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Balkh

This article is about the city in Afghanistan. For other uses, see Balkh (disambiguation).
"Bactra" redirects here. For the moth genus, see Bactra (moth).
Balkh
بلخ
Ruins of the Green Mosque (Dari: مَسجدِ سَبز, romanized: Masjid-i Sabz) Pashto شین جومات romanized: |sheen Jumat}} [citation needed] named for its green-tiled Gonbad (Dari: گُنبَد, dome),[1] in July 2001
Ruins of the Green Mosque (Dari: مَسجدِ سَبز, romanized: Masjid-i Sabz) Pashto شین جومات romanized: |sheen Jumat}} [citation needed] named for its green-tiled Gonbad (Dari: گُنبَد, dome),[1] in July 2001
Balkh is located in Afghanistan
Balkh
Balkh
Location in Afghanistan
Balkh is located in Bactria
Balkh
Balkh
Balkh (Bactria)
Balkh is located in West and Central Asia
Balkh
Balkh
Balkh (West and Central Asia)
Coordinates: 36°45′29″N 66°53′53″E / 36.75806°N 66.89806°E / 36.75806; 66.89806
Country Afghanistan
ProvinceBalkh Province
DistrictBalkh District
Population
 (2021)[3]
 • City
138,594[2]
Time zone+ 4.30
ClimateBSk

Balkh[a] is a town in the Balkh Province of Afghanistan, about 20 km (12 mi) northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some 74 km (46 mi) south of the Amu Darya river and the Uzbekistan border. Its population was estimated to be 138,594 in 2021–22 by the Afghan National Statistic and Information Authority.[2] Listed as the current 8th most populous city in the country, 2024 estimates set the population of Balkh at 114,883.[4][5]

Balkh was historically an ancient place of religions, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, and one of the wealthiest and largest cities of Aryana, since the latter's earliest history. The city was known to Persians as Zariaspa and to the Ancient Greeks as Bactra, giving its name to Bactria (Greeks called the city also Zariaspa).[6] It was mostly known as the center and capital of Bactria or Tokharistan. Marco Polo described Balkh as a "noble and great city".[7] Balkh is now for the most part a mass of ruins, situated some 12 km (7.5 mi) from the right bank of the seasonally flowing Balkh River, at an elevation of about 365 m (1,198 ft).

French Buddhist Alexandra David-Néel associated Shambhala with Balkh, also offering the Persian Sham-i-Bala ("elevated candle") as an etymology of its name.[8] In a similar vein, the Gurdjieffian J. G. Bennett published speculation that Shambalha was Shams-i-Balkh, a Bactrian sun temple.[9]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference MM1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Estimated Population of Afghanistan 2021-22" (PDF). National Statistic and Information Authority (NSIA). April 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  3. ^ "Estimated Population of Afghanistan 2020-21" (PDF). National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA). www.nsia.gov.af. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-03. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  4. ^ "Afghanistan Population (2024) - Worldometer". www.worldometers.info. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  5. ^ "Population of Cities in Afghanistan 2024". worldpopulationreview.com. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  6. ^ "Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, Z294.15". Archived from the original on 2019-12-21. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  7. ^ "City of Balkh (antique Bactria)". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 2020-06-23. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
  8. ^ David-Néel, A. Les Nouvelles littéraires;1954, p.1
  9. ^ Bennett, J. G., Gurdjieff: Making a New World Bennett notes Idries Shah as the source of the suggestion.


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