Afghanistan Provinces (original) (raw)

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Updates:

On the Districts of Afghanistan page, I had a column of four-digit district codes from the Ministry of the Interior. The first two digits of those codes correspond with the province. On this page, I added the key to that correspondence.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter II-3 is dated 2011-12-15. For Afghanistan, a few codes have been changed in order to match the new preferred spellings of province names. Before this update, Lowgar was LOW, and Oruzgan was ORU.

The two newest provinces of Afghanistan are Daikondi and Panjshir. A 1990 estimate of the population of Daikondi was 127,661. A 2004 estimate of the population of Panjshir was 307,620. This change is shown in ISO 3166-2 Newsletter number I-7 (2005-09-13) and in FIPS Publication Change Notice No. 10 (2006-03-23).

The new provinces of Khowst and Nurestan were at least tentatively announced by 1994. They were reported in ISO 3166-2 Newsletter number I-6 (2004-03-08), and in FIPS Publication Change Notice No. 9 (2004-10-01).

Country overview:

Short name AFGHANISTAN
ISO code AF
FIPS code AF
Languages Pashtu (ps), Dari
Time zone +4:30
Capital Kabul

The external borders of Afghanistan have remained almost unchanged through the twentieth century. Its division into provinces, on the other hand, has changed frequently. The tendency has been to create more provinces over the years. Part of the border with Pakistan is in dispute.

Other names of country:

The formal name of Afghanistan has changed several times recently. The new constitution, adopted on 2004-01-04, changed the name from "Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan" to "Islamic Republic of Afghanistan". In the past, the country was known as "Democratic Republic of Afghanistan", "Republic of Afghanistan", "Islamic State of Afghanistan", and (according to the Taliban) "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan". Some of the languages in the list below may need updating.

  1. Danish: Afghanistan
  2. Dutch: Afghanistan, Islamitische Republiek Afghanistan (formal)
  3. English: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (formal)
  4. Finnish: Afganistan
  5. French: Afghanistan, R�publique f islamique d'Afghanistan (formal)
  6. German: Afghanistan n
  7. Icelandic: Afganistan
  8. Italian: Afghanistan m
  9. Norwegian: Afghanistan, Den islamske stat Afghanistan (formal) (Bokm�l), Den islamske staten Afghanistan (formal) (Nynorsk)
  10. Portuguese: Afeganist�o, Rep�blica f Isl�mica do Afeganist�o m (formal)
  11. Pushto: Dowlat-e Eslami-ye Afghanestan (formal)
  12. Russian: Исламская Республика Афганистан (formal)
  13. Spanish: Afganist�n, Rep�blica f de Afganist�n m (formal)
  14. Swedish: Afghanistan
  15. Turkish: Afganistan

Origin of name:

Land of the Afghani (ethnic name)

Primary subdivisions:

Afghanistan is divided into 34 velayat (provinces).

