Nuristan (Pashto; Dari: نورستان, lit. 'Land of Light'), also spelled as Nurestan or Nooristan, known as Nuriston (Katë: نورستان), and historically known as Kafiristan (Pashto, Dari: کافرستان lit. 'Land of Infidels') until 1896, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. It is divided into seven districts and is Afghanistan's least populous province, with a population of around 167,000. Parun serves as the provincial capital. Nuristan is bordered on the south by Laghman and Kunar provinces, on the north by Badakhshan province, on the west by Panjshir province, and on the east by Pakistan.
The origin of the local Nuristani people has been disputed, ranging from being the indigenous inhabitants forced to flee to this region after refusing to surrender to invaders, to being linked to various ancient groups of people and the Turk Shahi kings. Some Nuristanis claim being descendants of the Greek occupying forces of Alexander the Great. It was formerly called Kafiristan (Pashto: كافرستان) ("Land of the Infidels") until the inhabitants were forcibly converted from an animist religion with elements from Indo-Iranian (Vedic- or Hindu-like) religion infused with local variations, to Islam in 1895, and thence the region has become known as Nuristan ("Land of Light"). The region was located in an area surrounded by Buddhist and Hindu civilizations which were later taken over by Muslims.
