Provinces of Afghanistan explained

Provinces of Afghanistan
Alt Name:	Wilayat
Category:	Unitary state
Territory:	Afghanistan
Current Number:	34 provinces
Population Range:	167,425 (Nuristan) – 5,211,452 (Kabul)
Area Range:	1908order=flipNaNorder=flip (Kapisa) – 58305order=flipNaNorder=flip (Helmand)
Government:	Provincial governments
Subdivision:	District (Wulesswali, shahristan)

Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (Persian: 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.

Provinces of Afghanistan

Provinces of Afghanistan^[2]
^[3]	License Plate Code	Area (km²)	Population (2015)^[4]	Population (December 2022)^[5]	Population density (per km² in 2020)^[6]	No. of Districts	U.N. Region	Region
AF-BDS	BDN	44,835.91	950,953	1,066,985	23.5	29	North East	North
AF-BDG	BDG	20,794.01	495,958	560,021	26.4	7	West	Central
AF-BGL	BAG	18,255.24	910,784	1,023,512	55.6	16	North East	North
AF-BAL	BLH	16,186	1,325,659	1,524,677	93.2	15	North West	North
AF-BAM	BAM	18,029.16	487,218	510,543	27.5	7	West	Central
AF-DAY	DYK	17,501.36	507,339	529,610	29.5	8	South West	South
AF-FRA	FRH	49,339.11	507,405	581,293	11.4	11	West	Central
AF-FYB	FYB	20,797.63	998,147	1,116,894	53.3	14	North West	North
AF-GHA	GAZ	22,460.53	1,228,831	1,373,653	60.7	19	South East	South
AF-GHO	GHR	36,657.42	790,296	809,245	20.9	11	West	Central
AF-HEL	HEL	58,305.07	924,711	1,456,789	24.8	13	South West	South
AF-HER	HRT	55,868.53	1,890,202	2,152,892	38.3	15	West	Central
AF-JOW	JZJ	11,292.52	540,255	624,313	53.3	9	North West	North
AF-KAB	KBL	4,523.58	4,372,977	5,211,452	1,150.5	18	Central	Central
AF-KAN	KRD	54,844.50	1,226,593	1,409,105	25.5	16	South West	South
AF-KAP	KPS	1,908	441,010	503,524	255.9	7	Central	Central
AF-KHO	KST	4,235.26	574,582	645,217	150.3	13	South East	South
AF-KNR	KNR	4,925.90	450,652	508,040	101.4	15	East	Central
AF-KDZ	KDZ	8,080.86	1,010,037	1,145,678	140.7	7	North East	North
AF-LAG	LGM	3,978.087	445,588	499,871	124.1	5	East	Central
AF-LOG	LGR	4,568	392,045	444,419	95.1	7	Central	Central
AF-NAN	NGR	7,641.05	1,517,388	1,712,331	222.7	23	East	Central
AF-NIM	NRZ	42,409.53	164,978	191,265	4.3	5	South West	South
AF-NUR	NUR	9,266.74	147,967	167,425	17.7	7	East	Central
AF-PIA	PAK	5,583.15	551,987	627,567	109.6	11	South East	South
AF-PKA	PKT	19,515.86	434,742	792,226	39.7	15	South East	South
AF-PAN	PJR	3,771.62	371,902	382,425	45.0	7	Central	Central
AF-PAR	PRN	5,715.05	664,502	align=right	747,618	129.1	9	Central	Central
AF-SAM	SAM	13,437.91	387,928	440,919	32.0	5	North West	North
AF-SAR	SRP	16,385.57	559,577	630,706	37.9	7	North West	North
AF-TAK	TAK	12,458.82	983,336	1,093,100	87.7	16	North East	North
AF-URU	ORZ	11,473.67	386,818	448,219	38.0	6	South West	South
AF-WAR	WDK	10,348.32	596,287	667,612	63.8	9	Central	Central
AF-ZAB	ZBL	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.

External links

Notes and References

Book: Mukhopadhyay, Dipali. Building a Theory of Strongman Governance in Afghanistan. 2014. 9781139161817. 43. 10.1017/cbo9781139161817.001. Warlords, Strongman Governors, and the State in Afghanistan.
Afghan school books - Geography G-12, Page 22-23 (in Persian)
[ISO 3166-2:AF]
Web site: registered through Argeweb. www.geohive.com.
Central Statistics Office Afghanistan (web).
Web site: Afghanistan: Province Dashboard. World Bank.
Web site: registered through Argeweb. www.geohive.com.
Central Statistics Office Afghanistan (web).
Web site: Afghanistan: Province Dashboard. World Bank.
Web site: registered through Argeweb. www.geohive.com.
Central Statistics Office Afghanistan (web).
Web site: Afghanistan: Province Dashboard. World Bank.
Book: Andrew, W. P.. Our Scientific Frontier. 1880.