Province HASC ISO FIPS Code Pc Population Area (km.�) Area (mi.�) Capital
Badakhshan AF.BD BDS AF01 11 34 805,500 44,059 17,011 Feyzabad
Badghis AF.BG BDG AF02 19 33 420,400 20,591 7,950 Qal'eh-ye Now
Baghlan AF.BL BGL AF03 13 36 762,500 21,118 8,154 Pol-e Khomri
Balkh AF.BK BAL AF30 16 17 1,073,000 17,249 6,660 Mazar-e Sharif
Bamian AF.BM BAM AF05 28 16 379,200 14,175 5,473 Bamian
Daikondi AF.DK DAY AF41 34 42 391,000 8,088 3,123 Khadir
Farah AF.FH FRA AF06 21 31 428,800 48,471 18,715 Farah
Faryab AF.FB FYB AF07 18 18 840,400 20,293 7,835 Meymaneh
Ghazni AF.GZ GHA AF08 06 23 1,040,100 22,915 8,847 Ghazni
Ghowr AF.GR GHO AF09 27 32 585,900 36,479 14,085 Chaghcharan
Helmand AF.HM HEL AF10 23 39 782,100 58,584 22,619 Lashgar Gah
Herat AF.HR HER AF11 20 30 1,544,800 54,778 21,150 Herat
Jowzjan AF.JW JOW AF31 17 19 452,000 11,798 4,555 Sheberghan
Kabul AF.KB KAB AF13 01 10 3,071,600 4,462 1,723 Kabul
Kandahar AF.KD KAN AF23 24 38 990,100 54,022 20,858 Kandahar
Kapisa AF.KP KAP AF14 02 12 374,500 1,842 711 Mahmud-e-Eraqi
Khowst AF.KT KHO AF37 32 25 487,400 4,152 1,603 Khowst
Konar AF.KR KNR AF34 10 28 381,900 4,942 1,908 Asadabad
Kondoz AF.KZ KDZ AF24 14 35 833,300 8,040 3,104 Kondoz
Laghman AF.LA LAG AF35 09 27 378,100 3,843 1,484 Mehtar Lam
Lowgar AF.LW LOG AF17 05 14 332,400 3,880 1,498 Pol-e 'Alam
Nangarhar AF.NG NAN AF18 08 26 1,261,900 7,727 2,984 Jalalabad
Nimruz AF.NM NIM AF19 22 43 138,500 41,005 15,832 Zaranj
Nurestan AF.NR NUR AF38 30 29 125,700 9,225 3,562 Kamdish
Oruzgan AF.OZ URU AF39 26 41 297,200 22,696 8,763 Tarin Kowt
Paktia AF.PT PIA AF36 07 22 467,500 6,432 2,483 Gardez
Paktika AF.PK PKA AF29 29 24 369,100 19,482 7,522 Sharan
Panjshir AF.PJ PAN AF42 33 15 130,400 3,610 1,394 Bazarak
Parvan AF.PV PAR AF40 03 11 560,800 5,974 2,307 Charikar
Samangan AF.SM SAM AF32 15 20 327,700 11,262 4,348 Aybak
Sar-e Pol AF.SP SAR AF33 31 21 472,700 15,999 6,177 Sar-e Pol
Takhar AF.TK TAK AF26 12 37 827,500 12,333 4,762 Taloqan
Vardak AF.VR WAR AF27 04 13 506,300 8,938 3,451 Maidanshahr
Zabol AF.ZB ZAB AF28 25 40 257,600 17,343 6,696 Qalat
34 provinces 22,097,900 645,807 249,347
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Code: Codes from Ministry of the Interior. Pc: First two digits of postal code for province. Population: 2006 estimates. Source: Central Statistics Office website. Area: Source [4]

Postal codes:

Afghan Post uses four-digit postal codes in which the first two digits represent a province in the range 10-43, and the last two digits represent a delivery zone, which can be a city if in the range 01-50, or a rural district if between 51 and 99.

Further subdivisions:

See the Districts of Afghanistan page.

Territorial extent:

Badakhshan province contains the Wakhan (or Vakhan) Corridor, a narrow strip of land extending eastward to China.

The UN LOCODE page for Afghanistan lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names:

  1. Badghis: Persian badkhiz: home of the winds
  2. Nurestan: = land of the enlightened

Change history:

