Puli Khumrī (

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 spelled Pul-i-Khumri or Pol-e Khomri, is a city in northern

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 ...

. Puli Khumri is the capital and largest city of Baghlan Province, whose name comes from the other major town in the province,

Baghlan Baghlan (Dari: بغلان ''Baġlān'') is a city in northern Afghanistan, in the eponymous province, Baghlan Province. It is located three miles east of the Kunduz River, 35 miles south of Khanabad, and about 500 metres above sea level in the ...

. The city has an estimated population of about 221,274 as of 2015, making it about the 9th-largest city of Afghanistan, and the second-largest city in northeastern Afghanistan after

Kunduz , native_name_lang = prs , other_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Kunduz River valley.jpg , imagesize = 300 , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_ ...

. It is a major

industrial city An industrial city or industrial town is a town or city in which the municipal economy, at least historically, is centered around industry, with important factories or other production facilities in the town. It has been part of most countries' i ...

History

As of 2017,

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 ...

insurgents are active in the Dand-e-Shahabuddin part of Puli Khumri. On 5 May 2019,

members stormed the city's police headquarters, killing 13 police. On 1 September 2019, Taliban assaulted the city, but were repelled by the Afghan Army. On 16 January 2021, the district's NDS chief Fazal Wakilzada was killed in a Taliban attack. On 10 August 2021, Puli Khumri became the eighth provincial capital to be captured by the Taliban as part of their nationwide military offensive.

Geography

Puli Khumri, located about south of

Kunduz , native_name_lang = prs , other_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Kunduz River valley.jpg , imagesize = 300 , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_ ...

, southeast of

Mazar-i-Sharif , official_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , pushpin_map = Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_label = Mazar-i-Sharif , pushpin ...

, and north of

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 ...

, is a trading and transit hub in the region.

Land use

As of 2015, Puli Khumri had 6 districts and a total land area of 3,752 hectares. The total number of dwellings in the city was 24,586. Agricultural lands account for the largest land use in Puli Khumri (65%), with the majority of that land in Districts 3, 5, and 6. Districts 1 and 2 have the highest dwelling densities but District 5 is home to the most dwelling units. Puli Khumri has a diverse housing stock consisting of regular, irregular, and hillside houses as well as apartment buildings.

Climate

With an influence from the local steppe climate, Puli Khumri features a

cold semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(''BSk'') under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

. The average temperature in Puli Khumri is 15.9 °C, while the annual precipitation averages 282 mm. July is the hottest month of the year with an average temperature of 28.5 °C. The coldest month January has an average temperature of 3.0 °C.

Demographics

Economy

There are two dams in Puli Khumri, which provide the necessary electricity.

's first

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

factory, Ghori I Cement Factory, was built in 1954 in Puli Khumri with financial support from

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. It is currently owned and operated by Afghan Invest Co., and operated by Ahmad Javid Jaihoon. The

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

is mined from the hill behind the factory. There is a

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

outside of the city in the village Kar-kar, but the production system is archaic. Agriculture is very important because of the rain and temperature;

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

, spices, and

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

are the main crops.

Provincial Reconstruction Team

The lead nation of the local

Provincial Reconstruction Team A Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) was a unit introduced by the United States government, consisting of military officers, diplomats, and reconstruction subject matter experts, working to support reconstruction efforts in unstable states. PRT ...

(PRT) was

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, which operated in the city from 2006 to March 2013. Previous to 2006, the lead nation was the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Electrical transmission lines built from Puli Khumri are now bringing a steady supply of electricity to

References

{{Baghlan Province Populated places in Baghlan Province Baghlan Province Provincial capitals in Afghanistan Cities in Afghanistan Populated places with period of establishment missing