Provinces of Afghanistan
is made up of 34 provinces. The provinces of Afghanistan are the primary administrative divisions. Each province encompasses a number of districts 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.
Provincial governors have played a critical role in the reconstruction of the Afghan state following the creation of the new government under Hamid Karzai. According to international security scholar, Dipali Mukhopadhyay, many of the provincial governors are former warlords who have been incorporated into the political system.Provinces of Afghanistan
| Province | Map # | | License Plate Code | Capital | Population | Area | Population density | # Districts | U.N. Region |
| Badakhshan | 30 | AF-BDS | BDN | Fayzabad | 950,953 | 44,059 | 22.2 | 29 | North East Afghanistan |
| Badghis | 4 | AF-BDG | BDG | Qala i Naw | 495,958 | 20,591 | 24.3 | 7 | West Afghanistan |
| Baghlan | 19 | AF-BGL | BAG | Puli Khumri | 910,784 | 21,118 | 52.1 | 16 | North East Afghanistan |
| Balkh | 13 | AF-BAL | BLH | Mazar-i-Sharif | 1,325,659 | 17,249 | 80.7 | 15 | North West Afghanistan |
| Bamyan | 15 | AF-BAM | BAM | Bamyan | 487,218 | 14,175 | 25.4 | 7 | West Afghanistan |
| Daykundi | 10 | AF-DAY | DYK | Nili | 507,339 | 18,088 | 28.1 | 8 | South West Afghanistan |
| Farah | 2 | AF-FRA | FRH | Farah | 507,405 | 48,471 | 10.4 | 11 | West Afghanistan |
| Faryab | 5 | AF-FYB | FYB | Maymana | 998,147 | 20,293 | 49.0 | 14 | North West Afghanistan |
| Ghazni | 16 | AF-GHA | GAZ | Ghazni | 1,228,831 | 22,915 | 57.4 | 19 | South East Afghanistan |
| Ghor | 6 | AF-GHO | GHR | Chaghcharan | 790,296 | 36,479 | 18.9 | 11 | West Afghanistan |
| Helmand | 7 | AF-HEL | HEL | Lashkargah | 924,711 | 58,584 | 15.9 | 13 | South West Afghanistan |
| Herat | 1 | AF-HER | HRT | Herat | 1,890,202 | 54,778 | 35.1 | 15 | West Afghanistan |
| Jowzjan | 8 | AF-JOW | JZJ | Sheberghan | 540,255 | 11,798 | 49.5 | 9 | North West Afghanistan |
| Kabul | 22 | AF-KAB | KBL | Kabul | 4,372,977 | 4,462 | 917.7 | 18 | Central Afghanistan |
| Kandahar | 12 | AF-KAN | KRD | Kandahar | 1,226,593 | 54,022 | 23.2 | 16 | South East Afghanistan |
| Kapisa | 29 | AF-KAP | KPS | Mahmud-i-Raqi | 441,010 | 1,842 | 238.2 | 7 | Central Afghanistan |
| Khost | 26 | AF-KHO | KST | Khost | 574,582 | 4,152 | 136.3 | 13 | South East Afghanistan |
| Kunar | 34 | AF-KNR | KNR | Asadabad | 450,652 | 4,942 | 94.5 | 15 | North East Afghanistan |
| Kunduz | 18 | AF-KDZ | KDZ | Kunduz | 1,010,037 | 8,040 | 130.3 | 7 | North East Afghanistan |
| Laghman | 32 | AF-LAG | LGM | Mihtarlam | 445,588 | 3,843 | 118.1 | 5 | East Afghanistan |
| Logar | 23 | AF-LOG | LGR | Pul-i-Alam | 392,045 | 3,880 | 90.7 | 7 | Central Afghanistan |
| Nangarhar | 33 | AF-NAN | NGR | Jalalabad | 1,517,388 | 7,727 | 208.9 | 23 | East Afghanistan |
| Nimruz | 3 | AF-NIM | NRZ | Zaranj | 164,978 | 41,005 | 4.1 | 5 | South West Afghanistan |
| Nuristan | 31 | AF-NUR | NUR | Parun | 147,967 | 9,225 | 16.7 | 7 | North East Afghanistan |
| Paktia | 24 | AF-PIA | PAK | Gardez | 551,987 | 6,432 | 106.4 | 11 | South East Afghanistan |
| Paktika | 25 | AF-PKA | PKT | Sharana | 434,742 | 19,482 | 23.2 | 15 | South East Afghanistan |
| Panjshir | 28 | AF-PAN | PJR | Bazarak | 371,902 | 3,610 | 41.8 | 7 | Central Afghanistan |
| Parwan | 20 | AF-PAR | PRN | Charikar | 664,502 | 5,974 | 120.9 | 9 | Central Afghanistan |
| Samangan | 14 | AF-SAM | SAM | Samangan | 387,928 | 11,262 | 30.6 | 5 | North West Afghanistan |
| Sar-e Pol | 9 | AF-SAR | SRP | Sar-e Pol | 559,577 | 16,360 | 37.3 | 7 | North West Afghanistan |
| Takhar | 27 | AF-TAK | TAK | Taloqan | 983,336 | 12,333 | 81.2 | 16 | North East Afghanistan |
| Uruzgan | 11 | AF-URU | ORZ | Tarinkot | 386,818 | 12,696 | 32.7 | 6 | South West Afghanistan |
| Wardak | 21 | AF-WAR | WDK | Maidan Shar | 596,287 | 9,934 | 57.3 | 9 | Central Afghanistan |
| Zabul | 17 | AF-ZAB | ZBL | Qalat | 304,126 | 17,343 | 17.8 | 9 | South East Afghanistan |
Former Provinces of Afghanistan
