Provinces of Afghanistan
CategoryUnitary state
LocationAfghanistan
Number34 provinces
Populations167,425 (Nuristan) – 5,211,452 (Kabul)
Areas737 sq mi (1,908 km2) (Kapisa) – 22,512 sq mi (58,305 km2) (Helmand)
Government
  • Provincial governments
Subdivisions

Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (ولايت, wilåyat). The provinces of Afghanistan are the primary administrative divisions. Each province encompasses a number of districts or 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 under Hamid Karzai.[1] According to international security scholar Dipali Mukhopadhyay, many of the provincial governors of the western-backed government were former warlords who were incorporated into the political system.[1]

Provinces of Afghanistan

Afghanistan political map- provinces named.
Politics of Afghanistan
Constitution
Government
Judiciary
Law enforcement
Administrative divisions
Elections
Foreign relations
flag Afghanistan portal
Provinces of Afghanistan[2]
Province Map # 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 30 AF-BDS BDN Fayzabad 44,836 950,953 1,066,985 23.5 29 North East North
Badghis 4 AF-BDG BDG Qala i Naw 20,794 495,958 560,021 26.4 7 West Central
Baghlan 19 AF-BGL BAG Puli Khumri 18,255 910,784 1,023,512 55.6 16 North East North
Balkh 13 AF-BAL BLH Mazar-i-Sharif 16,186 1,325,659 1,524,677 93.2 15 North West North
Bamyan 15 AF-BAM BAM Bamyan 18,029 487,218 510,543 27.5 7 West Central
Daykundi 10 AF-DAY DYK Nili 17,501 507,339 529,610 29.5 8 South West South
Farah 2 AF-FRA FRH Farah 49,339 507,405 581,293 11.4 11 West Central
Faryab 5 AF-FYB FYB Maymana 20,798 998,147 1,116,894 53.3 14 North West North
Ghazni 16 AF-GHA GAZ Ghazni 22,460 1,228,831 1,373,653 60.7 19 South East South
Ghor 6 AF-GHO GHR Chaghcharan 36,657 790,296 809,245 20.9 11 West Central
Helmand 7 AF-HEL HEL Lashkargah 58,305 924,711 1,456,789 24.8 13 South West South
Herat 1 AF-HER HRT Herat 55,868 1,890,202 2,152,892 38.3 15 West Central
Jowzjan 8 AF-JOW JZJ Sheberghan 11,292 540,255 624,313 53.3 9 North West North
Kabul 22 AF-KAB KBL Kabul 4,524 4,372,977 5,211,452 1,150.5 18 Central Central
Kandahar 12 AF-KAN KRD Kandahar 54,844 1,226,593 1,409,105 25.5 16 South West South
Kapisa 29 AF-KAP KPS Mahmud-i-Raqi 1,908 441,010 503,524 255.9 7 Central Central
Khost 26 AF-KHO KST Khost 4,235 574,582 645,217 150.3 13 South East South
Kunar 34 AF-KNR KNR Asadabad 4,926 450,652 508,040 101.4 15 East Central
Kunduz 18 AF-KDZ KDZ Kunduz 8,081 1,010,037 1,145,678 140.7 7 North East North
Laghman 32 AF-LAG LGM Mihtarlam 3,978 445,588 499,871 124.1 5 East Central
Logar 23 AF-LOG LGR Pul-i-Alam 4,568 392,045 444,419 95.1 7 Central Central
Nangarhar 33 AF-NAN NGR Jalalabad 7,641 1,517,388 1,712,331 222.7 23 East Central
Nimruz 3 AF-NIM NRZ Zaranj 42,410 164,978 191,265 4.3 5 South West South
Nuristan 31 AF-NUR NUR Parun 9,267 147,967 167,425 17.7 7 East Central
Paktia 24 AF-PIA PAK Gardez 5,583 551,987 627,567 109.6 11 South East South
Paktika 25 AF-PKA PKT Sharana 19,516 434,742 792,226 39.7 15 South East South
Panjshir 28 AF-PAN PJR Bazarak 3,772 371,902 382,425 45.0 7 Central Central
Parwan 20 AF-PAR PRN Charikar 5,715 664,502 747,618 129.1 9 Central Central
Samangan 14 AF-SAM SAM Aybak, Samangan 13,438 387,928 440,919 32.0 5 North West North
Sar-e Pol 9 AF-SAR SRP Sar-e Pol 16,386 559,577 630,706 37.9 7 North West North
Takhar 27 AF-TAK TAK Taloqan 12,458 983,336 1,093,100 87.7 16 North East North
Uruzgan 11 AF-URU ORZ Tarinkot 11,474 386,818 448,219 38.0 6 South West South
Wardak 21 AF-WAR WDK Maidan Shar 10,348 596,287 667,612 63.8 9 Central Central
Zabul 17 AF-ZAB ZBL Qalat 17,472 304,126 402,899 22.0 9 South West South

Regions of Afghanistan

Blue : North
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

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

Historical provinces of Afghanistan

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]

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ a b Mukhopadhyay, 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. ISBN 9781139161817.
  2. ^ Afghan school books - Geography G-12, Page 22-23 (in Persian)
  3. ^ ISO 3166-2:AF (ISO 3166-2 codes for the provinces of Afghanistan)
  4. ^ "registered through Argeweb". www.geohive.com.
  5. ^ Central Statistics Office Afghanistan (web).
  6. ^ "Afghanistan: Province Dashboard". World Bank.
  7. ^ "registered through Argeweb". www.geohive.com.
  8. ^ Central Statistics Office Afghanistan (web).
  9. ^ "Afghanistan: Province Dashboard". World Bank.
  10. ^ "registered through Argeweb". www.geohive.com.
  11. ^ Central Statistics Office Afghanistan (web).
  12. ^ "Afghanistan: Province Dashboard". World Bank.
  13. ^ Andrew, W. P. (1880). Our Scientific Frontier.

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