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.
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
Badakhshan30AF-BDSBDNFayzabad44,836950,9531,066,98523.529North EastNorth
Badghis4AF-BDGBDGQala i Naw20,794495,958560,02126.47WestCentral
Baghlan19AF-BGLBAGPuli Khumri18,255910,7841,023,51255.616North EastNorth
Balkh13AF-BALBLHMazar-i-Sharif16,1861,325,6591,524,67793.215North WestNorth
Bamyan15AF-BAMBAMBamyan18,029487,218510,54327.57WestCentral
Daykundi10AF-DAYDYKNili17,501507,339529,61029.58South WestSouth
Farah2AF-FRAFRHFarah49,339507,405581,29311.411WestCentral
Faryab5AF-FYBFYBMaymana20,798998,1471,116,89453.314North WestNorth
Ghazni16AF-GHAGAZGhazni22,4601,228,8311,373,65360.719South EastSouth
Ghor6AF-GHOGHRChaghcharan36,657790,296809,24520.911WestCentral
Helmand7AF-HELHELLashkargah58,305924,7111,456,78924.813South WestSouth
Herat1AF-HERHRTHerat55,8681,890,2022,152,89238.315WestCentral
Jowzjan8AF-JOWJZJSheberghan11,292540,255624,31353.39North WestNorth
Kabul22AF-KABKBLKabul4,5244,372,9775,211,4521,150.518CentralCentral
Kandahar12AF-KANKRDKandahar54,8441,226,5931,409,10525.516South WestSouth
Kapisa29AF-KAPKPSMahmud-i-Raqi1,908441,010503,524255.97CentralCentral
Khost26AF-KHOKSTKhost4,235574,582645,217150.313South EastSouth
Kunar34AF-KNRKNRAsadabad4,926450,652508,040101.415EastCentral
Kunduz18AF-KDZKDZKunduz8,0811,010,0371,145,678140.77North EastNorth
Laghman32AF-LAGLGMMihtarlam3,978445,588499,871124.15EastCentral
Logar23AF-LOGLGRPul-i-Alam4,568392,045444,41995.17CentralCentral
Nangarhar33AF-NANNGRJalalabad7,6411,517,3881,712,331222.723EastCentral
Nimruz3AF-NIMNRZZaranj42,410164,978191,2654.35South WestSouth
Nuristan31AF-NURNURParun9,267147,967167,42517.77EastCentral
Paktia24AF-PIAPAKGardez5,583551,987627,567109.611South EastSouth
Paktika25AF-PKAPKTSharana19,516434,742792,22639.715South EastSouth
Panjshir28AF-PANPJRBazarak3,772371,902382,42545.07CentralCentral
Parwan20AF-PARPRNCharikar5,715664,502747,618129.19CentralCentral
Samangan14AF-SAMSAMAybak, Samangan13,438387,928440,91932.05North WestNorth
Sar-e Pol9AF-SARSRPSar-e Pol16,386559,577630,70637.97North WestNorth
Takhar27AF-TAKTAKTaloqan12,458983,3361,093,10087.716North EastNorth
Uruzgan11AF-URUORZTarinkot11,474386,818448,21938.06South WestSouth
Wardak21AF-WARWDKMaidan Shar10,348596,287667,61263.89CentralCentral
Zabul17AF-ZABZBLQalat17,472304,126402,89922.09South WestSouth

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]
Central237,33413,571,39715,067,10063.4
North161,7307,666,6768,570,50052.9
South253,800 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 30,8356,838,7237,695,300249.5
East 25,8122,561,5952,858,400110.7
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. 1 2 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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