Kandahar, Saskatchewan

{{Infobox settlement

| official_name = Kandahar

| native_name =

| other_name = Candahar Post Office

| settlement_type = Special service area

| image_skyline = kandahar0004.jpg

| imagesize = 250

| image_caption = The road into Kandahar in May 2003

| pushpin_map = Canada Saskatchewan

| pushpin_map_caption = Location within Saskatchewan

| coordinates = {{coord|51.7581|-104.3619|region:CA|display=inline,title}}

| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = Canada

| subdivision_type1 = Province

| subdivision_name1 = Saskatchewan

| subdivision_type2 = Rural Municipality

| subdivision_name2 = Big Quill

| subdivision_type3 = Federal electoral district

| subdivision_name3 = Regina—Qu'Appelle

| subdivision_type4 = Provincial electoral district

| subdivision_name4 = Kelvington-Wadena

| founder = Canadian Pacific Railway

| named_for = Kandahar

| established_title = Established

| established_date =

| established_title2 = Organized hamlet

| established_date2 =

| established_title3 = Special service area{{cite web | url=https://publications.saskatchewan.ca/api/v1/products/125107/formats/146271/download | title=The Saskatchewan Gazette: Organized Hamlet of Kandahar Revision | publisher=Government of Saskatchewan | page=1397-1398| date=December 6, 2024 | accessdate=January 2, 2025}}

| established_date3 = January 1, 2025

| leader_title = RM Reeve

| leader_name =

| leader_title1 = Member of the Legislative Assembly

| leader_name1 = Chris Beaudry

| leader_title2 = Member of Parliament

| leader_name2 = Andrew Scheer

| leader_title3 = SARM Division No. 4

| leader_title4 = Division No. 10, Saskatchewan

| area_total_km2 =

| elevation_footnotes =

| elevation_m =

| population_footnotes =

| population_total =

| population_as_of =

| population_density_km2 = auto

| timezone = Central Standard Time

| utc_offset = −6

| timezone_DST =

| utc_offset_DST =

| postal_code_type = Postal code

| postal_code =

| area_code =

| website =

| footnotes = {{Citation|last=Government of Saskatchewan |first=MRD Home |title=Municipal Directory System |url=http://www.municipal.gov.sk.ca/apps/Pub/MDS/muniDetails.aspx?cat=3&mun=2050 |access-date=2007-04-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050321044135/http://www.municipal.gov.sk.ca/apps/Pub/MDS/muniDetails.aspx?cat=3&mun=2050 |archive-date=March 21, 2005 }}{{Citation

|last=Canadian Textiles Institute.

|title=CTI Determine your provincial constituency

|year=2005

|url=http://www.textiles.ca/eng/nonAuthProg/redirect.cfm?path=IssPolContacts§ionID=7601.cfm

|access-date=2007-04-24

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911025012/http://www.textiles.ca/eng/nonAuthProg/redirect.cfm?path=IssPolContacts§ionID=7601.cfm

|archive-date=2007-09-11

}}{{Citation

|last=Commissioner of Canada Elections

|first=Chief Electoral Officer of Canada

|title=Elections Canada On-line

|year=2005

|url=http://www.elections.ca/home.asp

|access-date=2007-04-24

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070421084430/http://www.elections.ca/home.asp

|archive-date=2007-04-21

}}

Kandahar is a special service area in Rural Municipality of Big Quill No. 308, Saskatchewan, Canada. Listed as a designated place by Statistics Canada, the community had a population of 20 in the Canada 2016 Census.[http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=DPL&Code1=470062&Geo2=PR&Code2=47&Data=Count&SearchText=Kandahar&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&TABID=1 Canada 2016 Census: Designated places in Saskatchewan] Located on Highway 16 near Wynyard, Saskatchewan, the community was named by Canadian Pacific Railway executives in the late 19th century for a British military victory in Kandahar, Afghanistan.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} Kandahar is too small to be enumerated on its own, so its population belongs to the Rural Municipality of Big Quill No. 308. It is located near the south shore of Big Quill Lake, the largest inland body of salt water in Canada.

History

Many of the first settlers in the Kandahar district were immigrants from Iceland or of Icelandic descent. A significant number arrived from the Argyle settlement in Manitoba.{{cite book|last1=Lindal|first1=W. J.|title=The Saskatchewan Icelanders: A Strand of the Canadian Fabric|date=1946|publisher=Columbia Press|location=Winnipeg|pages=165–167}} An Icelandic immigrant, Thorvidur Halldorson (born Þorviður Magnússon), served as the district's first postmaster in 1910. From 1910 to 1913, the spelling of the post office was Candahar. Kandahar became a village in 1913, following a petition from its inhabitants. In 1925, Kandahar was listed as a Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. Station on the Minnedosa, Saskatoon, Edmonton Section, CPR. Businesses included a printing press, Prentsmiðja A. Helgasonar, run by Andres Helgason (1867-1939), who was a skilled bookbinder and printer.{{cite news|last1=Oleson|first1=G. J.|title=Ferð til Vatnabygða|url=http://timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?pageId=2165641|work=Heimskringla|date=1 February 1939|page=2}}

The one room school house was named Kandahar School District #3333.

Until the 1970s, Kandahar was a thriving community with various stores and attractions, including a popular steak house. However, in the late 1980s the community's only school closed, and the population has steadily decreased since.

The community was profiled in Aisha Jamal's 2019 documentary film A Kandahar Away.Chelsea Phillips-Carr, [https://povmagazine.com/a-kandahar-away-whats-in-a-name/ "‘A Kandahar Away’: What’s in a name?"]. Point of View, October 22, 2019.

Kandahar's status was changed from organized hamlet to special service area on January 1, 2025.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Kandahar had a population of 10 living in 6 of its 8 total private dwellings, a change of {{percentage|{{#expr:10-20}}|20|1}} from its 2016 population of 20. With a land area of {{cvt|0.46|km2}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|10|0.46|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2021.{{cite web | url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=9810001201 | title=Population and dwelling counts: Canada and designated places | publisher=Statistics Canada | date=February 9, 2022 | accessdate=Aug 31, 2022}}

{{canada_census

|2016_population=20

|2016_pop_delta=0.0

|2016_land_area=0.36

|2016_pop_density=55.6

|2016_pop_rank=

|2016_median_age=

|2016_median_age_m=

|2016_median_age_f=

|2016_total_pvt_dwell=12

|2016_total_pvt_dwell_usual=8

|2016_mean_hh_income=N/A