Central Afghan

highlands

The central Afghan highlands, or the

Afghan Highlands (Dari/Persian: ‫افغانستان‬
‫ ;کوهستانی‬Pashto: ‫)غرنی افغانستان‬, is a
geographic region of Afghanistan.
Stretching from the Sabzak Pass near
Herat in the west to the Little Pamir in the
northeast, it includes the main Hindu Kush
range and forms a western extension of
the Himalayas. It is a highland area of
more than 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above sea
level, mostly situated between 2,000 and
3,000 m (6,500 and 9,800 ft), with some
peaks rising above 6,400 m (21,000 ft).
Usually, the valley bottoms in the area are
used for cereal and horticultural
production, and the mountains and high
plateaus are used as pasture in summer
for grazing sheep, goats, cattle, and
camels. Its total area is about 414,000 km2
(160,000 sq mi).[1][2]
 Central Afghan Highlands
‫( افغانستان کوهستانی‬Dari)
‫( غرنی افغانستان‬Pashto)

Snow-covered mountains in Ghazni

Coordinates: 35°N 68°E (https://geohack.too
lforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Central_
Afghan_highlands&params=35_N_68_E_typ
e:city)

Area[1]
• Total 414,000 km2
(160,000 sq mi)
Dimensions
• Length 1,000 km (600 mi)
Highest elevation 7,708 m (25,289 ft)
 Lowest elevation 1,500 m (4,900 ft)
Time zone UTC+4:30

The region contains about 225,000 km2

(87,000 sq mi) of summer pasture, which
is used by both settled communities and
nomadic pastoralists like the Kuchis.
Major pastures in the region include the
Nawur pasture in northern Ghazni
Province (whose area is about 600 km2 at
elevation of up to 3,350 m), and the Shewa
pasture and the Little Pamir in eastern
Badakhshan Province. The Little Pamir
pasture, whose elevation is above 4,000 m
(13,000 ft), is used by the Afghan Kyrgyz to
raise livestock.[1]
The region includes Bamyan, Ghazni, Ghor,
Logar, Nuristan, Paktia, Paktika, Panjshir,
Parwan, and Maidan Wardak provinces,
most of Badakhshan, Daykundi, Kabul, and
Zabul, and adjacent parts of some
neighboring provinces. It is inhabited by
the Chahar Aimaq, Hazaras, Kyrgyz,
Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Wakhis, and
other tribes.[1]

History
 Statue of a bearded man with cap, probably
Scythian, Bamyan c. 3–4th century

The Highlands were a part of the wider

region inhabited by Indo-Iranian tribes in
ancient times, who called themselves Arya
or Ārya. According to the scholar Michael
Witzel, Airyanem Vaejah, i.e. "(the country)
of the Aryan Springs" or "Aryan Rapids",
which was mentioned in the Vendidad list
in the Avesta as the first and best of the
"16 Aryan countries" created by Ahura
Mazda, was in the central Afghan
highlands. Witzel stated that the Vendidad
list "obviously was composed or redacted
by someone who regarded Afghanistan
and the lands surrounding it as the home
of all Aryans (Airiia), that is of all (eastern)
Iranians, with Airyanem Vaejah as their
center."

He added that Airyanem Vaejah "is also

centrally located in terms of Avestan
economy: all Airiia could use it during the
two months of summer as pasture, just as
the modern Afghans still do. The
Highlands are, typical for early societies,
not exactly a no man's land, but are a
common territory, used, with partially
overlapping pasture rights, by all Airiia."[3]

Geography

The Hari River near the Minaret of Jam,

Firozkoh

The Highlands are cut through by the

rivers of Afghanistan, including the Kabul,
Helmand, Farah, Hari, Marghab, and Panj
rivers. At the Shibar Pass, the Koh-i-Baba
branches out from the Hindu Kush. The
region has mountain pastures during
summer (sardsīr), watered by the many
small streams and rivers. There are also
pastures available during winter in the
neighboring warm lowlands (garmsīr),
which makes the region ideal for seasonal
transhumance. Forests exist between
Nuristan and Paktika in the East Afghan
montane conifer forests,[4] and tundra
exists in the northeast. An arc of the
mountains extends up to Quetta, Ziarat,
and Kalat in Balochistan in the south,
which are home to large juniper forests.

