The Baloch or Baluch (Balochi: بلوچ) are an ethnic group who mainly inhabit the Balochistan region in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Western Asia.

The Baluch people mainly speak Baluchi, which is a branch of the Iranian languages, and more specifically of the North-western Iranian languages, that is highly influenced by that of Mesopotamia and shares similarities with Kurdish and other languages of the region. It also contains archaic features reminiscent of Old Persian and Avestan. They inhabit mountainous terrains and deserts, and maintain a very distinct cultural identity. The Baloch-speaking population worldwide is estimated to be in the range of 10 to 15 million.^{[citation needed]} However, the exact number of Baloch and those who are or claim to be of Baloch ancestry is difficult to determine. In the Punjab province of Pakistan almost 10% of peoples are Balochi.^{[citation needed]} Most of them speak Saraiki but in the Jhang area of Punjab, the majority of the Baloch population speak Punjabi also.^{[citation needed]}

Haroon Rasheed Dar (born March 25, 1953, Karachi) is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 23 Tests and 12 ODIs from 1977 to 1983. He has also remained the manager of the Pakistan Cricket team and has been credited with the discovery of Waqar Younis and Shahid Khan Afridi.

Altaf Hussain (Urdu: الطاف حسین) (born 17 September 1953 in Karachi) is the founder and leader of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM). The MQM emerged as the third largest political party in the national assembly of Pakistan during 1988 and 1990 elections. The MQM secured representation in the parliamentary elections held in the northern areas of Pakistan comprising Kashmir & Gilgit-Baltistan. Since 1992 he has lived in the United Kingdom in self exile after surviving an assassination attempt in Pakistan.

Altaf Hussain was born to Nazir Hussain and Khursheed Begum on 17 September 1953 in Karachi.His parents belonged to religious families from Agra, India. After the formation of Pakistan in 1947, his parents migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi. Hussain’s grand-father, Mufti Mohammad Ramazan, was Grand Mufti of the town of Agra, UP, India and his maternal grand-father Haji Hafiz Raheem Bhux was a reputed religious scholar in India.

Altaf Hussain got his early education from Govt Comprehensive School, Azizabad No. 8 Karachi. He then completed his matriculation in 1969 from Government Boys Secondary School. He attended National College Karachi during First Year of his Intermediate Education (Pre-Medical/Science) but switched to City College Karachi during Second Year of Intermediate from where he completed Intermediate.After that he went on to complete his Bachelors of Science from Islamia Science College (Karachi) in 1974 apart from completing his Bachelor of Pharmacy by 1979 from the University of Karachi. After completion of his Bachelor of Pharmacy he later enrolled for his Master’s degree.