Balkh Province

For the place in Afghanistan, see Balkh.

Balkh (بلخ)
Province
Country	Afghanistan
Capital	Mazar-e Sharif
- coordinates
Area	17,249 km² (6,660 sq mi)
Population	1,123,948 (2006) [1]
Density	70.46 / km² (182 / sq mi)
Timezone	UTC+4:30
Main language	Persian Pashto Uzbek
Map of Afghanistan with Balkh highlighted
Districts of Balkh

Balkh (Persian / Pashto: بلخ) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the north of the country and its name derives from the ancient city of Balkh, near the modern town. Its capital is Mazar-e Sharif.

Geography

Balkh Province is situated in the northern part of Afghanistan, bordering Uzbekistan in the North, Tajikistan in the North-East, Kunduz Province in the East, Samangan Province in the South-East, Sar-e Pol Province in the South-West and Jowzjan Province in the West. The province covers an area of 16,840 km2. Nearly half of the province is mountainous or semi mountainous terrain (48.7%) while half of the area (50.2%) is made up of flat land.^[1]

Demographics & population

Balkh has a total population of 1,123,948. Tajiks make up the majority of the province.^[2] The languages spoken are Dari Persian (50%), Pashto (27%), Turkmen (11.9%) and Uzbek (10.7%).^[1]

Politics & government

Governors

The current governor of Balkh is Ustad Atta Mohammed Noor.

Districts

The province is divided into 15 districts.

Sport

Cricket is growing in popularity in Balkh Province. The Province is represented in domestic competitions by the Balkh Province cricket team.

See also

• Balkh

References

Provinces of Afghanistan Badakhshan · Badghis · Baghlan · Balkh · Bamyan · Daykundi · Farah · Faryab · Ghazni · Ghor · Helmand · Herat · Jowzjan · Kabul · Kandahar · Kapisa · Khost · Kunar · Kunduz · Laghman · Logar · Nangarhar · Nimruz · Nuristan · Oruzgan · Paktia · Paktika · Panjshir · Parwan · Samangan · Sar-e Pol · Takhar · Wardak · Zabul