There are about 4,000 glaciers with an

overall area of about 2,700 km2, mostly
located between 4,000 and 5,000 m above
sea level. Most of the glaciers occur in the
east, mostly on north-facing slopes which
are shaded by mountain peaks, or on the
eastern slopes which are shaded by
monsoon clouds. The glaciers are a major
source of water for drinking and irrigation.
However, they are now showing signs of
shrinking and retreating due to climate
change.[5]

The Badashkhan area in the northeastern

part of the Highlands is the epicenter of
many of the earthquakes in Afghanistan.[2]

Climate
 The Salang Pass during winter

The Highlands have a very cold winter and

the temperature in January can reach
below −30 °C (−22 °F). In winter and early
spring, the weather is significantly
influenced by cold air masses from the
north and northwest. Snow generally falls
from November to March or April, with
occasional snowfalls as early as October.
On the southern slopes of the Hindu Kush
exceeding 4,000 m, it can snow at anytime
of the year including in high summer. The
permanent snow line in the region ranges
from 4,600 to 5,600 m, although glaciers
and firns can also be found as low as
3,500 m.[6] The summer is short and cool
in the Highlands, and is mostly cloudless
everywhere but in the eastern monsoon
region.

The precipitation varies considerably with

topography, generally decreasing from the
east to the arid west. For example, the
annual mean precipitation is 992 mm (39
inches) at North Salang in the east, but
only 133 mm (5 inches) at Bamyan in the
west.
 Climate data for Panjab, Afghanistan (altitude: 2,710 m)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Average −10.4 −9.4 −3.4 4.1 14.6 19.7 22.9 22.4 18.7 12.1 1.1 −7.5
high °C (°F) (13.3) (15.1) (25.9) (39.4) (58.3) (67.5) (73.2) (72.3) (65.7) (53.8) (34.0) (18.5
Daily mean −15.3 −13.7 −8.2 −1.3 7.0 11.5 14.4 14.1 10.6 5.1 −4.8 −13.
°C (°F) (4.5) (7.3) (17.2) (29.7) (44.6) (52.7) (57.9) (57.4) (51.1) (41.2) (23.4) (8.2
Average low −20.1 −18 −12.9 −6.7 −0.7 3.2 5.9 5.8 2.5 −1.9 −10.7 −18.
°C (°F) (−4.2) (0) (8.8) (19.9) (30.7) (37.8) (42.6) (42.4) (36.5) (28.6) (12.7) (−1.8
Average
53 71 75 56 41 11 3 2 2 13 30 37
precipitation
(2.1) (2.8) (3.0) (2.2) (1.6) (0.4) (0.1) (0.1) (0.1) (0.5) (1.2) (1.5
mm (inches)
Source: Climate-Data.org[7]

References
1. Ali, Aziz; Shaoliang, Yi. "Highland
Rangelands of Afghanistan: Significance,
Management Issues, and Strategies" (http
s://lib.icimod.org/api/files/b329e25d-b7b2-
439c-b29f-471fde5d2ead/2.HAR.pdf)
(PDF). Lalitpur, Nepal: International Centre
for Integrated Mountain Development: 10.
Retrieved 19 October 2021.
2. Afghanistan: Physiographic regions (http
s://www.britannica.com/place/Afghanistan
 #ref306570) . Britannica.com.
3. M. Witzel, "The Home Of The Aryans",
Festschrift J. Narten = Münchener Studien
zur Sprachwissenschaft, Beihefte NF 19,
Dettelbach: J.H. Röll 2000, 283–338. Also
published online, at Harvard University
(LINK (http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/
~witzel/AryanHome.pdf) )
4. "Forests of Afghanistan" (https://cropwatc
h.unl.edu/documents/Forests%20of%20Afg
hanistan.pdf) (PDF). cropwatch.unl.edu.
Retrieved 28 June 2021.
5. "Shrinking, Thinning, Retreating: Afghan
glaciers under threat from climate change"
(https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/r
eports/economy-development-environmen
t/shrinking-thinning-retreating-afghan-glaci
 ers-under-threat-from-climate-change/) .
Afghanistan Analysts Network - English.
January 5, 2021.
6. "BARF "SNOW" " (https://www.iranicaonline.
org/articles/barf-snow) . Encyclopaedia
Iranica.
7. "Climate: Punjab - Climate-Data.org" (http://
en.climate-data.org/location/1058589/) .
Retrieved 9 September 2016.

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