Charikar in the context of "Parwan Province"

Bagram (/bəɡrɑːm/; Pashto/Dari: بگرام) is a town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul. It is the site of an ancient city located at the junction of the Ghorband and Panjshir Valley, near today's city of Charikar, Afghanistan. The location of this historical town made it a key passage from Ancient India along the Silk Road, leading westwards through the mountains towards Bamiyan, and north over the Kushan Pass to the Baghlan Valley and past the Kushan archeological site at Surkh Kotal, to the commercial centre of Balkh and the rest of northern Afghanistan. Bagram was the capital of the Kushan Empire in the first century [AD].

Bagram Airfield-BAF, also known as Bagram Air Base (IATA: OAI, ICAO: OAIX), is located 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. It is owned and operated by the country's Ministry of Defense. Sitting on the site of the ancient town of Bagram at an elevation of 1,492 metres (4,895 ft) above sea level, the air base has two concrete runways. The main one measures 3,602 by 46 metres (11,819 ft × 151 ft), capable of handling large military aircraft, including the Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy. The second runway measures 2,953 by 26 metres (9,687 ft × 85 ft). The air base also has at least three large hangars, a control tower, numerous support buildings, and various housing areas. There are also more than 13 hectares (32 acres) of ramp space and five aircraft dispersal areas, with over 110 revetments.

Bagram Airfield was built by the Soviet Union in the 1950's. Bagram Air Base was formerly the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan, staffed by the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing of the U.S. Air Force, along with rotating units of the U.S. and coalition forces. It was expanded and modernized by the Americans. There is also a hospital with 50 beds, three operating theatres and a modern dental clinic. Kabul International Airport is located approximately 40 km (25 mi) south of Bagram, connected by two separate roads.

National Highway 01 or NH01, formally called the Ring Road (Pashto: د افغانستان حلقوي سړک; Dari: شاهراه حلقوی افغانستان), is a 2,200 km (1,400 mi) two-lane and four-lane road network circulating inside Afghanistan, connecting the following cities (clockwise): Kabul, Maidan Shar, Ghazni, Qalat, Kandahar, Delaram, Herat, Qala e Naw, Maymana, Andkhoy, Sheberghan, Mazar-i-Sharif, Puli Khumri, Charikar, and back to Kabul. It has extensions that connect Jalalabad, Bamyan, Khost, Spin Boldak, Lashkargah, Zaranj (Route 606), Farah, Islam Qala, Torghundi, Ymamnazar, Hairatan, Kunduz, and Fayzabad. The Ring Road is part of AH1, the longest route of the Asian Highway Network. National Highway 01 consists of four major sections, NH0101 to NH0104, linking the major economic centers.

Charikar (چارکار) is one of the districts of Parwan province in Afghanistan. It has an estimated population of around 198,306 residents (2019). They belong to various ethnic groups and use Dari as lingua franca. The district's capital is Charikar.

The Panjshir River flows through the Panjshir Valley in northeastern Afghanistan, 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of Kabul. Its main tributary is the Ghorband River which flows from the Parwan Province and joins the Panjshir River 10 km east of Charikar in Bagram District. The Panjshir River takes its source near the Anjuman Pass, flows southward through the Hindu Kush and joins the Kabul River at Surobi.

Florentia Sale crossed this river during her captivity under Wazir Akbar Khan in 1842 during the First Anglo-Afghan War. A dam was built on the Panjshir River near Surobi in the 1950s to supply water from the Panjshir River to the Kabul River. There is just one permanent bridge on the Panjshir River that provides access to the Bagram Airport. On 12 July 2018, a flood in Panjshir Valley killed ten people.

The Shomali Plain, also called the Shomali Valley or Kohistan, is a plateau just north of Kabul, Afghanistan. It is approximately 30 km wide and 80 km long. Shomali means 'windy' or 'northern' (i.e. north of Kabul). Most of the population is Tajik and some Pashtuns. Charikar, Qarabagh, Istalif, and Bagram are just some of the villages located within the Shomali Plan. It's a fertile area, where fruits and vegetables are cultivated and Kabul's residents picnic on weekends. The area is known for agriculture including grapes, walnuts, apricots, mulberries, pomegranates, and sour cherries. The village of Istalif is especially famous for its deep turquoise and green pottery.

Throughout history, because of its geographic location and proximity to Kabul, the Shomali Plain has experienced numerous periods of fighting and violence. Alexander the Great built forts in today's Bagram, then called Alexandria in the Caucasus. The region played an important role or was often battleground during the First Anglo-Afghan War, civil wars, the Soviet Union, and the United States. Today, the area is still affected by wars in Afghanistan since 1978. The UN Mine Action Center once identified the Shomali Plain as one of the areas in the world most contaminated by land mines.