Kabul

Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is within the jurisdiction of Kabul District and has an estimated population of 5,333,284 people. Located in the eastern half of the country, forming part of the Kabul Province, the city is administratively divided into five zones and 22 municipal districts. The native population of Kabul primarily speaks Pashto and Persian, locally referred to as Persian Dari, using regional Dari dialects with a distinctive Kabuli accent.

Mawlawi Abdul Rashid is the current mayor of the city.

Kabul has long been Afghanistan's political, cultural and economic center. Rapid urbanization has made it the country's primate city. It is located high in a narrow valley in the Hindu Kush mountain range, and is bounded by the Kabul River. At an altitude of 1,791 m (5,876 ft) above sea level, it is one of the highest capital cities in the world. The center of the city contains its oldest neighborhoods, including the areas of Bala Hisar, Deh Afghanan and Murad Khani.

Kabul is believed to be over 3,500 years old. It 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. As a key destination on the ancient Silk Road, it is traditionally seen as the meeting point between Tartary, Hindustan and Persia. Over the centuries Kabul was claimed by various empires, including the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Greco-Bactrian, Mauryan, Kushan, Samanid, Ghaznavid, Ghorid, Khwarazmian, Timurid and others.

In the 16th century, rulers of the Mughal Empire used Kabul as their summer capital, during which time it prospered and increased in significance. It briefly came under the control of the Afsharids following Nader Shah's invasion of India, until finally becoming part of the Durrani Empire in 1747. Kabul became the capital of Afghanistan in 1776 during the reign of Timur Shah Durrani. In the 19th century the city was briefly occupied by British forces during the First and Second Anglo-Afghan wars.

Kabul is known for its historical gardens and palaces such as Arg, Bagh-e Babur, Bagh-e Bala, Chihil Sutun, Darul Aman, Tajbeg, and many more. In the second half of the 20th century, the city became a stop on the hippie trail undertaken by many Europeans and gained the nickname "Paris of Central Asia". 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 a civil war between splinter factions of the disbanded Afghan mujahideen, which destroyed much of the city. In 1996, Kabul was captured by the Taliban. The city fell to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan after a United States-led invasion in 2001, and was recaptured by the Taliban in 2021 following the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan.