Qandahar

Kandahar, Qandahar, is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of 450,300 (2006 estimate). It is the capital of Kandahar province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m (3,297 feet) above sea level. The Arghandab River runs right next to the city.

Kandahar is a major trading center for sheep, wool, cotton, silk, felt, food grains, fresh and dried fruit, and tobacco. The region produces fine fruits, especially pomegranates and grapes, and the city has plants for canning, drying, and packing fruit. Kandahar has an international airport and extensive road links with Farah and Herat to the west, Ghazni and Kabul to the northeast, Tarin Kowt to the north, and Quetta in Pakistan to the south. Kandahar is a Pashto-speaking city, with Pashtuns being the main inhabitants.

Alexander the Great founded Kandahar in the 4th century BC and named it Alexandria. Many empires have long fought over the city, due to its strategic location along the trade routes of Southern and Central Asia. In 1748, Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the Durrani Empire, made Kandahar the capital of Afghanistan.

Kandahar may have been derived from Gandhara, the name of an ancient Indian kingdom to the north along the modern Kashmir and Afghanistan border, and a former satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, although Kandahar in modern times and the ancient Gandhara are not the same, geographically.. Another possibility is that it could be derived from the Arabic rendering of Alexander's name. A temple to the deified Alexander as well as an inscription in Greek and Aramaic by the emperor Ashoka, who lived a few decades later, have been discovered in the old citadel.

The climate in Kandahar is hot and dry and the maximum recorded temperature is 48.2ºC. The hottest month is July with average high temperatures of 40ºC. Kandahar has many dust storms and simoons happen every year. Most of the rainfall occurs in January but August and September are the driest months with almost no rain.

Kandahar was founded in 330 BC by Alexander the Great, near the site of the ancient city of Mundigak (established around 3000 BC). Previously, the city was the provincial capital of Arachosia and was ruled by the Achaemenid Empire. The main inhabitants of Arachosia were the Pactyans, an ancient Iranian tribe, who were probably one of the ancestors of today's Pashtuns. Kandahar was named Alexandria, a popular name given to many cities that Alexander founded or refounded during his conquests.

The city has been a frequent target for conquest because of its strategic location in Southern Asia, controlling the main trade route linking the Indian subcontinent with the Middle East, Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. It later became part of the Mauryan Empire after the departure of Alexander. The Mauryan emperor Ashoka erected a pillar there with a bilingual inscription in Greek and Aramaic. The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom occupied Kandahar after the Mauryans, but then lost the city to the Indo-Greek Kingdom.

Notable people from Kandahar

* Gandhari
* Hamid Karzai
* Said Tayeb Jawad
* Nashenas
* Naghma
* Nur Jahan
* Mirwais Khan Hotak
* Mir Mahmud Hotaki
* Gul Agha Sherzai
* Haji Bashar

Districts
o Arghandab Valley
o Daman
o Dand
o Kandahar Valley (under construction)
o Karz
o Mirwais Mina
o Sarpuza
o Shari Noe
o Zoar Shar (Old City)