Mazar-i-Sharif

The name Mazar-i-Sharif means "tomb of the saint", a reference to the tomb of Ali, cousin, son-in-law and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The tomb is housed in the large, blue-tiled sanctuary and mosque in the center of the city known as the Shrine of Ali or the Blue Mosque.{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/afghanistan/mazaresharif.html|title=The heartbreak of Mazar-e-Sharif|date=January 27, 2004|work=CBC|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128191245/http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/afghanistan/mazaresharif.html |archive-date=January 28, 2013 }}

The Achaemenids controlled the region from the sixth century BCE. Alexander the Great conquered the area but it was then incorporated into the Seleucid Empire after his death. The decline of the Seleucids consequently led to the emergence of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. Around 130 BCE, the Sakas occupied the region and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom fell. The Yuezhi took Mazar-i-Sharif and the surrounding area which led to the creation of the Kushan Empire. The Sasanians subsequently controlled the area after the fall of the Kushans. The Islamic conquests reached Mazar-i-Sharif in 651 CE.{{Cite book|title=International Dictionary of Historic Places, Volume 5: Asia and Oceania|publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers|year=1996|isbn=1-884964-04-4|editor-last=Schellinger|editor-first=Paul|location=Chicago|pages=578–579|editor-last2=Salkin|editor-first2=Robert}}

The region around Mazar-i-Sharif has been historically part of Greater Khorasan and was controlled by the Tahirids followed by the Saffarids, Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Ilkhanids, Timurids, and Khanate of Bukhara.

File:Mazar-i-Sharif & Band-e-Amir Fan.jpg, 2016]]

The poet Jalal al-Din Rumi was born somewhere in this area. His father Baha' Walad was descended from the first caliph Abu Bakr.

The Seljuk sultan Ahmed Sanjar ordered a city and shrine to be built on the location, which was later destroyed by Genghis Khan and his Mongol army in the 13th century, and then rebuilt. During the nineteenth century, due to the absence of drainage systems and the weak economy of the region, the excess water of this area flooded many acres of the land in the vicinity of residential areas causing a malaria epidemic in the region. The ruler of North Central Afghanistan decided to move the capital to Mazar-i-Sharif.{{cite web|url=http://www.afghanmagazine.com/april98/journey/balkh.html|title=Balkh: The Land of Hopes|author=Daud Saba|year=1998|website=www.afghanmagazine.com|access-date=22 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010415205227/http://www.afghanmagazine.com/april98/journey/balkh.html|archive-date=15 April 2001|url-status=dead}}

The city along with the region south of the Amu Darya became part of the Durrani Empire in around 1751. For the most part the region was controlled by autonomous Uzbek rulers). After the Bukharan-Durrani war of 1788–1790, Qilich Ali Beg of Khulm formed a mini-empire stretching from Balkh to Aybak, Saighan, Kahmard, Darra-i Suf, and Qunduz.{{Cite book|last=Noelle|first=Christine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ylTi-e2C_0IC|title=State and Tribe in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan (1826–1863)|date=2012-06-25|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-60317-4|language=en}} When he died in 1817, the Balkh and Mazar-i Sharif region became an independent city state with Aqcha as its dependency. In November 1837 the Bukharans conquered the city but Balkh was still able to retain autonomy.{{Cite book|last=Noelle|first=Christine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ylTi-e2C_0IC|title=State and Tribe in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan (1826–1863)|date=2012-06-25|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-60317-4|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Lee|first=Jonathan L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYaamE_3kD4C|title=The "Ancient Supremacy": Bukhara, Afghanistan and the Battle for Balkh, 1731-1901|date=1996-01-01|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-10399-3|language=en}} In 1849 the city was conquered and annexed into Afghanistan.

