Kunar Province

Kunar (Pashto: کونړ‎, Persian: کنر‎‎) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital is Asadabad. It has a population of about 428,800, most of which are ethnic Pashtuns with about 5% being Nuristanis.

It is one of the four "N2KL" provinces (Nangarhar Province, Nuristan Province, Kunar Province and Laghman Province). N2KL is the designation used by the US and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan for the rugged and very violent region along the Durand Line border opposite Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Kunar is the center of the N2KL region.

Geography

Kunar province is located in the northeast of Afghanistan. It borders with Nangarhar Province to the south, Nuristan Province to the north, Laghman Province to the west and has a border with Pakistan in the east. The province covers an area of 4339 km². Nearly nine tenths (86%) of the province is mountainous or semi mountainous terrain while one eighth (12%) of the area is made up of relatively flat land. The primary geographic features of the province are (1) the lower Hindu Kush mountains which are cut by the Kunar River to form the Kunar Valley. The river flows south and southwest from its source in the Pamir area and is part of the Indus River watershed via the Kabul River which it meets at Jalalabad. The Kunar is a primary draining conduit for the Hindu Kush basin and several tributaries, including the Pech, form distinct and significant valleys in the area. The mountains, narrow valleys with steep walls, and rivers present formidable natural obstacles and have impacted all movement through the province throughout history. Even in the early 21st century, movement on foot, with pack animals, or with motorized vehicles is extremely limited and channeled due to the significant geographic restrictions.