Dams and reservoirs in Afghanistan are used for irrigation, water supply, hydro-electric power generation or a combination of these. [1] The Afghan government continues to seek technical assistance from neighboring and regional countries to build more dams. [2] [3] Below is a map and a chart showing some of Afghanistan's dams and reservoirs.
| Dam | Location | Impounds | Purpose | Dam Type | Storage capacity | Height (m) | Length (m) | Power Gen. | Year Completion | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ayno Maina Dam | Kandahar, Kandahar Province | Irrigation | Embankment | |||||||
| Band-e Amir | Bamyan Province | Irrigation | Embankment | |||||||
| Bakhshabad Dam | Bala Buluk District, Farah Province | Farah River | Hydroelectricity, Irrigation | 27 MW | Under Construction | [4] [5] [6] [7] | ||||
| Chaki Wardak Dam | Chaki Wardak District, Maidan Wardak Province | Logar River | Irrigation | 1938 | Oldest modern dam | |||||
| Dahla Dam | Shah Wali Kot District, Kandahar Province | Arghandab River | Irrigation | Embankment | 55 m (180 ft) | 535 m (1,755 ft) | 1952 | |||
| Darunta Dam | Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province | Kabul River | Hydroelectricity, Irrigation | Gravity | 11.5 MW | 1960 | ||||
| Grishk Dam | Grishk District, Helmand Province | Helmand River | Hydroelectricity, Irrigation | Embankment | 1945 | |||||
| Kajaki Dam | Kajaki District, Helmand Province | Helmand River | Hydroelectricity, Irrigation | Embankment | 1,715,000,000 m3 (1,390,373 acre⋅ft) | 100 m (330 ft) | 270 m (890 ft) | 151 MW | 1953 | [8] [9] |
| Kamal Khan Dam | Chahar Burjak District, Nimruz Province | Helmand River | Hydroelectricity, Irrigation | Embankment | 16 m | 2.274 km | 9 MW | 2021 | [10] [11] | |
| Machalgho Dam | Ahmad Aba District, Paktia Province | Hydroelectricity, Irrigation | 0.8 MW | Under construction | [12] | |||||
| Mahipar Dam | Kabul Province | Logar River | Hydroelectricity | 66 MW | 1967 | [13] [14] | ||||
| Mialkoh Dam | Kandahar, Kandahar Province | Irrigation | Embankment | 1,500,000 m (4,900,000 ft) | 9 m (30 ft) | 150 m (490 ft) | 2024 | [15] | ||
| Naghlu Dam | Surobi District, Kabul Province | Kabul River | Hydroelectricity | Gravity | 550,000,000 m3 (445,892 acre⋅ft) | 110 m (361 ft) | 280 m (919 ft) | 100 MW | 1968 | [16] |
| Nahr Gawkush Dam | Kunduz Province | Khanabad River | Hydroelectricity, Irrigation | Gravity | 10 MW | [17] | ||||
| Nawur Dam | Nawur District, Ghazni Province | Irrigation | Gravity | [18] | ||||||
| Pashdan Dam | Karukh District, Herat Province | Hari River | Hydroelectricity, Irrigation | Embankment | 2 MW | Under Construction | [19] [20] [21] | |||
| Qargha Dam | Kabul Province | Paghman River | Irrigation | Embankment | 32,800,000 m3 | 30 metres (98 ft) | 450 m (1,480 ft) | N/A | 1933 | |
| Salma Dam | Chishti Sharif District, Herat Province | Hari River | Hydroelectricity, Irrigation | Embankment (earth & rock-fill) | 633,000,000 m3 (513,181 acre⋅ft) | 107.5 m (353 ft) | 551 m (1,808 ft) | 42 MW | 2016 | [22] |
| Sangjoy-Loman Dam | Jaghori District, Ghazni Province | Hydroelectricity, Irrigation | Gravity | Under construction | ||||||
| Sarda Dam | Andar District, Ghazni Province | Gardez River | Irrigation | 259,000,000 m3 (209,975 acre⋅ft) | 1967 | |||||
| Shahtoot Dam | Char Asiab District, Kabul Province | Kabul River | Irrigation | Gravity | Under Construction | [23] [24] | ||||
| Shah wa Arus Dam | Shakardara District, Kabul Province | Shakardara River | Hydroelectricity, Irrigation | Gravity | 180,000 m3 (146 acre⋅ft) | 75 m (246 ft) | 1.2MW | 2023 | [25] | |
| Shorabak Dam | Fayzabad District, Badakhshan Province | Kokcha River | Hydroelectricity | Gravity | 7.5 MW | 2021 | [26] [27] | |||
| Sukhtook Dam | Nili District, Daykundi Province | Lazier River | Hydroelectricity, Irrigation | Gravity | 0.7 MW | 2021 | [28] | |||
| Sultan Dam | Zana Khan District, Ghazni Province | Ghazni River | Irrigation | Gravity | 10th Century | |||||
| Surkhab Dam | Logar Province | |||||||||
| Surobi Dam | Surobi District, Kabul Province | Kabul River | Hydroelectricity | Gravity | 22.8MW | [30] | ||||
| Tori Dam | Qalat District, Zabul Province | Hydroelectricity, Irrigation | Gravity | 25 | 0.1 MW | Under Construction | [31] | |||
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The economy of Afghanistan is listed as the 124th largest in the world in terms of nominal gross domestic product (GDP), and 102nd largest in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). With a population of around 41 million people, Afghanistan's GDP (nominal) stands at $14.58 billion as of 2021, amounting to a GDP per capita of $363.7. Its annual exports exceed $2 billion, with agricultural, mineral and textile products accounting for 94% of total exports. The nation's total external debt is $1.4 billion as of 2022.