During the 1980s Soviet–Afghan War, Mazar-i-Sharif was a strategic base for the Soviet Army as they used its airport to launch air strikes on mujahideen rebels. Mazar-i-Sharif was also the main city that linked to Soviet territory in the north, especially the roads leading to the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. As a garrison for the Soviet-backed Afghan Army, the city was under the command of General Abdul Rashid Dostum. Mujahideen militias Hezbe Wahdat and Jamiat-e Islami both attempted to contest the city but were repelled by the Army. Dostum mutinied against Mohammad Najibullah's government on March 19, 1992, shortly before its collapse, and formed his new party and militia, Junbish-e Milli. The party took over the city the next day. Afterwards Mazar-i-Sharif became the de facto capital of a relatively stable and secular proto-state in northern Afghanistan under the rule of Dostum. The city remained peaceful and prosperous, whilst rest of the nation disintegrated and was slowly taken over by fundamentalist Taliban forces.The Last Warlord: The Life and Legend of Dostum, the Afghan Warrior Who Led US Special Forces to Topple the Taliban Regime by Brian Glyn Williams, 2013 The city was called at the time a "glittering jewel in Afghanistan's battered crown". Money rolled in from foreign donors Russia, Turkey, newly independent Uzbekistan and others, with whom Dostum had established close relations.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/21/afghanistan.terrorism2|title=Fighters to repay Taliban cruelty|first=Chris Stephen in Dashti|last=Qala|date=20 October 2001|website=the Guardian|access-date=22 September 2018}} He printed his own currency for the region and established his own airline. The city remained relatively liberal as Kabul previously was, where activities such as coeducational schools and betting was legal as opposed to the Taliban dominated regions in the south of the country.{{cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1084846.html|title=Afghanistan: Taliban Tries To Consolidate Hold On Rebel Stronghold|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=9 April 2008 |last1=Recknagel |first1=Charles }}

This peace was shattered in May 1997 when he was betrayed by one of his generals, warlord Abdul Malik Pahlawan who allied himself with the Taliban, forcing him to flee from Mazar-i-Sharif as the Taliban were getting ready to take the city through Pahlawan. Afterwards Pahlawan himself mutinied the Taliban on the deal and it was reported that between May and July 1997 that Pahlawan executed thousands of Taliban members, that he personally did many of the killings by slaughtering the prisoners as a revenge for the 1995 death of Abdul Ali Mazari. "He is widely believed to have been responsible for the brutal massacre of up to 3,000 Taliban prisoners after inviting them into Mazar-i-Sharif."{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1615824.stm#pahlawan |title=Afghan powerbrokers: Who's who |work=BBC News |date=November 19, 2001|access-date=2011-04-01}} Several of the Taliban escaped the slaughtering and reported what had happened. Meanwhile, Dostum came back and took the city again from Pahlawan.

However the Taliban retaliated in 1998 attacking the city and killing an estimated 8,000 non-combatants. At 10 am on 8 August 1998, the Taliban entered the city and for the next two days drove their pickup trucks "up and down the narrow streets of Mazar-i-Sharif shooting to the left and right and killing everything that moved—shop owners, cart pullers, women and children shoppers and even goats and donkeys."Rashid, Taliban (2000), p.73. More than 8000 noncombatants were reported killed in Mazar-i-Sharif and later in Bamiyan.Goodson, Afghanistan's Endless War, (2001), p.79. In addition, the Taliban were criticized for forbidding anyone from burying the corpses for the first six days (contrary to the injunctions of Islam, which demands immediate burial) while the remains rotted in the summer heat and were eaten by dogs.[https://www.hrw.org/reports98/afghan/Afrepor0-02.htm#P114_24041 THE MASSACRE IN MAZAR-I SHARIF, THE FIRST DAY OF THE TAKEOVER]. The Taliban also reportedly sought out and massacred members of the Hazara, while in control of Mazar.

{{Further|Fall of Mazar-i-Sharif|War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|International Security Assistance Force|2021 Taliban offensive}}

Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Mazar-i-Sharif was the first Afghan city to fall to the U.S.-backed Afghan military alliance, Northern Alliance (United Front). The Taliban's defeat in Mazar quickly turned into a rout from the rest of the north and west of Afghanistan. After the Battle of Mazar-i-Sharif in November 2001, the city was officially captured by forces of the Northern Alliance. They were joined by the United States Special Operations Forces and supported by U.S. Air Force aircraft. After this battle, the Northern Alliance advanced towards the city of Kunduz, which was the last remaining Taliban stronghold in northern Afghanistan. The siege of the city lasted two weeks with the city being captured on November 25.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/nov/22/afghanistan.brianwhitaker |title= Northern stronghold ready to capitulate |access-date=2009-08-15 |last= Harding |first=Luke |author2=Watt, Nicholas |author3=Whitaker, Brian |date=22 November 2001 |work=The Guardian}} Around 8,000 Taliban fighters were captured. They were taken to Mazar-i-Sharif and then to Sheberghan prison in Jowzjan Province. Between 400 and 3,000 prisoners were reportedly massacred by the Northern Alliance during the journey and buried in mass graves in the Dasht-e Leili desert west of Sheberghan.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/sep/14/afghanistan.lukeharding|title=Afghan Massacre Haunts Pentagon |work=The Guardian|date=2002-09-14 |location=London |first=Luke |last=Harding |access-date=2010-05-12}}

File:Luftwaffe Tornados in Afghanistan.jpg, located south of the city next to Mazar-i-Sharif Airport]]

The city slowly came under the control of the Karzai administration after 2002, which is led by President Hamid Karzai. The 209th Corps (Shaheen) of the Afghan National Army is based at Mazar-i-Sharif, which provides military assistance to northern Afghanistan. The Afghan Border Police headquarters for the Northern Zone is also located in the city. Despite the security put in place, there are reports of Taliban activities and assassinations of tribal elders. Officials in Mazar-i-Sharif reported that between 20 and 30 Afghan tribal elders have been assassinated in Balkh Province in the last several years. There is no conclusive evidence as to who is behind it but majority of the victims are said to have been associated with the Hezb-i Islami political party.

File:Thomas de Maizière with Afghan Governor Atta.jpg, German Minister of Defense, with Balkh Governor Atta Muhammad Nur in 2010]]

File:John Kerry at Balkh University in May 2011.jpg John Kerry at Balkh University in May 2011]]

File:Carpet seller in mazar-e-sharif.jpg

Small-scale clashes between militias belonging to different commanders persisted throughout 2002, and were the focus of intensive UN peace-brokering and small arms disarmament programme. After some pressure, an office of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission opened an office in Mazar in April 2003. There were reports about northern Pashtun civilians being ethnically cleansed by the other groups, mainly by ethnic Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks.

NATO-led peacekeeping forces in and around the city provided assistance to the Afghan government. ISAF Regional Command North, led by Germany, is stationed at Camp Marmal which lies next to Mazar-i-Sharif Airport. Since 2006, Provincial Reconstruction Team Mazar-i-Sharif had unit commanders from Sweden on loan to ISAF. The unit is stationed at Camp Northern Lights which is located {{convert|10|km|mi|0|spell=on|abbr=off}} west of Camp Marmal. Camp Nidaros, located within Camp Marmal, has soldiers from Latvia and Norway and is led by an ISAF-officer from Norway.

In 2006, the discovery of new Hellenistic remains was announced.{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/afghanistan/story/2006/07/060727_s-balkh-monument.shtml |title=Balkh Monument |publisher=BBC Persian |date=6 July 2006 |access-date=2011-04-01}}

