Provinces of Afghanistan

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

Administrative

The following table lists the province, capital, number of districts, UN region, region, ISO 3166-2:AF code and license plate code.^[2]

Afghan provinces and administrative data
Province	Capital	Districts	UN Region	Region	ISO	Plate code
Badakhshan	Fayzabad	29	North East	North	AF-BDS	BDN
Badghis	Qala i Naw	7	West	Central	AF-BDG	BDG
Baghlan	Puli Khumri	16	North East	North	AF-BGL	BAG
Balkh	Mazar-i-Sharif	15	North West	North	AF-BAL	BLH
Bamyan	Bamyan	7	West	Central	AF-BAM	BAM
Daykundi	Nili	8	South West	South	AF-DAY	DYK
Farah	Farah	11	West	Central	AF-FRA	FRH
Faryab	Maymana	14	North West	North	AF-FYB	FYB
Ghazni	Ghazni	19	South East	South	AF-GHA	GAZ
Ghor	Chaghcharan	11	West	Central	AF-GHO	GHR
Helmand	Lashkargah	13	South West	South	AF-HEL	HEL
Herat	Herat	15	West	Central	AF-HER	HRT
Jowzjan	Sheberghan	9	North West	North	AF-JOW	JZJ
Kabul	Kabul	18	Central	Central	AF-KAB	KBL
Kandahar	Kandahar	16	South West	South	AF-KAN	KRD
Kapisa	Mahmud-i-Raqi	7	Central	Central	AF-KAP	KPS
Khost	Khost	13	South East	South	AF-KHO	KST
Kunar	Asadabad	15	East	Central	AF-KNR	KNR
Kunduz	Kunduz	7	North East	North	AF-KDZ	KDZ
Laghman	Mihtarlam	5	East	Central	AF-LAG	LGM
Logar	Pul-i-Alam	7	Central	Central	AF-LOG	LGR
Nangarhar	Jalalabad	23	East	Central	AF-NAN	NGR
Nimruz	Zaranj	5	South West	South	AF-NIM	NRZ
Nuristan	Parun	7	East	Central	AF-NUR	NUR
Paktia	Gardez	11	South East	South	AF-PIA	PAK
Paktika	Sharana	15	South East	South	AF-PKA	PKT
Panjshir	Bazarak	7	Central	Central	AF-PAN	PJR
Parwan	Charikar	9	Central	Central	AF-PAR	PRN
Samangan	Aybak	5	North West	North	AF-SAM	SAM
Sar-e Pol	Sar-e Pol	7	North West	North	AF-SAR	SRP
Takhar	Taloqan	16	North East	North	AF-TAK	TAK
Uruzgan	Tarinkot	6	South West	South	AF-URU	ORZ
Wardak	Maidan Shar	9	Central	Central	AF-WAR	WDK

Demographic

The following table lists the province, population in 2024,^[3]^[4] area in square kilometers^[2] and population density.

Afghan provinces and demographic data
Province	Population	Area km²	Density /km²
Badakhshan	1,130,535	44,836	25.2
Badghis	575,212	20,794	27.7
Baghlan	1,093,013	18,255	59.9
Balkh	1,560,365	16,186	96.4
Bamyan	531,344	18,029	29.5
Daykundi	553,372	17,501	31.6
Farah	604,420	49,339	12.3
Faryab	1,192,381	20,798	57.3
Ghazni	1,461,703	22,461	65.1
Ghor	833,304	36,657	22.7
Helmand	1,552,838	58,305	26.6
Herat	2,332,654	55,869	41.8
Jowzjan	648,804	11,293	57.5
Kabul	5,966,395	4,524	1,319.0
Kandahar	1,532,662	54,845	27.9
Kapisa	523,201	1,908	274.2
Khost	682,333	4,235	161.1
Kunar	535,488	4,926	108.7
Kunduz	1,233,223	8,081	152.6
Laghman	528,879	3,978	132.9
Logar	465,698	4,568	101.9
Nangarhar	1,840,831	7,641	240.9
Nimruz	197,513	42,410	4.7
Nuristan	175,507	9,267	18.9
Paktia	830,994	5,583	148.8
Paktika	656,430	19,516	33.6
Panjshir	182,054	3,772	48.3
Parwan	792,273	5,715	138.6
Samangan	552,763	13,438	41.1
Sar-e Pol	666,737	16,386	40.7
Takhar	1,175,306	12,459	94.3
Uruzgan	467,659	11,474	40.8
Wardak	707,486	10,348	68.4
Zabul	412,150	17,472	23.6

Regions of Afghanistan

The following tables summarize data from the demographic table.^[3]

Regions and demographic data
Region	Population	Area km²	Density /km²
Central	16,594,746	237,335	69.9
North	9,253,127	161,730	57.2
South	8,347,654	253,801	32.9

UN regions

UN regions and demographic data
Region	Population	Area km²	Density /km²
Central	8,637,107	30,835	280.1
East	3,080,705	25,812	119.4
North East	4,632,077	83,631	55.4
North West	4,621,050	78,100	59.2
South East	3,631,460	51,795	70.1
South West	4,716,194	202,006	23.3
West	4,876,934	180,688	27.0

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.^[5]

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.
^ ^a ^b "Afghan school books - Geography G-12" (PDF). moe.gov.af. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
^ ^a ^b "Library". nsia.gov.af. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
^ "Estimated Populatin of Afghanistan 2024-25". National Statistics and Information Authority. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
^ Andrew, W. P. (1880). Our Scientific Frontier.

External links

[auto1-1] 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.

[Schoolbook-2] "Afghan school books - Geography G-12" (PDF). moe.gov.af. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2025.

[NSIA_pop-3] "Library". nsia.gov.af. Retrieved 23 January 2025.

[4] "Estimated Populatin of Afghanistan 2024-25". National Statistics and Information Authority. Retrieved 23 January 2025.

[5] Andrew, W. P. (1880). Our Scientific Frontier.

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