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{{Short description|City in
{{About|the city in Afghanistan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!--See the Table at Infobox settlement for all fields and descriptions of usage-->| name =
| official_name =
| native_name = {{
| other_name =
| settlement_type = [[List of cities in Afghanistan|City]]
| image_skyline = {{Photomontage
| photo1a = Aerial view of a section of Kandahar in 2013.jpg
| photo1b =
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| photo4a = Women from 203rd Zone Afghan Border Police and TAAC-S attend shura at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan 150809-N-SQ656-227.jpg
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| image_caption = ''Top to bottom and left to right'':
| image_flag = Flag of Kandahar Municipality.png
| image_seal = Kandahar50fs.png
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| website = {{URL|https://kandahar-m.gov.af}}
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'''Kandahar'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|lang|ˈ|k|æ|n|d|ə|h|ɑ:r}}
The region around Kandahar is one of the oldest known areas of human settlement. A major fortified city existed at the site of Kandahar, probably as early as {{circa}} 1000–750 BC,<ref name="books.google.com">F.R. Allchin (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5kI02_zW70C&pg=PA127 ''The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501125746/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5kI02_zW70C&pg=PA127|date=1 May 2021}} (Cambridge University Press, 1995), pp.127–130</ref> and it became an important outpost of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] in the 6th century BC.<ref name="iranicaonline.org">Gérard Fussman, [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kandahar-pre-islamic-monuments-and-remains "Kandahar II. Pre-Islamic Monuments and Remains"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112185725/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kandahar-pre-islamic-monuments-and-remains|date=12 November 2017}}, in ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', online edition, 2012</ref> [[Alexander the Great]] laid the foundation of what is now [[Old Kandahar]] (in the southern section of the city) in the 4th century BC and named it [[Alexandria Arachosia]]. Many empires have long fought over the city due to its strategic ___location along the trade routes of [[South Asia|southern]], [[Central Asia|central]] and [[western Asia]]. In 1709, [[Mirwais Hotak]] made the region an independent kingdom and made Kandahar the capital of the [[Hotak dynasty]]. In 1747, [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]], founder of the [[Durrani dynasty]], made Kandahar the capital of the [[Durrani Empire|Afghan Empire]].<ref name="infoplease">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Kandahar |encyclopedia=[[Columbia Encyclopedia]] |url=http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0826983.html |access-date=9 January 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220104603/https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/places/asia/afghanistan/kandahar |archive-date=20 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=The City of Kandahar |encyclopedia=[[Columbia Encyclopedia]] |url=http://www.afghan-network.net/Culture/qandahar.html |access-date=9 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515163409/http://www.afghan-network.net/Culture/qandahar.html |archive-date=15 May 2011}}</ref>
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Kandahar is the founding city and spiritual center of the [[Taliban]]. Despite the capital of [[Afghanistan]] being Kabul, where the government administration is based, Kandahar is the seat of power in Afghanistan as the [[Supreme Leader of Afghanistan|supreme leader]] and his spiritual advisers are based there. Kandahar has therefore been called the de facto capital of [[Afghanistan]], though the Taliban maintain Kabul as the official capital.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Ikramullah Ikram|author2=Abubakar Siddique|title=Southern Afghan City Becomes De Facto Capital As Taliban Chief Tightens Grip On Power|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-kandahar-taliban-akhundzada-capital/32369212.html|access-date=11 May 2023|work=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]|date=18 April 2023|archive-date=11 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511031105/https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-kandahar-taliban-akhundzada-capital/32369212.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Kandahar is one of the most culturally significant cities of the [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] community and has been their traditional seat of power for more than 300 years. It is a major trading center for fresh and [[dried fruit]], including [[food grain]]s, sheep, [[wool]], cotton, silk, and [[felt]]. The region produces fine fruits, especially [[pomegranate production in Afghanistan|pomegranates]] and grapes, and the city has plants for canning, drying, and packing fruits.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.avapress.com/en/news/277808/600-million-k_andahar-dried-fruit-will-_export-this-year|title=$600 Million Kandahar Dried Fruit Will Export This Year|work=Afghan Voice Agency|date=5 October 2023|access-date=21 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|LZZmtpuOUs8|Kandahar exports over $370 million dried fruits in 9 months}}, Ariana News, 20 January 2025.</ref>
==Name==
