHI					18th	193
	Foyt													TX2 8
2002	Foyt	HMS	PHX	FON	NZR	INDY 33	TXS 12	PPIR 18	RIR 12	KAN 19	NSH 20	MIS 17	KTY 25	STL 19				23rd	128
	Schmidt														CHI 17	TX2 14
2003	Access	HMS	PHX	MOT 9	INDY 8	TXS 11	PPIR 18	RIR 12	KAN 8	NSH 16	MIS 10	STL 8	KTY 15	NZR 17	CHI DNS	FON 14	TX2 8	15th	253
2004	Access	HMS 14	PHX 10	MOT 20	INDY 27	TXS 7	RIR 15	KAN Wth	NSH	MIL	MIS	KTY	PPIR	NZR	CHI	FON	TX2	23rd	99

Indy 500 results[link]

External links[link]

• GregRayRacing.com