Zabul Province

Zabul Province
زابل
Province
Landscape of Zabul Province
Children attending a jirga
Shahjoy landscape
Young villager watches coalition troops pass in Shamulzayi
Almond trees in Zabul
Map of Afghanistan with Zabul highlighted
Map of Afghanistan with Zabul highlighted
Coordinates: 32°06′N 67°06′E / 32.1°N 67.1°E / 32.1; 67.1
Country Afghanistan
CapitalQalat
Government
 • GovernorSher Mohammad Sharif
 • Deputy GovernorFaizullah Tamim
Area
 • Total
17,471 km2 (6,746 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)
 • Total
391,150
 • Density22.389/km2 (57.986/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+4:30 (Afghanistan Time)
Postal code
40xx
ISO 3166 codeAF-ZAB
Main languagesPashto

Zabul Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the south of the country. It has a population of 249,000. Zabul became a separate province from neighbouring Kandahar in 1963. Historically, it was part of the Zabulistan region. Qalat serves as the capital of the province. The major ethnic group are Pashtuns. Primary occupations within Zabul are agriculture and animal husbandry.

According to Iranic legend, Zabul is the birthplace of the hero Rostam.

Geography

A bull walks at the foot of a mountain near Mizan in the southeast of Zabul Province.

Zabul borders Uruzgan in the north, Kandahar in the west and in the south, Ghazni and Paktika in the east. It borders Pakistan in the east.

The province covers an area of 17293 km2. Two-fifths of the province is mountainous or semi mountainous terrain (41%) while more than one quarter of the area is made up of flat land (28%).

The primary ecoregion of the province is the central Afghan mountains xeric woodlands. Common vegetation is listed as dry shrub-land and pistachio. The high mountains of the northern portion of the province are in the Ghor-Hazarajat alpine meadow ecoregion, which is characterized by meadows, willows, and sea buckthorn.

Administrative divisions

Map of the districts of Zabul as of January 2004, prior to the redrawing of provincial and district boundaries later that year
Districts of Zabul Province
District Capital Population (2021) Area Pop.
density		 Notes
Arghandab36,9341,49025100% Pashtun. Sub-divided in 2005
Atghar14,05945831100% Pashtun.
Daychopan44,5081,49130100% Pashtun.
Kakar27,2349812899% Pashtun, 1% Hazara. Created in 2005 within Arghandab District Also known as Khak-e-Afghan Province.
Mezana21,6231,07920100% Pashtun.
Naw Bahar24,5341,13722100% Pashtun. Created in 2005 from parts of Shamulzayi and Shinkay Districts
QalatQalat44,9281,9142395% Pashtun, 5% Tajik.
Shah Joy79,8891,87843100% Pashtun.
Shamulzayi36,5153,29511100% Pashtun.
Shinkay31,9111,86117100% Pashtun.
Tarnak Aw Jaldak22,2141,43415100% Pashtun.
Zabul 384,349 17,472 22 99.4% Pashtuns, 0.6% Tajiks, <0.1% Hazaras.
  1. ↑ Note: "Predominantely" or "dominated" is interpreted as 99%, "majority" as 70%, "mixed" as 1/(number of ethnicities), "minority" as 30% and "few" or "some" as 1%.

Economy

In 2006, the province's first airstrip was opened near Qalat, to be operated by the Afghan National Army, but also for use by commercial aviation. Twice weekly service was scheduled by PRT Air between Qalat and Kabul. The airstrip is not paved. The ANA Chief in Zabul is Major General Jamaluddin Sayed

Zabul Province is bisected by Highway 1 and travelers going between Kandahar and Kabul via road typically pass through the province.

On 4 September 2016, at least 38 people were killed and 28 were injured during the September 2016 Afghanistan road crash.

Demographics

Ethnolinguistic groups in Afghanistan

Population

As of 2021, the total population of the province is about 391,150, which is mostly a rural tribal society. 60.8% of the population lived below the national poverty line, one of the highest figures of all of Afghanistan's provinces.

Ethnicity, languages and religion

According to the Naval Postgraduate School, the population is primarily Pashtuns, sprinkled throughout around 2,500 remote villages. Major tribal groups include the Tokhi, Hotak, Nasar, Kharoti, Taraki, Ghilji and the Noorzai and Panjpai Durrani.

Pashto is the dominant language in the area. The people of Zabul are overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim. Primary occupations within Zabul are agriculture and animal husbandry.

Zabul is by many indications one of Afghanistan's most religious conservative provinces.

Estimated ethnolinguistic and -religious composition
Ethnicity Pashtun Others Sources
Period
2004–2021
(Islamic Republic)		 ≤100% ≥0%
2020 EU 1st∅
2018 UN predominant–
2015 CSSF predominant∅
2015 NPS majority–
2011 PRT 100%–
2011 USA ∅–
2009 ISW overwhelming majority–
Legend:

Education

Bibi Khala School in Qalat

The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) increased from 1% in 2005 to 19% in 2011.[citation needed] The overall net enrollment rate (6–13 years of age) fell from 31.3% in 2005 to 5% in 2011.[citation needed]

Health

An Afghan National Police officer, right, stands watch over food before distributing it to families Feb. 5, 2012, in Pinzo village, Zabul province, Afghanistan. The food distribution was intended to supplement the villagers winter food reserves from the fall harvest.