On April 1, 2011, ten foreign employees working for United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) were killed by angry demonstrators in the city. The demonstration was organized in retaliation to pastors Terry Jones and Wayne Sapp's March 21 Qur'an-burning in Florida, United States.{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hiqhizasRIx4id4gcrj5d09Gg_5g|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110325012110/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hiqhizasRIx4id4gcrj5d09Gg_5g|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 25, 2011|title=AFP: Koran burnt in Florida church|website=Google News|access-date=22 September 2018}} Among the dead were five Nepalis, a Norwegian, Romanian and Swedish nationals, two of them were said to be decapitated.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12940014 |title=UN staff killed during protest in northern Afghanistan |work=BBC News |date=April 1, 2011 |access-date=2011-04-01}}{{cite news |url=http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/04/01/10-un-workers-killed-beheaded-mazar-attack |title=10 UN workers killed, beheaded in Mazar attack |publisher=Pajhwok Afghan News |date=April 1, 2011 |access-date=2011-04-01}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/01/un-staff-afghanistan-mazar-sharif-killed-quran |title=UN staff killed in Afghanistan amid protests over Qur'an burning |first=Jon |last=Boone |work=The Guardian |date=April 1, 2011 |access-date=2011-04-01 |location=London}} Terry Jones, the American pastor who was going to burn Islam's Holy Book, denied his responsibility for incitement.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12940596 |title=Pastor Terry Jones: 'We are not responsible' |work=BBC News |date=April 1, 2011 |access-date=2011-04-01}} President Barack Obama strongly condemned both the Quran burning, calling it an act of "extreme intolerance and bigotry", and the "outrageous" attacks by protesters, referring to them as "an affront to human decency and dignity." "No religion tolerates the slaughter and beheading of innocent people, and there is no justification for such a dishonorable and deplorable act."[http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/03/obama-condemns-quran-burning-%E2%80%98bigotry%E2%80%99.html "Obama condemns Quran burning 'bigotry'"], Dawn, 3 April 2011 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408041104/http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/03/obama-condemns-quran-burning-%E2%80%98bigotry%E2%80%99.html |date=April 8, 2011 }} U.S. legislators, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, also condemned both the burning and the violence in reaction to it.[https://www.voanews.com/a/us-legislators-condemn-quran-burning-violent-reaction-119148959/137441.html US Legislators Condemn Quran Burning, Violent Reaction], Voice of America, 3 April 2011

By July 2011 violence grew to a record high in the insurgency.{{cite news|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gvokSSxBerTREE-SKocgAXHMdbLQ?docId=CNG.fe768764ef7d83a788e89cdd526cf0de.9f1|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120910110246/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gvokSSxBerTREE-SKocgAXHMdbLQ?docId=CNG.fe768764ef7d83a788e89cdd526cf0de.9f1|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 10, 2012|title=NATO hands control of Mazar-i-Sharif to Afghans|publisher=AFP|author=Enayat Najafizada |date=July 23, 2011|access-date=July 23, 2011}} In late July 2011, NATO troops also handed control of Mazar-i-Sharif to local forces amid rising security fears just days after it was hit by a deadly bombing. Mazar-i-Sharif is the sixth of seven areas to transition to Afghan control, but critics say the timing is political and there is skepticism over Afghan abilities to combat the Taliban insurgency.

On 10 November 2016, a suicide attacker rammed a truck bomb into the wall of the German consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif. Eight people were killed and more than a hundred others were injured.{{cite web |title=German consulate in Afghanistan |date=10 November 2016 |url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/at-least-6-killed-in-taliban-attack-on-german-consulate-in-afghanistan |publisher=Fox News |agency=Associated Press |access-date=November 11, 2016}}{{cite web |last1=Fahim|first1=Hamid |title=Taliban attack German consulate in Afghanistan's Mazar-i-Sharif |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/taliban-attack-german-consulate-afghanistans-mazar-sharif-201341427.html |publisher=yahoo.com |agency=Agence France-Presse (AFP) |access-date=November 10, 2016}}

On 21 April 2017, a coordinated Taliban attack killed more than 100 people at Camp Shaheen, the Afghan Army base in Mazar-i-Sharif.{{cite news|title=Afghan casualties in Taliban Mazar-e Sharif attack pass 100|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39672357|access-date=23 April 2017|work=BBC News|date=22 April 2017}}

In November 2018, VOA reported that 40 houses in Qazil Abad, an immediate suburb of Mazar-i-Sharif, used unexploded Soviet Grad surface-to-surface rockets as construction materials. As a result, several people were killed and wounded from explosions over the years. These rockets, left behind by the Soviet Army in 1989 at the end of the Soviet–Afghan War, were used as cheap building materials by the poor residents of the village. It was estimated that over 400 rockets were incorporated into the village as wall and ceiling beams, door-stoppers, and even footbridges used by children. When the rest of the world discovered this fact, the Danish demining group of the Danish Refugee Council visited the village and, after asking the residents, began demining and rebuilding the village, safely removing and disposing of the rockets through controlled detonation at the border with Uzbekistan.{{cite news|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/afghan-village-uses-live-rockets-to-build-homes-bridges-/4690545.html|title=Afghan Village Uses Live Rockets to Build Homes, Bridges|author1=Mirwais Bezhan|author2=Mohammad Habibzada|date=6 December 2018|work=VOA}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-47137978|title=The village built from missiles|work=BBC News }}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06ygr65|title=BBC World Service – The Fifth Floor, The village made of missiles|website=BBC|date=18 January 2019 }}

