Why are there so many provinces in Afghanistan ?

[Talal]

Usually the basis for having multiple administrative units is to easily govern a relatively large population. However, I do not understand the reason behind Afghanistan having 34 provinces. That is a ridiculously large number, wouldn't it be easier to have a fewer number so that the centre can consolidate its control more effectively ?

[Friend]

May be they copied it from india. Actually pakistan needs to be divided in 15 provinces.

[Talal]

May be they copied it from india. Actually pakistan needs to be divided in 15 provinces.

Even India has less provinces I think keep in mind though their's is the 2nd most populated country in the world with them on their way to number 1.

Afghanistan has a population almost double that of Karachi.

[Friend]

Even India has less provinces I think keep in mind though their's is the 2nd most populated country in the world with them on their way to number 1.

Afghanistan has a population almost double that of Karachi.

Yes india has 28 i think. Afghanistan population is less than 4% of india's.

[DaZahroJaam.]

afghans have been cursed and find it difficult and impossible to work with each other. Instead of finding solutions when we approach problems, we part ways and do our own thing. Scattered mess with everyone being their own boss. No respect for leadership, teamwork or initiative. It's a ****ing zoo.

[Kushan Prince]

That's like asking, why does America have so many states.

Pashtuns live in tribes. When you live in tribes, different provinces will be formed to fit represent different tribes. Also keep in kind that Afghanistan has a lot of ethnic groups and a lot of them want their own provinces dedicated to their people.

[Talal]

That's like asking, why does America have so many states.

Pashtuns live in tribes. When you live in tribes, different provinces will be formed to fit represent different tribes. Also keep in kind that Afghanistan has a lot of ethnic groups and a lot of them want their own provinces dedicated to their people.

you can fit entire afghanistan inside texas and Afghanistan historically had like 7 - 10 provinces

[randolph85]

a lot of these provinces were created as political favors, they are useless as far as administration goes. there needs to be northern, southern, eastern, and western zones, with kabul as its own province. things would be far more efficient that way i think.

[waterbear_waterbear]

I recall KPK having former divisions that were similar to Afghanistan's provinces, but they lumped it into a big Pakhtunkhwa and a FATA..... But when you divided KPK and FATA into disctricts, the sizes of the districts can easily pass of with the districts that compose Afghanistan's many provinces....

[khushal]

Its about the money Talal.
Each province gets funds from Kabul and when certain provinces complain about not getting enough funds for its respective people of the province, what happens is that the province is usually split up. For example, loya paktia used to comprise of paktia, paktika, khost and parts of ghazni province. When the province was complaining of not getting enough funds compared to other provinces, they first split it up in the late 70's into paktia and paktika and then again in post 2001 Paktia was split up into Paktia and Khost because they wanted more funds. Panjshir which used to be a district of parwan province became its own province in 2004 to get its own funds from Kabul.

[Talal]

Its about the money Talal.
Each province gets funds from Kabul and when certain provinces complain about not getting enough funds for its respective people of the province, what happens is that the province is usually split up. For example, loya paktia used to comprise of paktia, paktika, khost and parts of ghazni province. When the province was complaining of not getting enough funds compared to other provinces, they first split it up in the late 70's into paktia and paktika and then again in post 2001 Paktia was split up into Paktia and Khost because they wanted more funds. Panjshir which used to be a district of parwan province became its own province in 2004 to get its own funds from Kabul.

So they were done on administrative basis then ? has the situation improved for these individual carved out provinces or were they better off being bigger consolidated units ?

[khushal]

I would say panjshir has benefited much from its province status. More money is funneled into those new carved out provinces so I would say improvement but in reality most of the money is stolen by the administrators.

Paktia's main argument into being carved into 3+ provinces was mainly that their population was high compared to other provinces who were getting equal funds but Panjshir being carved into its own province couldn't use the population argument, because its just a small valley, only got the province status because of panjshiri's in Kabul who hold top government positions.

[Friend]

I recall KPK having former divisions that were similar to Afghanistan's provinces, but they lumped it into a big Pakhtunkhwa and a FATA..... But when you divided KPK and FATA into disctricts, the sizes of the districts can easily pass of with the districts that compose Afghanistan's many provinces....

District is a different thing. There are 13 districts or olaswali only in khost province or wilayat.

[JanicePing]

In my opinion the number of provinces wouldn't matter if you are looking for development. I see a very bright future for the people of Afghanistan and they should leave their past behind them and hope for good things to come.

[Michin Khel]

That's like asking, why does America have so many states. Pashtuns live in tribes. When you live in tribes, different provinces will be formed to fit represent different tribes. Also keep in kind that Afghanistan has a lot of ethnic groups and a lot of them want their own provinces dedicated to their people.

Tribes are not that big that you need provinces for that. Districts or divisions of pakistan are usually as much large as provinces of afghanistan, area and population wise. Except wardak which province is for a tribe? On the other hand in pakistan you have, 1- Karak for khattak tribe 2- Hangu for bangash tribe 3- Lakki marwat for marwat tribe 4- Bannu for bannuchi tribe, its tehsil domail for wazir tribe 5- Tank for kundi tribe, its FR region for bhittani tribe 6- FR DI khan for sherani tribe and so on. Each tribal agency for respective tribe. Only in peshawer valley and malakand division tribes are mixed and tribal differentiation is difficult so they are not divided on that basis.