Provinces of Afghanistan
Provinces ofAfghanistan | |
---|---|
| |
![]() | |
Category | Unitary state |
Location | Afghanistan |
Number | 34 provinces |
Populations | 167,425 (Nuristan) – 5,211,452 (Kabul) |
Areas | 737 sq mi (1,908 km2) (Kapisa) – 22,512 sq mi (58,305 km2) (Helmand) |
Government |
|
Subdivisions |
|
Afghanistanis divided into 34provinces(ولايت,wilåyat). Theprovinces of Afghanistanare the primaryadministrative divisions.Each province encompasses a number ofdistrictsor usually over 1,000 villages.
Provincial governors played a critical role in the reconstruction of the Afghan state following the creation of the new government underHamid Karzai.[1]According to international security scholar Dipali Mukhopadhyay, many of the provincial governors of the western-backed government were formerwarlordswho were incorporated into the political system.[1]
Provinces of Afghanistan[edit]
![]() |
---|
![]() |
Province | ISO 3166-2:AF[3] | License Plate Code |
Capital | Area (km2) |
Population (2015)[4] |
Population (December 2022)[5] |
Population density (per km2 in 2020)[6] |
No. of Districts |
U.N. Region | Region |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Badakhshan | AF-BDS | BDN | Fayzabad | 44,835.91 | 950,953 | 1,066,985 | 23.5 | 29 | North East | North |
Badghis | AF-BDG | BDG | Qala i Naw | 20,794.01 | 495,958 | 560,021 | 26.4 | 7 | West | Central |
Baghlan | AF-BGL | BAG | Puli Khumri | 18,255.24 | 910,784 | 1,023,512 | 55.6 | 16 | North East | North |
Balkh | AF-BAL | BLH | Mazar-i-Sharif | 16,186 | 1,325,659 | 1,524,677 | 93.2 | 15 | North West | North |
Bamyan | AF-BAM | BAM | Bamyan | 18,029.16 | 487,218 | 510,543 | 27.5 | 7 | West | Central |
Daykundi | AF-DAY | DYK | Nili | 17,501.36 | 507,339 | 529,610 | 29.5 | 8 | South West | South |
Farah | AF-FRA | FRH | Farah | 49,339.11 | 507,405 | 581,293 | 11.4 | 11 | West | Central |
Faryab | AF-FYB | FYB | Maymana | 20,797.63 | 998,147 | 1,116,894 | 53.3 | 14 | North West | North |
Ghazni | AF-GHA | GAZ | Ghazni | 22,460.53 | 1,228,831 | 1,373,653 | 60.7 | 19 | South East | South |
Ghor | AF-GHO | GHR | Chaghcharan | 36,657.42 | 790,296 | 809,245 | 20.9 | 11 | West | Central |
Helmand | AF-HEL | HEL | Lashkargah | 58,305.07 | 924,711 | 1,456,789 | 24.8 | 13 | South West | South |
Herat | AF-HER | HRT | Herat | 55,868.53 | 1,890,202 | 2,152,892 | 38.3 | 15 | West | Central |
Jowzjan | AF-JOW | JZJ | Sheberghan | 11,292.52 | 540,255 | 624,313 | 53.3 | 9 | North West | North |
Kabul | AF-KAB | KBL | Kabul | 4,523.58 | 4,372,977 | 5,211,452 | 1,150.5 | 18 | Central | Central |
Kandahar | AF-KAN | KRD | Kandahar | 54,844.50 | 1,226,593 | 1,409,105 | 25.5 | 16 | South West | South |
Kapisa | AF-KAP | KPS | Mahmud-i-Raqi | 1,908 | 441,010 | 503,524 | 255.9 | 7 | Central | Central |
Khost | AF-KHO | KST | Khost | 4,235.26 | 574,582 | 645,217 | 150.3 | 13 | South East | South |
Kunar | AF-KNR | KNR | Asadabad | 4,925.90 | 450,652 | 508,040 | 101.4 | 15 | East | Central |
Kunduz | AF-KDZ | KDZ | Kunduz | 8,080.86 | 1,010,037 | 1,145,678 | 140.7 | 7 | North East | North |
Laghman | AF-LAG | LGM | Mihtarlam | 3,978.087 | 445,588 | 499,871 | 124.1 | 5 | East | Central |
Logar | AF-LOG | LGR | Pul-i-Alam | 4,568 | 392,045 | 444,419 | 95.1 | 7 | Central | Central |
Nangarhar | AF-NAN | NGR | Jalalabad | 7,641.05 | 1,517,388 | 1,712,331 | 222.7 | 23 | East | Central |
Nimruz | AF-NIM | NRZ | Zaranj | 42,409.53 | 164,978 | 191,265 | 4.3 | 5 | South West | South |
Nuristan | AF-NUR | NUR | Parun | 9,266.74 | 147,967 | 167,425 | 17.7 | 7 | East | Central |
Paktia | AF-PIA | PAK | Gardez | 5,583.15 | 551,987 | 627,567 | 109.6 | 11 | South East | South |
Paktika | AF-PKA | PKT | Sharana | 19,515.86 | 434,742 | 792,226 | 39.7 | 15 | South East | South |
Panjshir | AF-PAN | PJR | Bazarak | 3,771.62 | 371,902 | 382,425 | 45.0 | 7 | Central | Central |