The percentage of households with clean drinking water increased from 0% in 2005 to 32% in 2011. The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant increased from 1% in 2005 to 5% in 2011.

Culture

Zabuli elders eating traditional Afghan food on a dastarkhan

Sports

The province is represented in Afghan domestic cricket by the Zabul Province cricket team.

Notable people

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Pashto: Pashto pronunciation: [zɑˈbəl]: زابل
    Dari: Dari pronunciation: [zɑː.bʊ́l]: زابل
  2. ↑ incl. Baloch (2nd).
  3. 1 2 3 excl. Kuchi.
  4. ↑ Demographic information is based on data from 2015.
  5. ↑ incl. Ghilzai (Tokhi, Hotak, Kakar, Kharoti, Sulaimankhel, Taraki, Wardak) and Durrani (Alokozai, Shinwari).
  6. ↑ incl. Tokhi, Hotak, Sulaimankhel, Kakar, Popalzai, Nasar, Shamulzai, Lodi and Kuchi.

References

  1. ↑ Azizi, Ahmad. "Taliban reshuffle provincial leadership, reassign loyalists to key posts". amu.tv. Amu TV. Retrieved 23 June 2026.
  2. ↑ Rahmati, Fidel. "Juma Khan Fateh Dismissed From Zabul Deputy Governor Post, Mujahid Says". khaama.com. Khaama. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  3. ↑ Provinces of Afghanistan on Statoids.
  4. ↑ "Afghanistan's Provinces – Zabul at USAID". USAID. Archived from the original on July 27, 2007. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Estimated Population of Afghanistan 2021-22" (PDF). National Statistic and Information Authority (NSIA). April 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  6. ↑ Compareti, Matteo. "Heroes Fighting Snake Demons: Problems of Identification in Panjikent Paintings". The Silk Road. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  7. ↑ World Wildlife Fund, ed. (2001). "Central Afghan Mountains xeric woodlands". WildWorld Ecoregion Profile. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 2010-03-08.
  8. ↑ "UNHCR Sub-Office Kandahar - DISTRICT PROFILE Arghandab" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-10-27. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
  9. ↑ "UNHCR Sub-Office Kandahar - DISTRICT PROFILE Atghar" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-10-27. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
  10. ↑ "UNHCR Sub-Office Kandahar - DISTRICT PROFILE Daychopan" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-10-27. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
  11. ↑ "UNHCR Sub-Office Kandahar - DISTRICT PROFILE Kakar" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-10-27. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
  12. ↑ "UNHCR Sub-Office Kandahar - DISTRICT PROFILE Mezana" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-10-27. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
  13. ↑ "UNHCR Sub-Office Kandahar - DISTRICT PROFILE Naw Bahar" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-10-27. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
  14. ↑ "UNHCR Sub-Office Kandahar - DISTRICT PROFILE Qalat" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-10-27. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
  15. ↑ "UNHCR Sub-Office Kandahar - DISTRICT PROFILE Shah Joy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-10-27. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
  16. ↑ "UNHCR Sub-Office Kandahar - DISTRICT PROFILE Shamulzayi" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-10-27. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
  17. ↑ "UNHCR Sub-Office Kandahar - DISTRICT PROFILE Shinkay" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-10-27. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
  18. ↑ "UNHCR Sub-Office Kandahar - DISTRICT PROFILE Tarnak Aw Jaldak" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-10-27. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
  19. ↑ First Airstrip in Zabul Province, USAID
  20. ↑ Online, Asia Time. "Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan". www.atimes.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  21. ↑ "The Back of Beyond: A Report from Zabul Province". worldaffairsjournal.org. Archived from the original on September 8, 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  22. ↑ Giustozzi, Antonio (August 2012). Decoding the New Taliban: Insights from the Afghan Field. Hurst. ISBN 9781849042260.
  23. 1 2 "Zabul - Program for Culture and Conflict Studies - Naval Postgraduate School". nps.edu. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  24. ↑ "Conservative of Zabul Province" (PDF). reliefweb.int. Retrieved 17 Dec 2022.
  25. ↑ "Country Guidance: Afghanistan. Common analysis and guidance note" (PDF). European Union Agency for Asylum. 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  26. ↑ Ramizpoor (2018). "Afghan People's Dialogue on Peace: Local Road Maps for Peace – Kabul and Surrounding Provinces" (PDF). United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  27. ↑ "State of Families CSSF Report: Zabuö, Afghanistan". 2024-03-20. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  28. ↑ "Afghanistan Provincial Reconstruction Team" (PDF). February 2011. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  29. ↑ "U.S. Army Afghanistan Smart Book, Third Edition" (PDF). January 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  30. ↑ "Regional Command South". Retrieved April 15, 2009.