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Provinces of Afghanistan
Provinces of Afghanistan
Also known as:; Wilayat;
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	Provincial governments;
Subdivisions	District;

Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (ولايت wilāyat). 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

Provinces of Afghanistan

Provinces of Afghanistan^[2]
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


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

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 create Paktia Province.
Turkestan Province – dissolved somewhere between 1929 and 1946.
Qataghan-Badakhshan Province – dissolved in 1963 into Badakhshan Province and Qataghan Province, the latter of which was also dissolved that same year.
Qataghan Province – dissolved in 1963 into Baghlan Province, Kunduz Province, and Takhar Province.
Eastern Province – dissolved in 1964 to create Nangarhar Province.
Farah-Chakansur Province – dissolved in 1964 into Farah Province and Nimruz Province.
Mazar-i-Sharif Province – dissolved in 1964 into Balkh Province and Jowzjan Province.
Meymaneh Province – dissolved in 1964 into Badghis Province and Faryab Province.

Notes

References

^ ^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.
^ Afghan school books - Geography G-12, Page 22-23 (in Persian)
^ ISO 3166-2:AF (ISO 3166-2 codes 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.