Transport in Afghanistan is done mostly by road, rail and air. Much of the nation's road network was built in the mid-20th century but left to ruin during the last two decades of that century due to war and political turmoil. Officials of the current Islamic Emirate have continued to improve the national highways, roads, and bridges. In 2008, there were about 700,000 vehicles registered in Kabul. At least 1,314 traffic collisions were reported in 2022.
The afghani is the official currency of Afghanistan since the 1920s. It is nominally subdivided into 100 puls (پول), although there are no pul coins in circulation these days. Printed in Poland, the afghani currency is managed solely by the nation's central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB).
Environmental issues in Afghanistan are monitored by the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA). They predate the political turmoil of the past few decades. Forests have been depleted by centuries of grazing and farming, practices which have only increased with modern population growth.
Tarinkot, also spelled as Tarin Kowt, is a city in south-central Afghanistan, serving as the capital of Uruzgan Province. It sits at 1,317 m (4,321 ft) above sea level, and is connected by a road network with Kandahar to the south, Nili in Daykundi Province to the north, and Malistan in Ghazni Province to the northeast.
The Kajaki Dam is "an earth and rockfill embankment type dam" located on the Helmand River in the Kajaki District of Helmand Province in Afghanistan, about 161 km (100 mi) northwest of Kandahar. It has a hydroelectric power station, which is operated by the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority through the Ministry of Energy and Water.
Khost International Airport, formerly known as Khost Airport, is located in the eastern section of Khost, which is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. The airport is under the country's Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, and is used for domestic and international flights. The Ministry of Defense also uses it for emergency relief purposes such as when the June 2022 Afghanistan earthquake occurred.
Markaz-i Bihsūd District is one of the districts of Maidan Wardak Province in Afghanistan. It is located less than an hour-drive west of Kabul and south Bamyan. The main town in the district is Behsud. The district has an estimated population of 134,852 people, majority of which are ethnic Hazaras.
Afghan passports are international travel documents issued by the General Directorate of Passports to nationals and citizens of Afghanistan. Every person with a valid Afghan identity card (Tazkira) can apply for and receive an Afghan passport, which is renewable every 5–10 years.
Health in Afghanistan remains poor but steadily improving. It has been negatively affected by the nation's environmental issues and the decades of war since 1978. The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) oversees all matters concerning the health of the country's residents. The Human Rights Measurement Initiative finds that Afghanistan is fulfilling 72.5% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to health based on its level of income.
The Dahla Dam, also known as Arghandab Dam and Kasa, is located in the Shah Wali Kot District of Kandahar Province in Afghanistan, approximately 40 km (25 mi) north of the provincial capital Kandahar. It is the second largest dam in Afghanistan after the Kajaki Dam in neighboring Helmand Province. In 2019, the Afghan government planned to spend $450 million in upgrading the dam. The project includes raising the dam's walls by around 13 meters so the reservoir could hold nearly a billion cubic meters of fresh water and installing three turbines to produce 22 megawatts (MW) of electricity.
Sport in Afghanistan is managed by the Afghan Sports Federation. Currently, cricket and association football (soccer) are the most popular sports in Afghanistan. The Afghan Sports Federation has promoted many types of sports, including basketball, bodybuilding, boxing, bowling, cricket, football, golf, mountaineering, paragliding, skating, skiing, snooker, taekwondo, track and field, volleyball, and weightlifting. The traditional sport of Afghanistan has been Buzkashi, which is now occasionally seen in the northern parts of the country.
Islām Qala is a border town in the western Herat province of Afghanistan, near the Afghanistan–Iran border. It is the official port of entry by land from neighboring Taybad in Iran. The Dowqarun-Islam Qala border crossing is located about 10 km (6.2 mi) northwest of the town.
Energy in Afghanistan is provided by hydropower followed by fossil fuel and solar power. Currently, less than 50% of Afghanistan's population has access to electricity. This covers the major cities in the country. Many rural areas do not have access to adequate electricity but this should change after the major CASA-1000 project is completed.
The Shah wa Arus Dam is a 75m high concrete gravity dam located in the Shakardara District of Kabul Province in Afghanistan. It has a 60m wide three-bay spillway and is mainly geared towards provision of irrigation water as well as flood control and reliable year-round fresh water supply. Once operational, its power station will produce 1.2 megawatts (MW) of electricity and irrigate 2,700 hectares of land in addition to supplying drinking water for the millions of residents of Kabul.
Renewable energy in Afghanistan includes biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, and wind power. Afghanistan is a landlocked country surrounded by five other countries. With a population of less than 35 million people, it is one of the lowest energy consuming countries in relation to a global standing. It holds a spot as one of the countries with a smaller ecological footprint. Hydropower is currently the main source of renewable energy due to Afghanistan's geographical location. Its large mountainous environment facilitates the siting of hydroelectric dams and other facets of hydro energy.
Kamal Khan Dam is a hydroelectric and irrigation dam project on the Helmand River in Chahar Burjak District of Nimruz Province in south-western Afghanistan. It is located about 95 km to the southeast of Zaranj. Construction work on the dam officially began in 1974 but after the 1978 Saur Revolution, the Americans involved in the construction were compelled to leave Afghanistan and the project was abandoned. It was recently completed.
Tori Dam is an under-construction dam located on the Tarnak River next to Qalat in the Zabul Province of Afghanistan. According to the Ministry of Energy and Water, most of the major work on the project has been completed. Construction of the dam was estimated to cost around 97 million afghanis.
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