Provinces

Afghanistan is made up of 34 provinces. The provinces of Afghanistan are the primary administrative divisions. Each province encompasses a number of districts and/or usually over 1,000 villages.

Provincial governments are led by a governor who is appointed by the President of Afghanistan. Each province is represented in the government of Afghanistan by two members in the House of Elders. One is elected by the provincial council to a four-year term while the second is elected by the district councils to a three-year term. Representation in the House of the People is directly from the districts, although in each province, two or more of the representatives must be women. They are appointed by the President of Afghanistan.

# Province Center Districts Population Area Km2
1 Badakhshan Faizabad   950,953 44,059
2 Badghis Qala-e Naw   495,958 20,591
3 Baghlan Puli Khumri   910,784 21,118
4 Balkh Mazar-e Sharif   1,325,659 17,249
5 Bamyan Bamyan   447,218 14,175
6 Daykundi Nili   424,339 18,088
7 Farah Farah   507,405 48,471
8 Faryab Maymana   998,147 20,293
9 Ghazni Ghazni   1,228,831 22,915
10 Ghor Chaghcharan   690,296 36,479
11 Helmand Lashkar Gah   924,711 58,584
12 Herat Herat   1,890,202 54,778
13 Jowzjan Shebarghan   540,255 11,798
14 Kabul Kabul   4,372,977 4,462
15 Kandahar Kandahar   1,226,593 54,022
16 Kapisa Mahmoud-e Raqi   441,010 1,842
17 Khost Khost   574,582 4,152
18 Kunar Asadabad   450,652 4,942
19 Kunduz Kunduz   1,010,037 8,040
20 Laghman Mehtarlam   445,588 3,843
21 Logar Pul-e Alam   392,045 3,880
22 Maidan Wardak Maidan Shahr   596,287 9,934
23 Nangarhar Jalalabad   1,517,388 7,727
24 Nimruz Zaranj   164,978 41,005
25 Nuristan Parun   147,967 9,225
26 Paktia Gardez   551,987 6,432
27 Paktika Sharana   434,742 19,482
28 Panjshir Bazarak   153,487 3,610
29 Parwan Charikar   664,502 5,974
30 Samangan Samangan   387,928 11,262
31 Sar-e Pol Sar-e Pol   559,577 16,360
32 Takhar Taloqan   983,336 12,333
33 Urozgan Tarinkot   386,818 12,696
34 Zabul Qalat   304,126 17,343