This partridge has its native range in Asia, including, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, along the inner ranges of the western Himalayas to Nepal. Further west in southeastern Europe it is replaced by the red-legged partridge, Alectoris rufa. It barely ranges into Africa on the Sinai Peninsula. The habitat in the native range is rocky open hillsides with grass or scattered scrub or cultivation. In Israel and Jordan it is found at low altitudes, starting at below sea level in the Dead Sea area, whereas in the more eastern areas it is mainly found at an altitude of except in Pakistan, where it occurs at . They are not found in areas of high humidity or rainfall.