PLACE TYPE
Provinces
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Uruzgan
A mountainous province of river valleys draining into the Helmand, known for its almonds, apricots and cumin, with Tarinkot as its capital.
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Zabul
Highland valleys along the Tarnak and Arghandab rivers, the old fortress town of Qalat, and orchards once famous for almonds and dried apricots.
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Helmand
A broad desert province threaded by the Helmand River, where irrigated fields surround the medieval ruins of Bost and the Ghaznavid palaces of Lashkari…
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Nimruz
Afghanistan’s corner of Sistan: flat desert and the Hamun wetlands at the end of the Helmand River, with the ruins of medieval Zarang near…
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Farah
Desert plains and rising mountains along the Farah Rud, with an ancient caravan town on the road to Sistan and wide pomegranate orchards.
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Paktia
High basins and pine-clad ridges around Gardez, a town with roots in the Ghaznavid age and home to a famous Ganesha image.
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Paktika
A wide, hilly border province of plains, pine-and-cedar woods and the headwaters of the Gomal River, with Sharana as its capital.
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Ghazni
A high plateau province south-west of Kabul, once the capital of the Ghaznavid sultans, with karez-fed orchards and natural lakes.
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Khost
A low, warm valley in the far south-east, touched by monsoon rains and ringed by pine-covered ridges along the border.
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Kunar
A narrow, forested river valley on the eastern border, where the glacier-fed Kunar River runs south from Chitral towards Jalalabad.
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Laghman
A green, well-watered valley province in eastern Afghanistan, where Aramaic inscriptions of Ashoka were found and the emperor Babur often stayed.
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Daykundi
A rugged Hazarajat province in Afghanistan’s central highlands, cut through by the Helmand River and prized across the country for its almonds.