Maidan Shar
City in Wardak province, Afghanistan
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Maidan Shar or Maidan Shahr (Pashto:[a] میدان شهر; Dari:[b] میدان شهر) is a growing town in the eastern part of Afghanistan,[4] serving as the capital of Maidan Wardak Province.[5] It is within the jurisdiction of Maidan Shar District and has an estimated population of 50,029 people.[3] Mawlavi Abdullah Darwish is the current mayor of the town.[1]
Maidan Shar
میدان شهر | |
|---|---|
  Maidan Shar Location in Afghanistan | |
| Coordinates: 34°23′50″N 68°52′11″E | |
| Country |  Afghanistan |
| Province | Maidan Wardak |
| District | Maidan Shar |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Mayor | Mawlavi Abdullah Darwish |
| Area | |
| • Land | 33 km2 (13 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 2,225 m (7,300 ft) |
| Population (2025)[3] | |
| 50,029 | |
| • Density | 1,500/km2 (3,900/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 3,984 |
| • Rural | 46,045 |
| Time zone | UTC+04:30 (Afghanistan Time) |
| ISO 3166 code | AF-MSR |
Maidan Shar is connected by a road network with Kabul to the northeast, Bamyan and Behsud to the west, and Ghazni to the southwest. The Kabul–Kandahar Highway passes in the town, which helps its economy. Maidan Shar currently has a limited number of bazaars, restaurants, hotels, mosques, hospitals, and places to play sports or just relax.
Zarifa Ghafari became Maidan Shar's first female mayor in 2019. At the age of 26, she was one of the youngest to be appointed. She has won awards for her efforts in promoting women's rights in Afghanistan.[6] On or about 15 August 2021, Maidan Shar fell to the Taliban, becoming the twenty-seventh provincial capital to be captured by the Taliban as part of their wider 2021 offensive.
Geography
Maidan Shar is at a strategic location, which connects by road Kabul with Bamyan and Ghazni. It is within the larger Maidan Shar District and sits at an elevation of approximately 2,225 m (7,300 ft) above sea level. The town is located in the northeastern part of Wardak Province. It is surrounded by the Arghandeh and Paghman mountains of Kabul Province, and the Jalrez and Nirkh districts of Wardak Province. It consists of 59 main villages and 1 sub-village.
Maidan Shar is described as an urban village located 40 km (25 mi) west of Kabul.[7] It has 4 city districts (nahias), covering a land area of 33 km2 (13 sq mi) or 3,347 ha (8,270 acres).[2] Majority of the land is not occupied or utilized, with barren land and vacant plots combining for about 81% of total land use. Institutional land is the second largest built-up land use (22%). Residential dwellings are concentrated in Districts 1 and 2.[7]
Climate
Maidan Shar features a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dsb) under the Köppen climate classification. It has warm, dry summers and cold, snowy winters. The average temperature in Maidan Shar is 7.6 °C (45.7 °F), while the annual precipitation averages 558 mm (22.0 in).
July is the warmest month of the year, with an average temperature of 20.8 °C (69.4 °F). The coldest month, January, has an average temperature of −7.4 °C (18.7 °F).
| Climate data for Maidan Shar | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −1.3 (29.7) |
−0.9 (30.4) |
6.4 (43.5) |
14.7 (58.5) |
20.6 (69.1) |
25.3 (77.5) |
28.3 (82.9) |
27.2 (81.0) |
23.3 (73.9) |
17.0 (62.6) |
9.1 (48.4) |
2.9 (37.2) |
14.4 (57.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −7.4 (18.7) |
−6.3 (20.7) |
0.6 (33.1) |
8.5 (47.3) |
14.3 (57.7) |
18.7 (65.7) |
21.6 (70.9) |
20.6 (69.1) |
16.6 (61.9) |
10.6 (51.1) |
3.0 (37.4) |
−3.6 (25.5) |
8.1 (46.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −13.5 (7.7) |
−12.0 (10.4) |
−5.9 (21.4) |
0.9 (33.6) |
6.2 (43.2) |
9.9 (49.8) |
13.2 (55.8) |
12.8 (55.0) |
8.6 (47.5) |
3.1 (37.6) |
−3.3 (26.1) |
−9.6 (14.7) |
0.9 (33.6) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 53 (2.1) |
72 (2.8) |
78 (3.1) |
88 (3.5) |
98 (3.9) |
37 (1.5) |
16 (0.6) |
13 (0.5) |
15 (0.6) |
22 (0.9) |
32 (1.3) |
34 (1.3) |
558 (22.1) |
| Average precipitation days | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 64 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 50 | 56 | 57 | 62 | 43 | 31 | 27 | 30 | 29 | 35 | 46 | 45 | 43 |
| Mean daily sunshine hours | 7.2 | 7.4 | 8.9 | 10.1 | 11.6 | 12.7 | 12.6 | 11.9 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 8.2 | 7.7 | 9.9 |
| Source: Climate-Data.org[8] | |||||||||||||
Demographics
Economy
The economy of Maidan Shar is mostly based on agriculture, trade, and transport.
Education
Healthcare
Sports
Cricket and football are the most popular sports in Afghanistan. Other sports Maidan Shar's people enjoy playing are futsal and volleyball.[11]
See also
Notable people
- Hanif Baktash, poet and writer
- Zarifa Ghafari, former mayor
Notes
- Pashto pronunciation: [maɪ.d̪ɑn ʂɑɾ, maɪ.dɑn ʃɑɾ, maɪ.d̪ɑn çɑɾ, maɪ.d̪ɑn xɑɾ]
- Dari pronunciation: [mäj.d̪ɑːn ʃɑːɾ, mäj.d̪ɑːn ʃäɦɾ]