Khost (Pashto, Dari: خوست), is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan located in the southeastern part of the country. Khost consists of thirteen districts and the city of Khost serves as the capital of the province. Historically, Khost used to be a part of Paktia and a larger region surrounding Khost is still referred to as Loya Paktia.
Throughout history, the province has been the site for numerous rebellions, leading to the local Pashtun populace to consider themselves the “traditional king-makers in Kabul”. The province was previously known as the Southern province and was united with the neighbouring Paktia province. Khost is also home to numerous universities, including Shaikh Zayed University, which is the only university in Afghanistan with a faculty in computer science.
