Panjshir Valley

Panjsher Valley
A view of Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley
Map of Afghanistan with Panjshir highlighted
Geography
Coordinates35°16′N 69°28′E / 35.267°N 69.467°E / 35.267; 69.467 

The Panjshir Valley (Dari: درهٔ پنجشير, Dara-i-Panjsher, literally "Valley of the Five Lions"), also spelled Panjsher, is a valley in northeastern Afghanistan, 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of Kabul, near the Hindu Kush mountain range.[1] It is divided by the Panjshir River. The valley is home to more than 100,000 people, including Afghanistan's largest concentration of ethnic Tajiks as of 1997.[2] In April 2004, it became the heart of the new Panjshir Province, having previously been part of Parwan Province.[3] Politically, this province has been considered the start point of Afghanistan's Jihad period against the Soviets. This province is also the birthplace of Afghanistan's national hero, Ahmad Shah Massoud.[4]

  1. ^ "Afghanistan gets rid of heavy arms in Panjshir". Xinhua. 6 March 2005. Archived from the original on 16 October 2006. Retrieved 22 November 2006.
  2. ^ "Afghanistan". Library of Congress Country Studies. Library of Congress. 1997. Retrieved 19 November 2006.
  3. ^ American Forces Press Service (5 July 2006). "New Afghan Road Offers Gateway to Optimism". archive.defense.gov. U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  4. ^ "Playing the Massoud card". Eurasianet.org. 2004. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2010.