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[[Ernst Herzfeld]] claimed Kandahar perpetuated the name of the [[Indo-Parthian]] king [[Gondophares]], who re-founded the city under the name Gundopharron.<ref>Ernst Herzfeld, ''Archaeological History of Iran'', London, Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1935, p.63; Ernst Herzfeld, ''The Persian Empire: Studies in Geography and Ethnography of the Ancient Near East'', Wiesbaden, Steiner, 1968, p.335.</ref> However, modern historians and linguists generally find this derivation implausible.<ref name="Hill2009"/>
==History==
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{{flag|Afghanistan}} 1855–present
}}
[[File:Survey of India, 34 E NE Kandahar Province (1924).jpg | thumb | 1924 maps of Kandahar and surroundings by the Survey of India]]
===Prehistory===
{{Further|Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan}}
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Kandahar has a population of approximately 1,057,500 people in 2008. In the province, there are around 14,445 households, with an average of seven individuals per home. Around 68 percent of Kandahar's population resides in rural districts, with males accounting for 51 percent of the population. Pashtuns are the province's largest ethnic group. Major Pashtun tribes such as the [[Durrani]] including Barakzai, Popalzai, Alkozai, Noorzai, Ishaqzai, Achakzai, Maku, and Qizilbash Shia's and [[Ghilji|Khilji]] are included. More than 98 percent of the population speaks Pashtu. Only a small percentage of the population speaks [[Balochi language]] and [[Dari]]. [[Kochi people]] (Pashtun Nomads) also live in Kandahar province, and their numbers fluctuate depending on the season, with estimates stating approximately 79,000 in the winter and 39,000 in the summer.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
The population of Kandahar numbers approximately 651,484 {{As of|2021|lc=y}}.<ref name=nsia>{{cite web|url=https://www.nsia.gov.af:8080/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Estimated-Population-of-Afghanistan1-1400.pdf|title=Estimated Population of Afghanistan 2021–22|author=<!--Not stated-->|date=April 2021|website=|publisher=National Statistic and Information Authority (NSIA)|access-date=21 June 2021|quote=|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624204559/https://www.nsia.gov.af:8080/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Estimated-Population-of-Afghanistan1-1400.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Pashtuns]] make up the overwhelming majority population of the city and
[[Pashto language|Pashto]] is the main language in the city and the region. [[Persian language|Persian]] is also understood by a few number of the city dwellers, especially those serving in the government. Both are the official [[languages of Afghanistan]]. A 2006 compendium of provincial data prepared by the Afghan [[Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development]] and [[United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan]] (UNAMA) states:
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It recently won 2 awards, the ''Residential Project'' and ''Sustainable Project'' of the Year at the Middle East Architect Awards.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.designmena.com/portfolio/aino-mina|title=Case study: Aino Mina|work=Design Middle East|access-date=6 May 2016|archive-date=6 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106003655/http://www.designmena.com/portfolio/aino-mina|url-status=dead}}</ref> Many of the high-ranking government employees and civil servants as well as wealthy businessmen live in this area, which is a more secured community in Kandahar. Work on the next $100 million scheme was initiated in 2011.
Also, construction of Hamidi Township in the Morchi Kotal area of the city began in August 2011. It is named after [[Ghulam Haider Hamidi]], the mayor of Kandahar who was assassinated by militants in late July 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.afghanpanorama.com/?p=457|title=Kandahar mayor killed by suicide bomber with explosives in turban|date=22 March 2025 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Situated along the Kandahar-Uruzgan Highway in the northeast of the city, the new township will have 2,000 residential and commercial plots. Including new roads, schools, commercial markets, clinics, canals and other facilities.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/08/16/construction-hameedi-township-starts-kandahar|title=Construction of Hameedi township starts in Kandahar|date=16 August 2011|first=Bashir Ahmed|last=Naadem|access-date=16 August 2011|archive-date=8 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908074140/http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/08/16/construction-hameedi-township-starts-kandahar|url-status=dead}}</ref>
About {{cvt|10|km|0}} east of Kandahar, a huge [[industrial park]] is under construction with modern facilities. The park will have professional management for the daily maintenance of public roads, internal streets, common areas, parking areas, 24 hours perimeter security, access control for vehicles and persons.<ref>Afghanistan Investment Support Agency, [http://www.aisa.org.af/ipda/kandahar.html ''Afghanistan Industrial Parks Development Authority''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060721180455/http://www.aisa.org.af/ipda/kandahar.html |date=21 July 2006 }}</ref>
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*[[Hibatullah Akhundzada]] – Supreme leader of Afghanistan as of 2021
*[[Akhtar Mansour]] – Second supreme leader of the [[Taliban]]
*[[Faizullah Kakar]] - Former deputy minister of health for Karzai government and former chief of staff for Ashraf Ghani
{{div col end}}
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