  1. This is a table of the provinces of Afghanistan as of about 1950 (sources [5] and [6]).
Province Population Capital Current divisions
Badakhshan 430,424 Feyzabad Badakhshan
Eastern 1,140,121 Jalalabad Nangarhar
Farah-Chakansur 300,462 Farah Farah, Nimruz
Herat 1,142,343 Herat Herat
Kabul 2,817,234 Kabul Ghazni, Kabul, Parvan
Kandahar 1,063,496 Kandahar Kandahar
Kataghan 884,390 Baghlan Baghlan
Maimana 395,340 Maimana Faryab
Mazar-i-Sharif 944,020 Mazar-i-Sharif Balkh, Jowzjan
Southern 882,170 Gardez Paktia
10 provinces 9,997,000
Population: 1946 estimate. There were alsoan additional 2,000,000 Afghani nomads. Current divisions: lists some of the currentprovinces located in the territory of the old provinces.
  1. By ~1957, the provinces of Ghazni (capital Ghazni), Girishk (Girishk), and Parvan (Charikar) had been formed.
  2. ~1958: Sheberghan province was formed.
  3. By 1964, the provinces of Badghis, Baghlan and Pul-i-Khumri, Bamian, Ghorat, Kalat, Kapisa, Konduz, Kunarha, Laghman, Lowgar, Nangarhar, Nimruz, Oruzgan, Paktia, Samangan, Talugan, and Wardak and Maiden had been formed, and Eastern, Kataghan, and Southern had disappeared in the process.
  4. 1964-04-30: Names of provinces changed as follows: Baghlan and Pul-i-Khumri became Baghlan; Ghorat became Ghor (Ghowr); Girishk became Helmand; Kalat became Zabul (Zabol); Kunarha became Konarha (Konar); Maimana became Faryab; Mazar-i-Sharif became Balkh; Shibarghan became Jowzjan; Talugan became Takhar; Wardak and Maiden became Wardak (Vardak).
  5. ~1970: Name of capital of Helmand changed from Bost to Lashgar Gah.
  6. ~1971: In 1966, the geographer of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the U.S. State Department wrote, "It has been proposed that a new province of Katawaz and Urugan be formed from part of Paktia Province." A development plan for Katawaz and Urugan was underway, so perhaps this proposal was to help administer the project. Katawaz-Urgun province is shown in the Times Atlas, 1971 edition. In later sources, Paktia province is restored to its original extent.
  7. ~1972: Name of capital of Ghowr changed from Qala Ahangaran to Chaghcharan; name of capital of Laghman changed from Tigri to Mehtar Lam; capital of Oruzgan moved from Qala-Hazar Qadam to Tarin Kowt.
  8. 1973-07-26: Formal name of country changed from Kingdom of Afghanistan to Republic of Afghanistan.
  9. ~1975: Name of Chakhansur province changed to Nimruz.
  10. ~1978: Capital of Kapisa moved from Tagab to Mahmud-e-Eraqi. Name of capital of Konar changed from Chigha Sarai to Asadabad. Formal name of country changed to Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
  11. ~1982: Paktika province formed from parts of Ghazni and Paktia. The provinces of Afghanistan at that time were as follows.
Province FIPS Population Area(km.�) Capital
Badakhshan AF01 497,758 47,403 Feyzabad
Badghis AF02 233,613 21,858 Qal'eh-ye Now
Baghlan AF03 533,782 17,109 Baghlan
Balkh AF04 580,146 12,593 Mazar-e Sharif
Bamian AF05 268,517 17,414 Bamian
Farah AF06 234,621 47,788 Farah
Faryab AF07 582,705 22,279 Meymaneh
Ghazni AF08 646,623 23,378 Ghazni
Ghowr AF09 337,492 38,666 Chaghcharan
Helmand AF10 517,645 61,829 Lashgar Gah
Herat AF11 769,111 61,315 Herat
Jowzjan AF12 588,609 25,553 Sheberghan
Kabul AF13 1,373,572 4,585 Kabul
Kandahar AF23 567,204 47,676 Kandahar
Kapisa AF14 250,553 1,871 Mahmud-e-Eraqi
Konar AF15 250,122 10,479 Asadabad
Konduz AF24 555,437 7,827 Konduz
Laghman AF16 310,650 7,210 Mehtar Lam
Lowgar AF17 216,241 4,652 Baraki Barak
Nangarhar AF18 745,986 7,616 Jalalabad
Nimruz AF19 103,634 41,356 Zaranj
Oruzgan AF20 444,168 29,295 Tarin Kowt
Paktia AF21 482,158 9,581 Gardez
Paktika AF29 245,229 19,336 Orgun
Parvan AF22 504,750 9,399 Charikar
Samangan AF25 261,693 15,465 Aybak
Takhar AF26 519,752 12,376 Taloqan
Vardak AF27 285,557 9,023 Kowt-e-Ashrow
Zabol AF28 179,362 17,293 Qalat
29 provinces 13,086,690 652,225
FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 1979-06-23 census, from source [3]. Area: Source [1].
  1. ~1988: Many provincial boundaries adjusted. For example, northern Samangan, including the city of Kholm, transferred to Balkh.
  2. 1988-04: Sar-e Pol province formed from parts of Balkh (former FIPS code AF04), Jowzjan (AF12), and Samangan (AF25).
  3. 1988-07: Nurestan province formed from parts of Konar (former HASC code AF.KO, FIPS code AF15) and Laghman (AF.LM, AF16).
  4. ~1995: Khowst province split from Paktia (former AF.PA, AF21).
  5. ~1996: Capital of Lowgar moved from Baraki Barak to Pol-e 'Alam; capital of Paktika moved from Orgun to Sharan; capital of Vardak moved from Kowt-e-Ashrow to Maidanshahr. Probably later, capital of Baghlan moved from Baghlan to Pol-e Khomri. (This information is somewhat conjectural.)
  6. 2004-03-28: Daikondi province split from Oruzgan (former AF.OR, AF20).
  7. 2004-04-13: Panjshir province split from Parvan (former AF.PR, AF22). It includes the Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul. The formation of these two provinces was an administrative decision and has not been ratified by Parliament.
  8. 2004-06: According to the Afghanistan Information Management Service (AIMS, a UNDP offshoot), the president's office announced a change in administrative units from 32 to 34 provinces (addition of Daikondi and Panjshir), and from 329 to 397 districts. Several districts moved from one province to another.

Other names of subdivisions:

  1. Place names in the vernacular are written in Arabic characters. There are various methods for transliteration from Arabic to Latin alphabets, producing fairly predictable variant names.
  2. Badakhshan: Badah�an (variant); Badakhch�o (Portuguese); Badakhschan (German)
  3. Badghis: Badghes, Badghisat, Badgis (variant)
  4. Baghlan: Baglan, Bughlan (variant); Kataghan (obsolete +)
  5. Balkh: Balh (variant); Mazar-i-Sharif, Mazar (obsolete +)
  6. Bamian: Bamiyan (French); Bamyan (variant)
  7. Daikondi: Daikundi, Daykondi, Daykundi (variant)
  8. Faryab: Fariab (variant); Maimana, Meymaneh (obsolete +)
  9. Ghazni: Gazni (variant)
  10. Ghowr: Gawr, Ghore, Ghour, Ghur (variant); Ghor (French)
  11. Helmand: Girishk (obsolete); Hilmand, Hilmend (variant)
  12. Herat: Hirat (variant)
  13. Jowzjan: Jaozjan, Jawzjan, Jozjan, Juzjan (variant); Jouzjan (French); Shibarghan (obsolete +)
  14. Kabul: Cabul (Portuguese); K�bil (Turkish); Kabol (variant); Kaboul (French)
  15. Kandahar: Qandahar (obsolete)
  16. Kapisa: Kapesa (variant)
  17. Khowst: Khost (variant)
  18. Konar: Konarha, Kunar, Kunarha (variant)
  19. Kondoz: Konduz, Kunduz, Qonduz, Qunduz (obsolete)
  20. Laghman: Lagman (variant)
  21. Lowgar: Lawghar, Loghar (variant); Logar (French)
  22. Nangarhar: Nangerhar, Ningrahar (variant); Eastern Province (obsolete)
  23. Nimruz: Neemroze, Nimrod, Nimrooz, Nimroze (variant); Nimroz (French); Chakhansur (obsolete)
  24. Nurestan: Nooristan, Nuristan (variant); Nurist�o (Portuguese)
  25. Oruzgan: Urozgan (variant); Uruzgan (French)
  26. Paktia: Paktiya (variant); Paktya (French variant); Southern Province (obsolete)
  27. Panjshir: Panjsher (variant)
  28. Parvan: Parwan (French); Charikar (obsolete +)
  29. Sar-e Pol: Sar-e Pul, Saripol, Sari Pul (variant)
  30. Takhar: Taher, Takar (variant)
  31. Vardak: Maydan-Wardak, Meydan-Wardag, Verdak, Wardag, Wardak (variant); Wardak and Maiden (obsolete)
  32. Zabol: Zabul, Zubul (variant); Zaboul (French variant)

+ = (name applied to a larger area containing the province)

Sources:

  1. [1] "Ershiyi (21) Shiji Shijie Diming Lu", Beijing, 2001.
  2. [2] "Afghanistan: A Shredded Tapestry ", Permanent Committee on Geographical Names, London, 2001, says that the spelling Konduz is obsolete and Kondoz should now be used, and that the capital of Nurestan is Kamdish.
  3. [3] http://www.pcpafg.org/map\_data/databases/Population\_estamit.xls, retrieved 2005-04-01, is a spreadsheet with population data attributed to "LGA(CSO) CENSUS 1979" (CSO is probably Central Statistics Office).
  4. [4] Afghanistan Geographic & Thematic Layers , a webpage of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, is an interface to Programme Management Information System (ProMIS). To find province areas, click on "Administration" in the navigation bar, then "32 Provinces", then "Provinces", then click on one of the provinces shown on the map.
  5. [5] Encyclop�dia Britannica World Atlas, Chicago, 1957.
  6. [6] Kratkaya Geograficheskaya Entsiklopediya, Moscow, 1960.