Afghanistan
population: UN projection (1 Jul 2025) · indicators as of 2026-09-05 · 9 metros tracked
🗺️ Geography9 metros
Afghanistan metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.
Hover for rank, click to open the metro page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.
🏙️ 9 tracked metros
| Metro | State | Tier | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #531 | Kabul★ Capital▲ Largest | Kābul | 5.1M | 4.5 | Emerging Metro |
| #1581 | Kandahar | Kandahār | 633K | 0.7 | Local Metro |
| #1634 | Mazar-e Sharif | Balkh | 484K | 0.7 | Local Metro |
| #1832 | Herat | Herāt | 851K | 0.5 | Local Metro |
| #2150 | Jalalabad | Nangarhār | 272K | 0.3 | Local Metro |
| #2334 | Khost | Khōst | 156K | 0.3 | Local Metro |
| #3054 | Kunduz | Kunduz | 366K | 0.1 | Local Metro |
| #3159 | Taluqan | Takhār | 259K | 0.1 | Local Metro |
| #3513 | Tarinkot | Urūzgān | 116K | 0.0 | Local Metro |
🗂️ Provinces
34 entries listed under Afghanistan. Click any to see its metros and footprint.
📋 At a glance
- Official languages
- Uzbek, Turkmen, Arabic, Balochi, Pashayi +4 more
- Currency
- Afghani (AFN)
- Government
- Islamic theocracy
- Constitution
- 2004, 0 amendment events since
- Demonym
- Afghan
- Time zone
- UTC+04:30
- Driving side
- Right
- Calling code
- +93
- Internet TLD
- .af
- ISO 3166
- AF
- Established
- 1709
- Highest point
- Noshaq (7,492 m (24,580 ft))
- National anthem
- This Is the Home of the Brave
Facts via Wikidata.
📰 In the news1 story
The Washington Post · 13 Sept 2026
Al-Qaeda regroups in Afghanistan, 25 years after 9/11The Post reports al-Qaeda is regrouping in Afghanistan, 25 years after 9/11.
💹 Economy and developmentLow income
Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.
Alliances & Organisations2 full memberships
Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer
🏛️ Leadership History21 leaders · click to expand
marks a leader associated with atrocities or defiance of law, systemic subversion of democratic institutions, or a criminal conviction. Convictions arising from political persecution, and annulled convictions, are excluded. denotes a monarch. These are editorial designations, applied per entry rather than derived automatically.
Other
Mohammad Hasan Akhund✦ Current
2023–PresentPrime Minister
Hibatullah Akhundzada✦ Current
2021–PresentPresident
Ashraf Ghani
2014–2021President
Burhanuddin Rabbani
2001–2001President
Mohammad Najibullah
1987–1992President
Mohammed Daoud Khan
1973–1978President
Mohammed Zahir Shah
1933–1973President
Mohammed Nadir Shah
1929–1929President
Habibullāh Kalakāni
1929–1929President
Inayatullah Khan
1929–1929President
Amanullah Khan
1926–1929President
| Name | Role | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Mohammad Hasan Akhund✦ Current | Prime Minister | 2023–Present |
| Hibatullah Akhundzada✦ Current | President | 2021–Present |
| Ashraf Ghani | President | 2014–2021 |
| Burhanuddin Rabbani | President | 2001–2001 |
| Mohammad Najibullah | President | 1987–1992 |
| Mohammed Daoud Khan | President | 1973–1978 |
| Mohammed Zahir Shah | President | 1933–1973 |
| Mohammed Nadir Shah | President | 1929–1929 |
| Habibullāh Kalakāni | President | 1929–1929 |
| Inayatullah Khan | President | 1929–1929 |
| Amanullah Khan | President | 1926–1929 |
Emirate of Afghanistan
👑 Amanullah Khan
1919–1926Monarch
👑 Habibullah Khan
1901–1919Monarch
👑 Abdur Rahman Khan
1880–1901Monarch
👑 Sher Ali Khan
1863–1880Monarch
👑 Dost Mohammad Khan
1826–1863Monarch
👑 Shah Shuja
1803–1826Monarch
👑 Mahmud Shah
1801–1803Monarch
👑 Zaman Shah
1793–1801Monarch
👑 Timur Shah Durrani
1772–1793Monarch
| Name | Role | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 👑 Amanullah Khan | Monarch | 1919–1926 |
| 👑 Habibullah Khan | Monarch | 1901–1919 |
| 👑 Abdur Rahman Khan | Monarch | 1880–1901 |
| 👑 Sher Ali Khan | Monarch | 1863–1880 |
| 👑 Dost Mohammad Khan | Monarch | 1826–1863 |
| 👑 Shah Shuja | Monarch | 1803–1826 |
| 👑 Mahmud Shah | Monarch | 1801–1803 |
| 👑 Zaman Shah | Monarch | 1793–1801 |
| 👑 Timur Shah Durrani | Monarch | 1772–1793 |
Durrani Empire
👑 Ahmad Shah Durrani
1747–1772King
| Name | Role | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 👑 Ahmad Shah Durrani | King | 1747–1772 |
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
The powerline is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.
⚔️ Conflicts since 194511 interstate wars · click to expand
| Conflict | Years | Against | Combat deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Afghanistan–Pakistan war | 2026–present | Pakistan | 100–457 |
| United States invasion of Afghanistan | 2001 | Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan | 9,550–14,388 |
| Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)● | 1989–1992 | Republic of Afghanistan | — |
| Soviet–Afghan War● | 1979–1989 | Afghan Mujahideen,Afghan Interim Government,Pakistan | 600,000–2,000,000 |
| 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine | 1947–1948 | Israel Jewish National Council,Haganah,Palmach,Irgun,Lehi,Foreign volunteers,Allied Bedouin tribes,Arab Higher Committee,All-Palestine Protectorate Army of the Holy War,Arab Liberation Army,Jordan,Arab Legion | — |
| Afghan Civil War (1928–1929)● | 1928–1929 | Amānullāh Khān,(Until 14 January 1929),Inayatullah Khan,(14–17 January 1929),Ali Ahmad Khan,(17 January – 9 February 1929),Various anti-Saqqawist tribes,Wardak,Maydan,Jalriz,Sanglakh,Mohammed Nādir Khān | — |
| Third Anglo-Afghan War | 1919 | British Empire,India | — |
| Second Anglo-Afghan War | 1878–1880 | British Empire | — |
| Anglo-Persian War | 1856–1857 | Persia | — |
| First Anglo-Afghan War | 1838–1842 | British Empire,British East India Company | — |
| Afghan-Sikh Wars | 1813–1837 | Sikh Empire | — |
Bold = principal belligerent. Source: Wikipedia, “List of interstate wars since 1945.”
👥 Population over time
Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.
👥 To 2100
The UN’s probabilistic projection for Afghanistan: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.
Tap or drag across the chart to read any year: the estimate to 2023, then the UN median, its bands and the scenarios.
What drives it
Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.
Show all 16 decades
Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.
💰 Billionaires1 · $1.4B combined · click to expand
| # | Name | Net worth | Industry |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2809 | Mirwais Azizi | $1.4B | Real Estate |
Source: Forbes real-time billionaires (via the rtb-api project). Net worth as of the latest monthly snapshot.
🏆 National Teams
Afghanistan on the international stage. Click a card for the full record.
