The provinces of Afghanistan (Pashto and wilāyat) are the primary administrative divisions of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. There are 34 provinces in Afghanistan. Each province encompasses a number of districts or usually over 1,000 villages.

Provincial governors played a critical role in the reconstruction of the Afghan state following the creation of the new government under Hamid Karzai. According to international security scholar Dipali Mukhopadhyay, many of the provincial governors of the western-backed government were former warlords who were incorporated into the political system.

thumb|left|Map of Afghanistan 1839–1863, showing the First Anglo-Afghan war, and unification of Afghanistan by Dost Mohammad Khan

Following the death of Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1772, internal dynastic conflicts led to fragmentation. By the early 19th century, power was divided among principalities centred on Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat, alongside semi-autonomous northern khanates in Balkh, Kunduz, and Badakhshan. Local chieftains exercised de facto authority in rural areas, often limiting the reach of central rule. A renewed process of unification occurred under Dost Mohammad Khan from 1826, who gradually brought Ghazni, Hazarajat, northern Turkestan, Kandahar, and Herat under central control by 1863. Administration remained personal and dynastic, with key regions governed by family members and local rulers integrated through tribute rather than direct bureaucracy.

Centralization efforts during the 19th and early 20th centuries

During the 19th century, Afghan rulers increasingly sought to formalise territorial administration. Provinces were defined broadly along major river systems and watersheds, such as the Kabul River, Helmand River, Hari Rud, and the Oxus basin. By around 1880 and the ascent of Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, British historian W. P. Andrew identified the main provinces as Cabul, Jellalabad, Ghuzni, Candahar, Herat, and Balkh (also called Afghan Turkestan), although these units were not systematically surveyed and are known mainly from written sources. Since 1892, Wakhan was included into the district of Badakhshan as part of its dependencies. Between 1891 and 1893, a thorough description of the administrative divisions of Afghanistan was compiled by British military officers, drawing on reports, surveys, and Afghan Boundary Commission records. The works cover the six provinces of Badakhshan, Afghan Turkistan, Herat, Kabul, Kandahar, and Farah, with the latter being formed out of parts of Herat and Kandahar as well as the de facto independent Sistan and Garmsir regions during the time of Sher Ali Khan.

|-

| Andarab

|-

| Khinjan

|-

| Doshi

|-

| Ghori

|-

| Baghlan

|-

| Narin

|-

| Khost

|-

| Farkhar

|-

| Rustak

|-

| Shiva

|-

| Ragh

|-

| Zebak

|-

| Ishkasham

|-

| Gharan

|-

| Faisabad

|-

| Shighnan

|-

| Roshan

|-

| Wakhan

|}

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:center; table-layout:fixed; width:50%; margin:0"

| colspan="2" style="width:8.5em" | Afghan Turkistan

| style="width:1.5em" |

|-

! Districts

! Subdistricts

! Source

|-

| rowspan="7" | Mazar-i-Sharif

| Mazar-i-Sharif

| rowspan="24" |

|-

| Shor Tepa

|-

| Chaharkind

|-

| Buinnkara

|-

| Kishindi

|-

| Ak Kupruk

|-

| Tanj?

|-

| Balkh

| –

|-

| rowspan="3" | Akcha

| Akcha

|-

| Khwaja Salar

|-

| Daolatabad

|-

| Shibarghan

| rowspan="2" | –

|-

| Andkhoi

|-

| rowspan="3" | Tashqurghan

| Pir Nakhchir

|-

| Ghaznigak

|-

| Kaldar

|-

| Haibak

| rowspan="8" | –

|-

| Dara Yusuf

|-

| Doab and Rui

|-

| Saighan and Kamard

|-

| Balkhab

|-

| Sang Charak

|-

| Sar-i-Pul

|-

| Maimana

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:center; table-layout:fixed; width:50%; margin:0"

| colspan="2" style="width:8.5em" | Herat

| style="width:1.5em" |

|-

! Districts

! Subdistricts

! Source

|-

| Herat

| rowspan="10" | –

| rowspan="10" |

|-

| Ghorian

|-

| Karokh

|-

| Obeh

|-

| Sabzwar

|-

| Shahfilan

|-

| Badghis

|-

| Murghab

|-

| Taimani

|-

| Firozkohi

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:center; table-layout:fixed; width:50%; margin:0"

| colspan="2" style="width:8.5em" | Kabul

| style="width:1.5em" |

|-

! Districts

! Subdistricts

! Source

|-

| rowspan="6" | Kabul

| Kabul

| rowspan="32" |

|-

| Chardeh

|-

| Paghman

|-

| Butkhak

|-

| Chaharasia

|-

| Chahil Dukhteran

|-

| Jalalabad

| rowspan="8" | –

|-

| Laghman

|-

| Kunar

|-

| Khost

|-

| Zurmat

|-

| Katawaz

|-

| Mukur

|-

| Ghazni

|-

| rowspan="4" | Logar

| Logar

|-

| Surkhao

|-

| Kushi

|-

| Cherkh

|-

| Maidan

| rowspan="2" | –

|-

| Koh Daman

|-

| rowspan="4" | Kohistan

| Tagao

|-

| Nijrao

|-

| Panjshir

|-

| Charikar

|-

| Ghorband

| –

|-

| rowspan="3" | Bamian

| Bamian

|-

| Yak Walang

|-

| Dai Zangi

|-

| Besud

| –

|-

| rowspan="3" | Hazarajat

| Dai Kundi

|-

| Ghazni Hazara

|-

| independent Hazaras

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:center; table-layout:fixed; width:50%; margin:0"

