Kandahar Province 4.84

Kandahar / is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southern part of the country next to Pakistan. It is surrounded by Helmand in the west, Uruzgan in the north and Zabul Province in the east. Its capital is the city of Kandahar, which is located on the Arghandab River.The province contains about 18 districts, over 1,000 villages, and approximately 1,151,100 people, which is mostly tribal and a rural society. The main inhabitants of Kandahar province are the native ethnic Pashtuns, although smaller communities of Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks and Baloch are also found in parts of the city of Kandahar. The current governor of the province is Humayoon Azizi.EtymologyThere is speculation about the origin of the name "Kandahar". It is believed to have started a one of many cities named after the Hellenistic conqueror Alexander the Great troughout his vast (mainly ex-Achaemenid) empire, its present form deriving from the Pashto rendering of Arabic Iskandariya = Ancient Alexandria (in Arachosia).