Parwan | AF-PAR | PRN | Charikar | 5,715.05 | 664,502 | 747,618 | 129.1 | 9 | Central | Central |
Samangan | AF-SAM | SAM | Aybak | 13,437.91 | 387,928 | 440,919 | 32.0 | 5 | North West | North |
Sar-e Pol | AF-SAR | SRP | Sar-e Pol | 16,385.57 | 559,577 | 630,706 | 37.9 | 7 | North West | North |
Takhar | AF-TAK | TAK | Taloqan | 12,458.82 | 983,336 | 1,093,100 | 87.7 | 16 | North East | North |
Uruzgan | AF-URU | ORZ | Tarinkot | 11,473.67 | 386,818 | 448,219 | 38.0 | 6 | South West | South |
Wardak | AF-WAR | WDK | Maidan Shar | 10,348.32 | 596,287 | 667,612 | 63.8 | 9 | Central | Central |
Zabul | AF-ZAB | ZBL | Qalat | 17,471.80 | 304,126 | 402,899 | 22.0 | 9 | South West | South |
Regions of Afghanistan[edit]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Regions_of_Afghanistan.png/220px-Regions_of_Afghanistan.png)
Red: Central
Green: South
Region | Area (km2) |
Population (2015)[7] |
Population (2020)[8] |
Population density (per km2 in 2020)[9] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Central | 237,334 | 13,571,397 | 15,067,100 | 63.4 |
North | 161,730 | 7,666,676 | 8,570,500 | 52.9 |
South | 253,800 | 6,304,707 | 7,752,800 | 30.5 |
UN Regions[edit]
Region | Area (km2) |
Population (2015)[10] |
Population (2020)[11] |
Population density (per km2 in 2020)[12] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Central | 30,835 | 6,838,723 | 7,695,300 | 249.5 |
East | 25,812 | 2,561,595 | 2,858,400 | 110.7 |
North East | 83,630 | 3,855,110 | 4,298,500 | 51.3 |
North West | 78,100 | 3,811,566 | 4,272,000 | 54.6 |
South East | 51,794 | 2,790,142 | 3,386,500 | 65.3 |
South West | 202,006 | 3,514,565 | 4,366,300 | 21.6 |
West | 180,687 | 4,171,079 | 4,513,400 | 24.9 |
Former provinces of Afghanistan[edit]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Provinces_of_Afghanistan_in_1929.png/220px-Provinces_of_Afghanistan_in_1929.png)
During Afghanistan's history it had a number of provinces in it. It started out as just Kabul, Herat, Qandahar, and Balkh but the number of provinces increased and by 1880 the provinces consisted of Balkh, Herat, Qandahar, Ghazni, Jalalabad, and Kabul.[13]
- Southern Province– dissolved in 1964 to createPaktia Province.
- Turkestan Province– dissolved somewhere between 1929 and 1946.
- Qataghan-Badakhshan Province– dissolved in 1963 intoBadakhshan ProvinceandQataghan Province,the latter of which was also dissolved that same year.
- Qataghan Province– dissolved in 1963 intoBaghlan Province,Kunduz Province,andTakhar Province.
- Eastern Province– dissolved in 1964 to createNangarhar Province.
- Farah-Chakansur Province– dissolved in 1964 intoFarah ProvinceandNimruz Province.
- Mazar-i-Sharif Province– dissolved in 1964 intoBalkh ProvinceandJowzjan Province.
- Meymaneh Province– dissolved in 1964 intoBadghis ProvinceandFaryab Province.
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^abMukhopadhyay, Dipali (2014). "Building a Theory of Strongman Governance in Afghanistan".Warlords, Strongman Governors, and the State in Afghanistan.p. 43.doi:10.1017/cbo9781139161817.001.ISBN9781139161817.
- ^Afghan school books -Geography G-12,Page 22-23 (in Persian)
- ^ISO 3166-2:AF(ISO3166-2codes for the provinces of Afghanistan)
- ^"registered through Argeweb".www.geohive.com.
- ^Central Statistics Office Afghanistan (web).
- ^"Afghanistan: Province Dashboard".World Bank.
- ^"registered through Argeweb".www.geohive.com.
- ^Central Statistics Office Afghanistan (web).
- ^"Afghanistan: Province Dashboard".World Bank.
- ^"registered through Argeweb".www.geohive.com.
- ^Central Statistics Office Afghanistan (web).
- ^"Afghanistan: Province Dashboard".World Bank.
- ^Andrew, W. P. (1880).Our Scientific Frontier.
External links[edit]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)