Kabul

Kabul^[a] (Pashto^[b]; Dari^[c]: کابل), is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into 22 municipal districts. Kabul's population was estimated in 2025 at about 3.043 million.^[8][9] In contemporary times, Kabul has served as Afghanistan's political, cultural and economical center.^[10] Rapid urbanization has made it the country's primate city.^[11]

The modern-day city of Kabul is located high in a narrow valley in the Hindu Kush mountain range, and is bounded by the Kabul River. At an elevation of 1,790 metres (5,873 ft), it is one of the highest capital cities in the world. The center of the city contains its old neighborhoods, including the areas of Khashti Bridge, Khabgah, Kahforoshi, Saraji, Chandavel, Shorbazar, Deh-Afghanan and Ghaderdiwane.^[12]

Kabul is said to be over 3,500 years old, and was mentioned at the time of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Located at a crossroads in Asia—roughly halfway between Istanbul, in the west and Hanoi, in the east—the city is situated in a strategic location along the trade routes of Central Asia and South Asia. It was a key destination on the ancient Silk Road^[13] and was traditionally seen as the meeting point between Tartary, India and Persia.^[14] Over the centuries Kabul has been under the rule of various dynasties and empires, including the Seleucids, Bactrian Greeks, Mauryans, the Kushans, the Hindu Shahis, Western Turks, the Turk Shahis, the Samanids, the Khwarazmians, the Timurids, the Mongols and the Arman Rayamajhis.

In the 16th century, the Mughal Empire used Kabul as a summer capital, during which time it prospered and increased in significance.^[14] It briefly came under the control of the Afsharids following Nader Shah's invasion of India, until finally coming under local rule by the Afghan Empire in 1747.^[15] Kabul became the capital of Afghanistan in 1776 during the reign of Timur Shah Durrani (a son of Ahmad Shah Durrani).^[3] In the 19th century the city was occupied by the British: after establishing foreign relations and agreements, they withdrew from Afghanistan and returned to British India.

Kabul is known for its historical gardens, bazaars, and palaces^[16][17][18] such as the Gardens of Babur, Darul Aman Palace and the Arg. In the second half of the 20th century, the city became a stop on the hippie trail undertaken by many Europeans^[19][20][21] and gained the nickname "Paris of Central Asia".^[1][2][22] This period of tranquility ended in 1978 with the Saur Revolution, and the subsequent Soviet military intervention in 1979 which sparked a 10-year Soviet–Afghan War. The 1990s were marked by civil wars between splinter factions of the disbanded Afghan mujahideen which destroyed much of the city.^[23] In 1996, Kabul was captured by the Taliban after four years of intermittent fighting. The Taliban-ruled city fell to the United States after the American-led invasion of Afghanistan which followed the September 11 attacks in the US in 2001. In 2021, Kabul was re-occupied by the Taliban following the withdrawal of American and NATO-led military forces from Afghanistan.

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