| colspan="2" style="width:8.5em" | Farah

| style="width:1.5em" |

|-

! Districts

! Subdistricts

! Source

|-

| Farah

| rowspan="6" | –

| rowspan="20" |

|-

| Lash-Juwain/Hokat

|-

| Sistan/Chakhansur

|-

| Shahiwan

|-

| Gulistan

|-

| Bakwa

|-

| rowspan="4" | Pusht-i-Rud

| Pusht-i-Rud/Girishk

|-

| Garmsel

|-

| Naozad

|-

| Zamindawar

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:center; table-layout:fixed; width:50%; margin:0"

| colspan="2" style="width:8.5em" | Kandahar

| style="width:1.5em" |

|-

! Districts

! Subdistricts

! Source

|-

| rowspan="3" | Kandahar

| Kariajat

| rowspan="31" | Drawing on naturally occurring geographic boundaries, existing local identities, and accessibility from the centre, the regulation formalised a five-tier hierarchy of sub-national units:

  1. provinces () or high governorates ()
  2. large governorates ()
  3. governorates ()
  4. sub-districts ()
  5. villages ()

The system was administratively complex.

The 1964 Constitution marked a turning point by introducing the principle of balanced regional development and consultative provincial councils. An administrative law enacted in 1965 established a clear hierarchy of provinces, districts, and villages and formally listed all recognised units.

During war times in the 20th and 21st century

thumb|left|Administrative divisions of Afghanistan,

From the late 1960s onward, local demands and administrative needs led to a gradual increase in the number of districts and provinces. Between the Soviet–Afghan War and the Afghan civil wars, 4 new provinces were created: Paktika, Khost, Sar-i Pul, and Nuristan. A law on local administration in 2000 abolished large districts and sub-districts, upgrading most sub-districts to full districts.

Provinces of Afghanistan

Administrative

The following table lists the province, capital, number of districts, UN region, region, ISO 3166-2:AF code and license plate code.

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header sort-under col3right"

|+ Afghan provinces and administrative data

! Province !! Capital !! Districts !! UN Region !! Region !! ISO !! Platecode

|-

| Badakhshan || Fayzabad || 29 || North East || North || AF-BDS || BDN

|-

| Badghis || Qala i Naw || 7 || West || Central || AF-BDG || BDG

|-

| Baghlan || Puli Khumri || 16 || North East || North || AF-BGL || BAG

|-

| Balkh || Mazar-i-Sharif || 15 || North West || North || AF-BAL || BLH

|-

| Bamyan || Bamyan || 7 || West || Central || AF-BAM || BAM

|-

| Daykundi || Nili || 8 || South West || South || AF-DAY || DYK

|-

| Farah || Farah || 11 || West || Central || AF-FRA || FRH

|-

| Faryab || Maymana || 14 || North West || North || AF-FYB || FYB

|-

| Ghazni || Ghazni || 19 || South East || South || AF-GHA || GAZ

|-

| Ghor || Firozkoh || 11 || West || Central || AF-GHO || GHR

|-

| Helmand || Lashkargah || 13 || South West || South || AF-HEL || HEL

|-

| Herat || Herat || 15 || West || Central || AF-HER || HRT

|-

| Jowzjan || Sheberghan || 9 || North West || North || AF-JOW || JZJ

|-

| Kabul || Kabul || 18 || Central || Central || AF-KAB || KBL

|-

| Kandahar || Kandahar || 16 || South West || South || AF-KAN || KRD

|-

| Kapisa || Mahmud-i-Raqi || 7 || Central || Central || AF-KAP || KPS

|-

| Khost || Khost || 13 || South East || South || AF-KHO || KST

|-

| Kunar || Asadabad || 15 || East || Central || AF-KNR || KNR

|-

| Kunduz || Kunduz || 7 || North East || North || AF-KDZ || KDZ

|-

| Laghman || Mihtarlam || 5 || East || Central || AF-LAG || LGM

|-

| Logar || Pul-i-Alam || 7 || Central || Central || AF-LOG || LGR

|-

| Nangarhar || Jalalabad || 23 || East || Central || AF-NAN || NGR

|-

| Nimruz || Zaranj || 5 || South West || South || AF-NIM || NRZ

|-

| Nuristan || Parun || 7 || East || Central || AF-NUR || NUR

|-

| Paktia || Gardez || 11 || South East || South || AF-PIA || PAK

|-

| Paktika || Sharana || 15 || South East || South || AF-PKA || PKT

|-

| Panjshir || Bazarak || 7 || Central || Central || AF-PAN || PJR

|-

| Parwan || Charikar || 9 || Central || Central || AF-PAR || PRN

|-

| Samangan || Aybak || 5 || North West || North || AF-SAM || SAM

|-

| Sar-e Pol || Sar-e Pol || 7 || North West || North || AF-SAR || SRP

|-

| Takhar || Taloqan || 16 || North East || North || AF-TAK || TAK

|-

| Uruzgan || Tarinkot || 6 || South West || South || AF-URU || ORZ

|-

| Wardak || Maidan Shar || 9 || Central || Central || AF-WAR || WDK

|-

|Zabul

|Qalat

|9

|South West

|South

|AF-ZAB

|ZAB

|}

Demographic

The following table lists the province, population in 2024, area in square kilometers