Kabul

Kabul (Pashto/کابل Kābul; ; archaic Caubul), is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, located in the province of Greater Kabul. According to a 2009 census, it has a population of 3,568,500.

It is an economic and cultural centre, situated 5,900 ft (1,800 m) above sea level in a narrow valley, wedged between the Hindu Kush mountains along the Kabul River. The city is linked with Ghazni, Kandahar, Herat and Mazar-e Sharif via a circular highway that stretches across the country. It is also the start of the main road to Jalalabad and, further on, Peshawar, Pakistan.

Kabul's main products include munitions, cloth, furniture and beet sugar, but since 1978, a state of nearly continuous war has limited the economic productivity of the city. Economic productivity has improved since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in 2001.

Kabul is over 3,000 years old; many empires have long fought over the city for its strategic location along the trade routes of Southern and Central Asia. In 1504, Babur captured Kabul and used it as his headquarters until 1526, before his conquest of India. In 1776, Timur Shah Durrani made it the capital of modern Afghanistan. Since the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, the city has been a constant target of destruction by rebels or militants. It is currently in the early phases of reconstruction. New construction projects are being implemented as attempts at modernizing the city.