Takhar Province in the context of "Kunduz Province"

Ai-Khanoum (/aɪ ˈhɑːnjuːm/, meaning 'Lady Moon'; Uzbek: Oyxonim) is the archaeological site of a Hellenistic city in Takhar Province, Afghanistan. The city, whose original name is unknown, was likely founded by an early ruler of the Seleucid Empire and served as a military and economic centre for the rulers of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom until its destruction c. 145 BC. Rediscovered in 1961, the ruins of the city were excavated by a French team of archaeologists until the outbreak of conflict in Afghanistan in the late 1970s.

The city was probably founded between 300 and 285 BC by an official acting on the orders of Seleucus I Nicator or his son Antiochus I Soter, the first two rulers of the Seleucid dynasty. There is a possibility that the site was known to the earlier Achaemenid Empire, who established a small fort nearby. Ai-Khanoum was originally thought to have been a foundation of Alexander the Great, perhaps as Alexandria Oxiana, but this theory is now considered unlikely. Located at the confluence of the Amu Darya (a.k.a. Oxus) and Kokcha rivers, surrounded by well-irrigated farmland, the city itself was divided between a lower town and a 60-metre-high (200 ft) acropolis. Although not situated on a major trade route, Ai-Khanoum controlled access to both mining in the Hindu Kush and strategically important choke points. Extensive fortifications, which were continually maintained and improved, surrounded the city.

Badakhshan (Dari: ولایت بدخشان, romanized: Wilāyat-e Badakhshān and Pashto: د بدخشان ولایت, romanized: Da Badakhshān Wilāyat) is one of the northeastern provinces of Afghanistan and is widely regarded as one of the country's most geographically distinctive and historically significant regions. It borders Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan province to the north, China's Xinjiang province to the east, and Pakistan's northern provinces to the south, while internally it neighbors the Afghan provinces of Takhar and Panjshir. The provincial capital is Fayzabad, which functions as the main administrative, economic, and cultural center of the province.

Covering an area of approximately 44,000 square kilometers and having an estimated population of about 1.2 million people (as of 2025), Badakhshan is defined by its mountainous terrain, dominated by the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges, as well as by deep river valleys shaped primarily by the Kokcha and Panj rivers. The province includes the Wakhan Corridor, a narrow high-altitude strip that extends eastward between Tajikistan and Pakistan to China, giving Badakhshan a unique geopolitical position as Afghanistan's only land connection to China.

Kunduz (Persian: استان قندوز, romanized: Ostāne Qanduz) (Pashto: کندز,), also known as Qunduz, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northern part of the country next to Tajikistan. The population of the province is around 1,136,677, which is mostly a tribal society; it is one of Afghanistan's most ethnically diverse provinces with many different ethnicities in large numbers living there. The city of Kunduz serves as the capital of the province. It borders the provinces of Takhar, Baghlan, Samangan and Balkh, as well as the Khatlon Region of Tajikistan. The Kunduz Airport is located next to the provincial capital.

The Kunduz River valley dominates the Kunduz Province. The river flows irregularly from south to north into the Amu Darya river which forms the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan. A newly constructed bridge crosses the Amu Darya at Sherkhan Bandar and the international trade is a large source of Kunduz's economy. The river, its tributaries, and derivative canals provide irrigation to the irrigated fields that dominate land usage in the agricultural province. There are also rain-fed fields and open range land that span several miles. Kunduz was once a major economic center for Afghanistan, but the wars since 1978 have changed fortunes for the province. Initially during the War in Afghanistan (2001-2021), Kunduz was one of the more stable regions of Afghanistan, but during the 2010s quickly turned into one of the most unstable provinces of the country, resulting in large parts falling under Taliban insurgent control. In 2021, the Taliban gained control of the province during their nationwide summer offensive.

Qataghan-Badakhshan Province (Dari: ولایت قطغن-بدخشان) was a province, located in Afghanistan. The province was originally created in 1890 when the districts of Qataghan and Badakhshan was separated from the Afghan Turkestan province. Administration of the province was assigned to the Northern Bureau in Kabul.

In 1963 Badakhshan included the districts of Baghlan, Pul-i-Khumri, Dushi, Dahan-i-Ghori, Khan Abad, Andarab, Kunduz, Hazrat-i-Imam, and Taloqan. In 1963 Qataghan-Badakhshan Province was abolished and since then the territory was divided into four separate provinces - Badakhshan, Baghlan, Kunduz, and Takhar.

Panjshir (Pashto: پنجشېر, Dari: پنجشیر, lit. 'five lions'), commonly known as Panjsher, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country containing the Panjshir Valley. The province is divided into seven districts and contains 512 villages. The main inhabitants of the province are Shamali Tajiks, who speak Dari. As of 2021, the population of Panjshir province was about 334,940. Its current governor is Mohammad Agha Hakim.

Panjshir became an independent province from the neighboring Parwan Province in 2004. It is bordered by Baghlan and Takhar in the north, Badakhshan and Nuristan in the east, Laghman and Kapisa in the south, and Parwan in the west.

Khatlon Region (Tajik: Вилояти Хатлон, romanized: Viloyati Xatlon), one of the four provinces of Tajikistan, is the most populous of the four first-level administrative regions in the country. It is situated in the southwest of the country, between the Hisor (Gissar) Range in the north and the river Panj in the south and borders on Districts under Republican Subordination in the north, on GBAO in the east, on Afghanistan (Balkh, Kunduz, Takhar and Badakhshan provinces) in the southeast and on Uzbekistan (Surxondaryo region)in the west. During Soviet times, Khatlon was divided into Kurgan-Tyube (Qurghonteppa) Oblast (Western Khatlon) – with the Kofarnihon and Vakhsh river valleys – and Kulob Oblast (Eastern Khatlon) – with the Kyzylsu and Yakhsu river valleys. The two regions were merged in November 1992 into today's Khatlon Region (or viloyat/oblast). The capital city is Bokhtar, formerly known as Qurghonteppa and Kurgan-Tyube.

Khatlon has an area of 24,700 square kilometres and consists of 21 districts and 4 district-level cities. The total population of Khatlon in 2020 was 3,348,300, up from 2,677,251 in the 2010 population census. The population in Khatlon is mainly engaged in agriculture.