Kandahar

This article is about the city in Afghanistan. For other uses, see Kandahar (disambiguation).

Kandahar
  • کندهار
  • قندهار
City
Top to bottom and left to right: The Eidgah Jaami Jumat at Kandahar University, Friday Mosque of Kandahar, Tomb of Ahmad Shah Durrani, aerial view over the Mausoleum of Baba Wali, a Mosque in Kandahar
Official seal of Kandahar
Seal
Motto: 
City of the War
Kandahar is located in Afghanistan
Kandahar
Kandahar
Location in Afghanistan
Kandahar is located in West and Central Asia
Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar (West and Central Asia)
Kandahar is located in South Asia
Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar (South Asia)
Kandahar is located in Asia
Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar (Asia)
Coordinates: 31°37′12″N 65°42′57″E / 31.62000°N 65.71583°E / 31.62000; 65.71583
Country Afghanistan
ProvinceKandahar
DistrictKandahar
Government
 • TypeMunicipality
 • Governormula sherin
Area
 • Total
273.37 km2 (105.55 sq mi)
Elevation
1,010 m (3,310 ft)
Population
 (2021)
 • Total
651,484[1]
 • Density2,400/km2 (6,200/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+4:30 (Afghanistan Standard Time)
Postal Code
38XX
Websitekandahar-m.gov.af

Kandahar (English: /ˈkændəhɑːr/; Pashto: کندهار, romanized: Kandahār; Dari: قندهار, romanized: Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of 1,010 m (3,310 ft). It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118.[2] It is the capital of Kandahar Province and the centre of the larger cultural region called Loy Kandahar.

Kandahar is the founding city and spiritual center of the Taliban. Despite the capital of Afghanistan being Kabul, where the government administration is based, Kandahar is the seat of power in Afghanistan as the supreme leader and his spiritual advisers are based there. Kandahar has therefore been called the de facto capital of Afghanistan, though the Taliban maintain Kabul is the capital.[3]

Kandahar is one of the most culturally significant cities of the Pashtuns community and has been their traditional seat of power for more than 300 years. It is a major trading center for sheep, wool, cotton, silk, felt, food grains, fresh and dried fruit. The region produces fine fruits, especially pomegranates and grapes, and the city has plants for canning, drying, and packing fruit, and is a major source of marijuana and hashish.[4]

The region around Kandahar is one of the oldest known human settlements. A major fortified city existed at the site of Kandahar, probably as early as c. 1000–750 BC,[5] and it became an important outpost of the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire in the 6th century BC.[6] Alexander the Great had laid-out the foundation of what is now Old Kandahar (which is in the southern section of Kandahar city) in the 4th century BC and gave it the Ancient Greek name Ἀλεξάνδρεια Ἀραχωσίας (Alexandria of Arachosia). Historically, this province is considered as an important political area for Afghanistan revelations. Many empires have long fought over the city due to its strategic location along the trade routes of southern, central and western Asia. In 1709, Mirwais Hotak made the region an independent kingdom and turned Kandahar into the capital of the Hotak dynasty. In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the Durrani dynasty, made Kandahar the capital of the Afghan Empire.[7][8]

  1. ^ "Estimated Population of Afghanistan 2021-22" (PDF). National Statistic and Information Authority (NSIA). April 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  2. ^ "The State of Afghan Cities report2015". Archived from the original on 31 October 2015.
  3. ^ Ikramullah Ikram; Abubakar Siddique (18 April 2023). "Southern Afghan City Becomes De Facto Capital As Taliban Chief Tightens Grip On Power". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Archived from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Afghanistan's Misguided Economy | Boston Review". 8 February 2014. Archived from the original on 8 February 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  5. ^ F.R. Allchin (ed.), The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States Archived 1 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine (Cambridge University Press, 1995), pp.127-130
  6. ^ Gérard Fussman, "Kandahar II. Pre-Islamic Monuments and Remains" Archived 12 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine, in Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2012
  7. ^ "Kandahar". Columbia Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  8. ^ "The City of Kandahar". Columbia Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 15 May 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2011.