Kandahar

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
Seal
Kandahar Location in Afghanistan Show map of Afghanistan Kandahar Kandahar (West and Central Asia) Show map of West and Central Asia Kandahar Kandahar (South Asia) Show map of South Asia Kandahar Kandahar (Asia) Show map of Asia
Coordinates: 31°37′12″N 65°42′57″E / 31.62000°N 65.71583°E / 31.62000; 65.71583
Country	Afghanistan
Province	Kandahar
District	Kandahar
Government
• Type	Municipality
• Governor	Mohammad Yousaf Wafa
Area
• Total	273.37 km2 (105.55 sq mi)
Elevation	1,010 m (3,310 ft)
Population  (2021)
• Total	651,484[1]
Time zone	UTC+4:30 (Afghanistan Standard Time)
Postal Code	38XX
Website	kandahar.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 the 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]

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.^[4][5] 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.

Kandahar is one of the most culturally significant cities of the Pashtuns 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, and tobacco. 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.^[6]

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,^[7] and it became an important outpost of the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire in the 6th century BC.^[8] Alexander the Great had laid-out the foundation of what is now Old Kandahar in the 4th century BC and gave it the Ancient Greek name Ἀλεξάνδρεια Ἀραχωσίας (Alexandria of Arachosia).