Farah (Pashto, Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the western part of the country on the border with Iran. It is a spacious and sparsely populated province, divided into eleven districts and contains hundreds of villages. It has a population of about 563,026, In 1709, the Afghans gained independence from the Safavids and Farah became part of the Hotaki Empire. By 1747, it became part of Ahmad Shah Durrani's last Afghan empire. During the 19th century, the British army passed through the province to support Afghan forces in Herat Province against the invading Persians.
Following the Marxist revolution in 1978, Farah was one of the cities in which civilian massacres were carried out by the now-dominant Khalqi communists against their political, ethnic, and religious opponents.
Following the 1992 collapse of the communist-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Farah Province, unlike many other provinces was relatively peaceful. Most of the Farah Mujahideen belonged to Harakat Islami of Malavi Khalas, Group-e-Malema (Teacher Group), Hizb-e-Islami and Jamiat Islami.
A 1995 Oxfam report lists Farah as "severely mined", and indicated that Farah was particularly problematic due to the wide variety of mine devices employed there, as well as usage of mines to deny access to irrigation systems. By late 1995, the stalemate broke as the Taliban counterattacked after Ismail Khan's failed drive to Kandahar, and all of Farah fell as the Taliban swept to take Herat on 5 September 1995.
Recent history up to 2009
left|thumb|U.S. forces outside the Citadel of [[Alexander the Great near the city of Farah in 2004.]]
thumb|The [[Togj bridge in Farah Afghanistan was rebuilt by the Provincial Reconstruction Team in 2010]]
left|thumb|Village elders attend the graduation ceremony for the first Afghan local police unit in the [[Bala Buluk District|Bala Baluk district.]]
Due to its isolation from the Taliban's area of focus, Farah exerted some small level of local control during Taliban rule. By the end of the Taliban period, there were eight United Nations Development Program (UNDP) schools, for both boys and girls, recognized and supported by the Taliban in Kandahar and Farah. UNDP noted that the local authorities in Farah were "particularly cooperative" on the subject.
Following the Coalition entry and union with the Northern Alliance after September 11, 2001, the Taliban withdrew from Farah due to the heavy Coalition aerial campaign, though ground troops were not sent to the province until some time later.
Farah witnessed heavy clashes after the US backed overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, and is being considered insecure, relative to many parts of the country. Although there was sporadic heavy combat in the Bala Baluk, Bakwa, Khak-e-Safid, Pusht-e-Road and Gulestan districts. Due to its proximity to the restive Helmand and Uruzgan provinces, Farah experienced problems with roaming insurgent gangs moving through the province and occupying parts of the province for brief periods of time. Incidents of this type have increased as Taliban fighters face heavy pressure from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) offensives in the south.
The roads in Farah province have seen massive improvement since May 2005 and are still being improved to date April 2006. The education system greatly improved and a large number of illegal weapons were collected and destroyed in the province as testimony to the Provincial Reconstruction Team. The United States built a base at Farah Airport, which is being expanded and also houses the Afghan National Security Forces (ANFS).
In May 2009, an American airstrike in the village of Granai in Bala Buluk District occurred that killed a large number of civilians. According to The New York Times, the villagers said that 147 were killed, an independent Afghan human rights group put the number of killed at 117. The Americans claimed the airstrike was targeting Taliban militants, but villagers said that the Taliban had left by the time the airstrike occurred. On May 19, the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry visited Farah town to talk with the survivors. He promised that "the United States will work tirelessly with your government, army and police to find ways to reduce the price paid by civilians, and avoid tragedies like what occurred in Bala Baluk."
Administrative divisions
250px|thumb|Map of the districts of Farah as of January 2004, prior to the redrawing of provincial and district boundaries later that year
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%;"
|+
|-
!District
!Capital
!Population (2020)
!Area in km<sup>2</sup>
|-
|Bakwa || || align=right| 40,124 || align=right| 2,324 || align=right| 17 || 100% Pashtuns.
|-
|Bala Buluk || || align=right| 80,778 || align=right| 5,525 || align=right| 15 || 95% Pashtuns, 5% Tajiks.
|-
|Farah || Farah|| align=right| 128,047 || align=right| 3,588 || align=right| 36 || 85% Pashtuns, 10% Tajiks, 5% others.
|-
|Gulistan || || align=right| 49,025 || align=right| 6,576 || align=right| 7 || 80% Pashtuns, 20% Tajiks.
|-
|Khaki Safed || || align=right| 34,277 || align=right| 1,938 || align=right| 18 || 99% Pashtuns, 1% Tajiks.
