Pârûn (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: پارون), also called Prasûn and Prasungul, is a small town and administrative center of Nuristan Province and its Parun District in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. The city of Parun has a population of 1,647. It has 1 district and a total land area of 350 hectares. The total number of dwellings in Parun is 183. On 15 August 2021, Parun was seized by

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 ...

fighters, becoming the thirty-second provincial capital to be captured by the Taliban as part of the wider 2021 Taliban offensive.

Land use

Parun is a village in northeastern Afghanistan with only 350 hectares and 183 dwellings. It is predominantly forest land (54%) followed by agriculture (33%). Built-up land only accounts for 7% of total land use. But unlike many other cities, Parun does not have any barren land and only 4 hectares of vacant plots.

Geography

Parun has 6 villages: Ishtewi, Pronz, Dewa, Kushteki, Tsutsum and Pashki. They are located over a distance of 20 km from north to south along the Parun River. Ishtewi, the upper village, lies at an altitude of 2,850 m above sea level, while Pashki, the lowest village, lies at 2,500 m above sea level .

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Parun has a Subarctic climate, subarctic climate (''Dsc''). The average temperature for the year in Parun is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of , while the coldest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

Plans for a city

According to news published in 2007, the governor of Nuristan Province was planning to establish a city of about 20,000 people in Parun. This would make it "''the first city in Nuristan''". The report indicated that some construction had begun.Afghan Governor Has Big Plans for Lonely Province
Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, National Public Radio, 13 November 2007, ''... The 50-year-old governor says Parun — the first city in Nuristan — is only the beginning for a province where residents farm and raise goats to survive ...''

Languages

Wasi-wari is natively spoken in Parun, while Kamkata-vari language, Kamkata-vari, Pashto and Dari are also understood. The Gurjars of Parun also speak their native language, known as Gujari language, Gujari.

References

Populated places in Nuristan Province Provincial capitals in Afghanistan {{Nuristan-geo-stub