Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan

Badakhshan is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, consisting of 28 districts. It is located in the north-east of the country, between the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya.

Geography;

Badakhshan is primarily bordered by Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province and Khatlon Province in Tajikistan to the north and east. In the east of the province a long spur called the Wakhan Corridor extends above northern Pakistan's Chitral and Northern Areas to a border with China. The province has a total area of 44,059 km², most of which is occupied by the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges.

Badakhshan was a stopover on the ancient Silk Road trading path, and China has shown great interest in the province after the fall of the Taliban, helping to reconstruct roads and infrastructure in the province.

History;

Badakhshan's name was given by the Sassanids and derives from the word badaxš (an official Sassanian title). The suffix of the name, -an, means the region belonged to someone with the title badaxš (analogous to Azerbaijan, Isfahan, Tehran, etc.).

Badakhshan and Panjshir were the only provinces that were not occupied by the Taliban during their drive to control the country. However, during the course of the wars a non-Taliban Islamic emirate was established in Badakhshan by Mawlawi Shariqi, paralleling the Islamic Revolutionary State of Afghanistan in neighboring Nuristan. Burhanuddin Rabbani, a Badakhshan native, and Ahmad Shah Massoud were the last remnants of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance during the peak of Taliban control in 2000 and 2001, and they used the province as their base of operations. The province was about to fall to the Taliban when the American invasion allowed the Northern Alliance to reclaim control of the country with the aid of American military air power and assistance.

Economy; 

Despite massive mineral reserves, Badakhshan is one of the most destitute areas in the world. Opium poppy growing is the only real source of income in the province and Badakhshan has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world, due to the complete lack of health infrastructure, inaccessible locations, and bitter winters of the province.

Lapis lazuli has been mined in the Sar-e-Sang district in Badakhshan for many centuries and was the largest and most well-known source in ancient times.Most recent mining activity has focused on lapis lazuli, with the proceeds from the lapis mines being used to fund Northern Alliance troops, and before that, anti-Soviet Mujahideen fighters. Recent geological surveys have indicated the location of other gemstone deposits, in particular rubies and emeralds. Exploitation of this mineral wealth could be key to the region's prosperity.

Capital City;
Fayzabad, the capital of Badakhshan, sits on the Kokcha River and has an approximate population of 50,000. The chief commercial and administrative center of NE Afghanistan and the Pamir region, Fayzabad also has rice and flour mills. In winter the city is sometimes isolated by deep snow. In 1979 it was a focus of Afghan guerrillas attempting to repel the Soviet invasion. Fayzabad was taken by Soviet forces in 1980 and became a major Soviet garrison town.

Demographics;

The population of the province is estimated at 823,000 people. The majority of them are Persian-speaking Tajiks.

Districts                                      Capital                                       Population

 ====================================================

Arghanj Khwa                                                                                 12,000  

Argo                                                                                               45,000

Baharak                                     Baharak                                        14,000 

Darayim                                                                                          65,000 

Darwaz                                      Nusay                                            21,000  

Darwazi Bala                                                                                  11,000 

Fayzabad                                  Fayzabad                                       46,000 

Ishkashim                                  Ishkashim                                      11,000  

Jurm                                                                                               3,000 

Khash                                                                                             48,000 

Khwahan                                  Khwahan                                        14,000 

Kishim                                                                                             63,000 

Kohistan                                                                                         12,000 

Kuf Ab                                                                                           16,000 

Kuran wa Munjan                    Kuran wa Munjan                            8,000

Ragh  Ragh                                                                                      37,000

Shahri Buzurg                          Shahri Buzurg                                   42,000  

Shighnan                                                                                         24,000  

Shiki                                                                                               26,000 

Shuhada                                                                                          31,000 

Tagab                                                                                             22,000 

Tishkan                                                                                           23,000 

Wakhan                                                                                         13,000  

Warduj                                                                                          17,000 

Yaftali Sufla                                                                                   39,000 

Yamgan                                                                                         20,000 

Yawan                                                                                           27,000

Zebak                                       Zebak                                           7,000

Area;

  Total 44,059 km2 (17,011.3 sq mi)

Languages; 

Persian, Pamiri, Pashto, Kyrgyz, Uzbek