|-
|Lash Wa Juwayn || || align=right| 31,621 || align=right| 5,323 || align=right| 6 || 50% Pashtuns, 50% Tajiks.
|-
|Pur Chaman || || align=right| 60,450 || align=right| 6,188 || align=right| 10 || 95% Tajiks, 5% Pashtuns.
|-
|Pusht Rod || || align=right| 45,969 || align=right| 327 || align=right| 141 || 99% Pashtuns, 1% Tajiks.
|-
|Qala-I-Kah/<br/>Pusht-e-Koh || || align=right| 34,809 || align=right| 4,485 || align=right| 8 || 70% Pashtuns, 30% Tajiks.
|-
|Shib Koh || || align=right| 26,439 || align=right| 2,928 || align=right| 9 || 70% Pashtuns, 15% Tajiks, 15% others.
|- bgcolor="#d3d3d3"
|Farah
|
| align=right| 563,026
| align=right| 49,339
| align=right| 11
|73.8% Pashtuns, 24.4% Tajiks, 1.8% others.
|}
Economy
Agriculture and mining
Farah's economy is overwhelmingly agricultural. The province has minerals such as gypsum, lime and construction stones, uranium ore, More than 1300 workers are employed by 15 manufacturing firms in the province. 74% of rural households reported either agriculture or livestock to be their main source of income and 24% reported that trade and service (including non-farm labor) to their main source of income.
Transportation
The Farah Airport is located next to the city of Farah and as of May 2014 had regularly scheduled flights to Herat.
The major road is Route 515 which connects Farah to the Ring Road between Herat and Kandahar. Both roads were improved in 2009 in coordination with several ISAF countries.
Demographics
Population
As of 2021, the total population of Farah province is about 573,146.
Ethnicity, languages and religion
Farah is predominately tribal and a rural society. Majority of the province is populated by Pashtuns, followed by Tajiks and Balochs. The Durrani Pashtuns, Nomads (Ghilji Pashtuns) and many other villagers are Pashtun tribes of the Noorzai, Barakzai, and Alizai. According to most recent estimates 80% of the Farah province are Pashtuns, 10% are Tajiks and 10% are Balochs.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; table-layout:fixed; width:100%; margin:0"
|+ Estimated ethnolinguistic and -religious composition
! style="width:7.5em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | <small>Ethnicity</small>
! rowspan="2" style="width:4.6em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | <small>Pashtun</small>
! rowspan="2" style="width:4.6em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | <small>Tajik/<br/>Farsiwan</small>
! rowspan="2" style="width:4.6em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | <small>Baloch</small>
! rowspan="2" style="width:4.6em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | <small>Other</small>
! rowspan="2" style="width:3em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | <small>Sources</small>
|-
! style="width:7.5em; background-color:#ddf;" | <small>Period</small>
|}
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:center; table-layout:fixed; width:100%; margin:0"
|- style="background-color:#e6f2ff;"
! style="width:7.5em; background-color:#ddf;" | <small>2004–2021<br>(Islamic Republic)</small>
| style="width:4.6em;" | 75 – >80%
| style="width:4.6em;" | 10 – 14%
| style="width:4.6em;" | ≤14%
| style="width:4.6em;" | ∅
| style="width:3em;" |
|-style="background-color:#E6E6E6;"
| 2021 DRC
| majority || – || – || –
|-style="background-color:#E6E6E6;"
| 2020 EU
| 1st || – || – || –
|-style="background-color:#E6E6E6;"
| 2018 UN
| 75% || 10%|| ∅ || ∅
|-style="background-color:#E6E6E6;"
| 2015 CP
|| 80% || ∅ || 14% || ∅
|-style="background-color:#FFFFFF;"
| 2015 NPS
|| 80% || 14% || – || ∅
|-style="background-color:#FFFFFF;"
| 2012 CSSF
|| 80% || ∅ || ∅ || ∅
|-style="background-color:#FFFFFF;"
| 2011 USA
|| 80% || 14% || – || –
|-style="background-color:#FFFFFF;"
| 2009 ISW
|| >80% || – || – || –
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left; table-layout:fixed; width:100%; margin:0"
| <small>Legend:<br>
<ul style="margin:0; padding-left:1.2em; list-style-position:inside;">
<li>∅: Ethnicity mentioned in source but not quantified</li>
<li>–: Ethnicity not mentioned specifically</li>
<li>Source abbreviations: , , .</li>
</ul></small>
|}
Education
The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) fell from 28% in 2005 to 18% in 2011.
6% of births were attended to by a skilled birth attendant in 2011.