Chagai is the largest district of Pakistan and is located on the north west corner of Balochistan, Pakistan. It forms a triangular border with Afghanistan and Iran. Pakistan conducted a nuclear weapons test in 1998 at Ras Koh Hills Chagai District.
According to the 1998 census the population of Chagai District was 202,562, along with approximately 53,000 Afghan refugees. The population of Chagai District was estimated to be over 250,000 in 2005. Over 99% of the people of the area are Muslims. The major Baloch tribes in the district are Sherzai,Mandazai, Mohammad Hassani, Al Ahmad Mustafa As Saud, Kashani, Sanjrani, Mengal, Nothazai, and Damanis near the Iranian border.
Pakistan’s nuclear explosion test in the hills of Chagai Plans to conduct an atomic test started in 1976 when Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) research scientists frequently visiting the area to find a suitable location for an underground nuclear test, preferably a granite mountains. After a hectic and day long survey, the PAEC scientists chose the granite mountain Koh Kambaran in the Ras Koh Hills range in the Chagai Division of Baluchistan in 1978. Its highest point rises to a height of 3,009 metres (sources vary). The then-martial law administrator of the province, General Rahimuddin Khan, spearheaded the construction of the potential test sites throughout the 1980s
Chagai District is administratively subdivided into the following tehsils.
- Chagai
- Saindak
- Nok Kundi
- Taftan
- Yakmach
Contents Taken From: findpk.com