Which sandy desert lies mainly in southern Afghanistan's Helmand and Kandahar provinces?

The sandy desert lying mainly in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand and Kandahar provinces is the Registan Desert.

Registan, also called the Sistan Desert, is an extremely arid plateau in southeastern Afghanistan. Its landscape combines red sand hills, sand-covered plains, and exposed rocky or clay-rich ground. Many dunes rise roughly 15–30 metres, shaped by persistent winds and a plentiful supply of sand.

The desert is sparsely inhabited, traditionally supporting Baluch and Pashtun nomadic communities and their livestock. It forms part of the wider Sistan Basin, where the Helmand River eventually flows toward the endorheic Hamun wetlands rather than reaching the sea.

A common mix-up is Dasht-e Margo, another Afghan desert in the same broad basin. Registan is also notable for environmental change: drought, vegetation loss, firewood collection, and overgrazing have allowed dunes to move into agricultural areas. During the severe 1998 drought, approximately 100,000 nomadic people were displaced from the region.