President Ghani visited the city on 11 August 2021 to rally local warlords to fight the Taliban.{{cite news |title=Afghanistan: Taliban attack Mazar-e-Sharif — live updates |url=https://www.dw.com/en/afghanistan-taliban-attack-mazar-e-sharif-live-updates/a-58863457 |access-date=14 August 2021 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=14 August 2021}} On 14 August, the Taliban captured Mazar-i-Sharif along with Sharana and Asadabad, the provincial capitals of Paktika and Kunar provinces respectively.{{cite web|date=2021-08-14|title=Boris Johnson urged to send humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan – follow live|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/afghanistan-news-live-taliban-latest-b1902581.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/afghanistan-news-live-taliban-latest-b1902581.html |archive-date=2022-05-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-14|website=The Independent|language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Seir |first1=Ahmad |last2=Faietz |first2=Rahim |last3=Krauss |first3=Joseph |title=Taliban approach capital's outskirts, attack northern city |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-taliban-f600d6faf28e9c2ccb454ad176987b19 |access-date=14 August 2021 |work=Associated Press News |date=14 August 2021}}{{cite news |title=Major northern Afghan city Mazar-i-Sharif falls to Taliban |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/14/major-northern-afghan-city-mazar-i-sharif-falls-to-the-taliban |access-date=15 August 2021 |work=Al Jazeera |date=14 August 2021}} Local government forces and regional leaders Abdul Rashid Dostum and Atta Mohammad Noor fled to neighboring Uzbekistan.{{cite news |title=Afghan militia leaders Atta Noor, Dostum escape 'conspiracy' |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/afghan-militia-leaders-atta-noor-dostum-escape-conspiracy-2021-08-14/ |work=Reuters |date=14 August 2021 |access-date=14 August 2021}}

On 21 April 2022, Islamic State – Khorasan Province killed 31 people by bombing a Shia mosque. A week later, 11 people were killed in a double bombing.

Mazar-i-Sharif is also known for the Afghan song Bia ke berem ba Mazar (Come let's go to Mazar) by Sarban.{{cite web|url=https://en.qantara.de/content/on-tour-in-afghanistan-part-1-on-the-highway-from-kabul-to-mazar-i-sharif|title=On Tour in Afghanistan, Part 1: On the Highway from Kabul to Mazar-i-Sharif – Qantara.de|website=qantara.de|access-date=22 September 2018}}

Mazar-i-Sharif has a cold steppe climate (Köppen climate classification BSk) with hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation is low and mostly falls between December and April. The climate in Mazar-i-Sharif is very hot during the summer with daily temperatures of over {{convert|40|°C|°F}} from June to August. The winters are cold with temperatures falling below freezing; it may snow from November through March.{{cite news|title=First snow of this winter covered North Afghanistan|url=http://ariananews.af/regional/first-snow-of-this-winter-covered-north-afghanistan/|access-date=25 January 2014|date=9 November 2011|agency=Ariana News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125190850/http://ariananews.af/regional/first-snow-of-this-winter-covered-north-afghanistan/ |location=Mazar-i-Sharif|archive-date=2014-01-25}}

