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.^[2]

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^[1]

List

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

Name	Province	Population estimate (2015)^[3]
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,^[4] Gaofū, Kābūrā
Ghazni	Ghaznīn, Ghazna
Balkh	Bakhlo, Bactra, Bokhdī
Bamyan	Bamikan^[5]
Herat	Haraiva, Harī, Aria
Laghman	Lampaka^[4]
Jalalabad	Adinapur^[6]
Kandahar	Arachosia^[4]
Lashkargah	Bost, Bust
Zaranj	Zranka, Zarangia, Drangiana
Kunduz	Drapsaka, Walwalij