Maidan Wardak (

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...

: ;

Dari Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī ...

: ), also called Wardag or Wardak, is one of the 34

provinces of Afghanistan Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (, '' wilåyat''). The provinces of Afghanistan are the primary administrative divisions. Each province encompasses a number of districts or usually over 1,000 villages. Provincial governors played a c ...

, located in the central region of Afghanistan. It is divided into eight districts and has a population of approximately 500,00

The capital of the province is Maidan Shar, while the most populous district in the province is Saydabad District. Wardak is known for one of its famous high peak mountain known as (Shah Folad

In 2021, the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...

gained control of the province during the

2021 Taliban offensive A military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and other allied militants led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan based in Kabul and marked the end of the nearly 20-year-old War in Afghanistan, that had begun following the ...

History

During the communist times, the people of Wardak never gave significant support to the communist government. Wardak Province was significant during the Civil War in Afghanistan, due to its proximity with

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

and its agricultural lands.

Hezb-e Wahdat Hezb-e Wahdat-e Islami Afghanistan ( prs, حزب وحدت اسلامی افغانستان, "the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan"), shortened to Hezbe Wahdat (, "the Unity Party"), is an Afghan political party founded in 1989. Like most contemp ...

had a significant presence in the area. Most of the area was captured by the

around winter 1995. It remains a major Taliban travel route to Kabul with Maidan Shar a target for terror. The security situation rapidly deteriorated in Wardak in 2008 and 2009. According to a report by Mohammad Osman Tariq Elias, both Logar and Wardak, by the end of 2008, were under ''de facto'' Taliban control. As of April 2009, the

Ministry of the Interior (Afghanistan) The Ministry of Interior Affairs ( fa, وزارت امور داخله افغانستان, ps, د افغانستان د کورنیو چارو وزارت) is the cabinet ministry of Afghanistan responsible for law enforcement, civil order and ...

had listed the entire province as "High Risk." In October 2017, US Forces from elements of the 1st Battalion 87th Infantry Regiment and 10th Special Operations Group launched an offensive to wrest the province from Taliban control. On 21 January 2019, a

attack on a military base and police training center in the province resulted in 125 NDS officers killed. At least 30 people were reported to be injured. The attack came during a time of intense daily violence throughout the country.Taliban Attack on Afghan Military Base and Police Training Center Kills 12 21 January 2019. Accessed at

Accessed on 1 January 2019/ref> TSPN2734

Geography

Wardak province is located in the central and eastern region of Afghanistan; bordering

Parwan Parwan (Dari: ), also spelled Parvan, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 751,000. The province is multi-ethnic and mostly rural society. The province is divided into ten districts. The town of Imam Abu Hanif ...

to the northeast,

and Logar to the east,

Ghazni Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...

to the south and

Bamyan Bamyan or Bamyan Valley (); ( prs, بامیان) also spelled Bamiyan or Bamian is the capital of Bamyan Province in central Afghanistan. Its population of approximately 70,000 people makes it the largest city in Hazarajat. Bamyan is at an al ...

to the west. The capital of Wardak province is Maidan Shar, which is located about 35 km from Kabul. Wardak province covers an area of 9,934 km². It is mountainous like the rest of the country with plains and many valleys, such as the

Tangi Valley Tangi Valley (also known as Wardak Valley or Tangi Wardak) is located in the south of Wardak Province in Afghanistan. Between 2009 and 2011 it was occupied by US forces, and became known for the large number of US troops killed there.{{{cite book ...

. The majority of its residents live in rural areas. The most heavily populated areas are along the

Kabul–Kandahar Highway The Kabul–Kandahar Highway (NH0101) is a road linking Afghanistan's two largest cities, Kabul and Kandahar, passing through Maidan Shar, Saydabad, Ghazni, and Qalati Ghilji. This highway is a key portion of Afghanistan's national highway sys ...

. The rest of the province is thinly populated, with villages concentrated in areas with available irrigation and water sources (CSO and UNFPA, 2003). Famous passes include the

Unai Pass The Unai Pass or Onai Pass is a mountain pass on the western side of the Paghman Mountains in Jalrez District, Maidan Wardak Province, Afghanistan. It is of strategical importance due to its geographical location to the southwest of Kabul ...

and the Hajigak Pass.

Economics and industry

In terms of industry, one marble factory is working in the province, and there are marble mines in the provincial center and Sayed Abad District although no mining is currently undertaken there due to the government ban. The majority of commercial activity in Maidan Shahr. Wardak is related to trade in agricultural and livestock products, although stone quarrying is also a growing business in the area. The people from Maidan Shahr are also experts in

karez A qanat or kārīz is a system for transporting water from an aquifer or water well to the surface, through an underground aqueduct; the system originated approximately 3,000 BC in what is now Iran. The function is essentially the same across ...

cleaning and repair and go to other parts of the country for this purpose. In Wardak, there are many natural resources like petroleum, iron, rubies, and emeralds. Agriculture is a major source of revenue for 43% of households in Wardak province. Four-fifths (79%) of rural households own or manage agricultural land or garden plots in the province. However, nearly a quarter (24%) of households in the province derive income from trade and services, and around half (45%) of households earn some income through non-farm related labor.

Education

The overall literacy rate in Wardak province is 25%. There are around 251 primary and secondary schools in the province catering for 105,358 students. There are 2909 teachers teaching in these schools.

Demographics

As of 2021, the total population of Wardak province is about 671,817. The province is predominantly Sunni Pashtun and

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...

Hazaras The Hazaras ( fa, , Həzārə; haz, , Āzərə) are an ethnic group and the principal component of the population of Afghanistan, native to, and primarily residing in the Hazaristan (Hazarajat) region in central Afghanistan and generally scatt ...

with Sunni

Tajiks Tajiks ( fa, تاجيک، تاجک, ''Tājīk, Tājek''; tg, Тоҷик) are a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Tajiks are the largest ethnicity in Taj ...

making up most of the remainder of the population. The Tajiks live primarily in northern districts of the province while the Hazaras live in the western part of the province. The province also has a small population of

Qizilbash Qizilbash or Kizilbash ( az, Qızılbaş; ota, قزيل باش; fa, قزلباش, Qezelbāš; tr, Kızılbaş, lit=Red head ) were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman Shia militant groups that flourished in Iranian Azerbaijan, Anatolia, t ...

Districts

References

External links

Wardak Province
by the

Institute for the Study of War The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is a United States–based think tank founded in 2007 by Kimberly Kagan, providing research and analysis regarding issues of defense and foreign affairs. It has produced reports on the Syrian War, the Wa ...

Wardak Province
by the Naval Postgraduate School {{Authority control Provinces of Afghanistan Hazarajat Provinces of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan