Torghundi, also spelled Turghundi or Towrgondi (, ), is a
border town in northern
Herat Province
Herat ( Dari: هرات) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the western part of the country. Together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the north-western region of Afghanistan. Its primary city a ...
of
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. The town's main attraction is the Torghundi
custom house
A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...
and
border checkpoint, which officially connects Afghanistan by road with
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...
. Torghundi is the second checkpoint and
border crossing between the two countries, with
Aqina to the northeast being the other. Torghundi is connected by both a regular road and a 1520 mm gauge
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
with the neighboring town of
Serhetabat in Turkmenistan. The city of
Herat
Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...
in Afghanistan is located about of driving distance south from Torghundi.
The railroad at Torghundi was originally established in the early 1960s as a single track, and was upgraded in 2017.
Torghundi has become the starting point of the
Lapis Lazuli trade corridor.
Situated at
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
in the
Kushk District of Herat Province, Torghundi serves as one of the major
transporting, shipping and receiving locations in Afghanistan. It also serves as one of the
official border crossings between the people of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Security in and around the town is provided by the
Afghan National Security Forces
The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), also known as the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), were the military and internal security forces of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
As of 30 June 2020, the ANSF was composed of ...
, which include the
Afghan Border Force. The town fell to
Taliban
, leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders
, leader1_name = {{indented plainlist,
* Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013)
* Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016)
* Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
forces in July 2021, as part of the wider
2021 Taliban offensive
The 2021 Taliban offensive was a Offensive (military), military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and allied militants that led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the end of the nearly 20-year War in Afghanistan (200 ...
. Every visitor or traveler between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan is required to possess a valid
travel visa
A visa (; also known as visa stamp) is a conditional authorization granted by a polity to a foreigner that allows them to enter, remain within, or leave its territory. Visas typically include limits on the duration of the foreigner's stay, area ...
.
Name
The name Torghundi means Dark Hill or Black Hill in
Pashto language
Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...
.
Climate
With an influence from the local steppe climate, Torghundi features a
cold semi-arid climate (''BSk'') under the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
. The average temperature in Toraghundi is 15.8 °C, while the annual precipitation averages 300 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 3.4 °C.
See also
*
Afghanistan–Turkmenistan border
*
Afghanistan–Turkmenistan relations
*
Land border crossings of Afghanistan
*
Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India Pipeline (TAPI)
References
External links
*
*
Populated places in Herat Province
Afghanistan–Turkmenistan border crossings
{{Herat-geo-stub