List of cities in Afghanistan

The only city in Afghanistan with over 1 million people is its capital, Kabul. The rest are smaller cities and towns. According to the National Statistic and Information Authority of Afghanistan (NSIA), an estimated total number of people living inside Afghanistan was 32,225,560 in 2020. Of this, around 7.8 million were reported to be living in urban areas and the rest in rural or countryside.

Kabul

Herat

Jalalabad

Kandahar

Mazar-i-Sharif

Kunduz

Lashkargah

Puli Khumri

Farah

Ghazni

Maymana

Khost

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Map of major cities as identified by governmental organizations

Kabul is the only city in Afghanistan with over a million residents

Herat is the second largest city and is located in western Afghanistan

Mazar-i-Sharif is the third largest city and is located in northern Afghanistan

Jalalabad, the fifth-largest city, located in eastern Afghanistan

List

The chart below shows 18 cities of Afghanistan with a population over 70,000, by order of population.

Name	Province	Population estimate (2015)
Kabul	Kabul	4,457,882
Herat	Herat	695,000
Mazar-i-Sharif	Balkh	595,000
Kandahar	Kandahar	543,000
Jalalabad	Nangarhar	356,685
Lashkargah	Helmand	280,381
Kunduz	Kunduz	268,893
Taloqan	Takhar	196,400
Puli Khumri	Baghlan	221,274
Sheberghan	Jowzjan	175,599
Zaranj	Nimroz	160,902
Maymana	Faryab	149,040
Ghazni	Ghazni	143,379
Khost	Khost	106,083
Charikar	Parwan	96,039
Fayzabad	Badakhshan	95,445
Tarinkot	Uruzgan	71,604
Gardez	Paktia	70,641

Ancient names

Ancient names of places or cities in Afghanistan:

Current city and region	Ancient name
Kabul	Kophene, Gaofū, Kābūrā
Ghazni	Ghaznīn, Ghazna
Balkh	Bakhlo, Bactra, Bokhdī
Bamyan	Bamikan
Herat	Haraiva, Harī, Aria
Laghman	Lampaka
Jalalabad	Adinapur
Kandahar	Arachosia
Lashkargah	Bost, Bust
Zaranj	Zranka, Zarangia, Drangiana
Kunduz	Drapsaka, Walwalij

Gallery

• Images of smaller Afghan cities and towns
• 
  Lashkargah, capital of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan
• 
  Section of Ghazni, capital of Ghazni Province
• 
  Khost, capital of Khost Province in the east of the country
• 
  Fayzabad, capital of Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan
• 
  Zaranj, capital of Nimruz Province in southwestern Afghanistan
• 
  Qalat, the capital of Zabul Province in the south of the country
• 
  Asadabad, capital of Kunar Province in the east of the country

See also

• Provinces of Afghanistan
• Districts of Afghanistan
• List of places in Afghanistan
• Demography of Afghanistan

External links

• Central Statistics Office of Afghanistan
• Photos of Afghan cities
• World Gazetteer: Afghanistan – map at archive.today (archived 2012-12-10)
• Wilson, Frederick E. "Transcription of Afghan Placenames to an English-style Romanization." Names 34.2 (1986): 185-197.