Parwan Province of Afghanistan

Parwan also spelled Parvan, once also the name of an ancient town in the Hindu Kush mountains,is today an administrative province in northern Afghanistan, directly north of Kabul Province. Its capital is Charikar and it was one of the most secure provinces in the country, however recently there have been reports of attacks.

History;

In 329 BC, Alexander the Great founded the settlement of Parwan as his Alexandria of the Caucasus. It was conquered by the Arabs in 792.In 1221, the town was the site of the battle between the invading Mongols and the Khwarezmian Empire led by Jalal ad-Din, where the Mongols were defeated.In 1840, Parwan was also the site of a major battle in the First Anglo-Afghan War where the invading British were defeated.Parwan's modern history began with the construction of a new textile factory in the town of Jabal Saraj in 1937.Since then, Parwan was involved in the Soviet war in Afghanistan as some of the fiercest fighting took place in the area.In the 1990s it was the site of heavy resistance against the Taliban.

Since 2009 at Parwan, an ISAF Provincial Reconstruction Team led by the Republic of Korea is active in reconstruction of the province. In mid-February 2011, five rocket-propelled grenades hit the newly built South Korean military base housing the provincial reconstruction team and civilian aid workers. No one was injured in the attack, but it came hours after a visit by South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, raising suspicions of Taliban involvement. The opening ceremony of the base was postponed indefinitely.

A further plan to build a power plant is also under consideration.

A large portion of Parwan’s economy relies on the money that Afghan laborers send home from Iran and some other countries. The current governor is Abdul Baseer Salangi.

Demographics;

Tajiks, including Qizilbashs are (around 70%) of the population and make up the majority in the province, followed by Pashtuns and a pocket of Hazaras (ca. 2-4% in all Parvan) in Shinwar district.

District	Population
Bagram	75,423
Charikar	130,613
Ghorband	74,123
Jabal Saraj	48,052
Kohi Safi	13,627
Salang	13,627
Sayed Khel	33,334
Shekh Ali	22,831
Shinwari	39,057
Surkhi Parsa	33,639

Capital;

Charikar

Area;

5,974 km² (2,307 sq mi)

Population;

600,000

Main language;

Dari

Persian

Pashto