{{Weather box

|width = auto

| location = Mazar-i-Sharif

| metric first = Yes

| single line = Yes

| Jan record high C = 24.0

| Feb record high C = 28.6

| Mar record high C = 32.4

| Apr record high C = 37.8

| May record high C = 43.0

| Jun record high C = 45.6

| Jul record high C = 48.1

| Aug record high C = 46.0

| Sep record high C = 39.5

| Oct record high C = 37.0

| Nov record high C = 29.8

| Dec record high C = 24.4

| Jan high C = 8.0

| Feb high C = 10.7

| Mar high C = 16.3

| Apr high C = 24.3

| May high C = 31.2

| Jun high C = 37.0

| Jul high C = 38.9

| Aug high C = 36.9

| Sep high C = 31.9

| Oct high C = 24.7

| Nov high C = 16.4

| Dec high C = 10.8

| Jan mean C = 2.6

| Feb mean C = 5.1

| Mar mean C = 10.8

| Apr mean C = 17.9

| May mean C = 24.5

| Jun mean C = 29.9

| Jul mean C = 33.3

| Aug mean C = 29.9

| Sep mean C = 23.9

| Oct mean C = 16.7

| Nov mean C = 9.1

| Dec mean C = 5.1

| Jan low C = -2.1

| Feb low C = 0.0

| Mar low C = 5.1

| Apr low C = 11.3

| May low C = 16.6

| Jun low C = 22.5

| Jul low C = 25.9

| Aug low C = 23.8

| Sep low C = 17.1

| Oct low C = 9.4

| Nov low C = 3.2

| Dec low C = 0.0

| Jan record low C = −22.3

| Feb record low C = -24.0

| Mar record low C = −6.1

| Apr record low C = -0.8

| May record low C = 1.0

| Jun record low C = 11.4

| Jul record low C = 11.1

| Aug record low C = 13.7

| Sep record low C = 2.6

| Oct record low C = 4.5

| Nov record low C = −8.7

| Dec record low C = −15.5

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation mm = 28.9

| Feb precipitation mm = 34.8

| Mar precipitation mm = 43.8

| Apr precipitation mm = 28.3

| May precipitation mm = 11.2

| Jun precipitation mm = 0.2

| Jul precipitation mm = 0.0

| Aug precipitation mm = 0.0

| Sep precipitation mm = 0.1

| Oct precipitation mm = 3.9

| Nov precipitation mm = 13.5

| Dec precipitation mm = 21.7

| Jan rain days = 4

| Feb rain days = 7

| Mar rain days = 10

| Apr rain days = 9

| May rain days = 4

| Jun rain days = 0

| Jul rain days = 0

| Aug rain days = 0

| Sep rain days = 0

| Oct rain days = 2

| Nov rain days = 4

| Dec rain days = 6

| Jan snow days = 4

| Feb snow days = 3

| Mar snow days = 1

| Apr snow days = 0

| May snow days = 0

| Jun snow days = 0

| Jul snow days = 0

| Aug snow days = 0

| Sep snow days = 0

| Oct snow days = 0

| Nov snow days = 0

| Dec snow days = 2

| Jan sun = 122.2

| Feb sun = 118.4

| Mar sun = 158.1

| Apr sun = 193.8

| May sun = 299.9

| Jun sun = 352.9

| Jul sun = 364.4

| Aug sun = 332.7

| Sep sun = 298.2

| Oct sun = 223.2

| Nov sun = 173.6

| Dec sun = 125.5

| Jan humidity = 79

| Feb humidity = 77

| Mar humidity = 72

| Apr humidity = 64

| May humidity = 44

| Jun humidity = 27

| Jul humidity = 25

| Aug humidity = 24

| Sep humidity = 28

| Oct humidity = 41

| Nov humidity = 62

| Dec humidity = 75

| source 1 = NOAA (1959–1983){{cite web |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1961-1990/RA-II/AH/40911.TXT |title=Mazar-i-Sharif Climate Normals 1959–1983 |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date=December 25, 2012}}

| date = September 2011

}}

{{Further|Demographics of Afghanistan}}

File:Maulana Jalaludin park in northern Afghanistan-2.jpg in 2012]]

The city of Mazar-i-Sharif has a total population of 500,207,{{cite web |url=https://www.nsia.gov.af:8080/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Estimated-Population-of-Afghanistan1-1400.pdf |title=Estimated Population of Afghanistan 2021–22 |author= |date=April 2021 |website= |publisher=National Statistic and Information Authority (NSIA)|archive-date=June 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624204559/https://www.nsia.gov.af:8080/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Estimated-Population-of-Afghanistan1-1400.pdf|url-status=live |access-date=June 21, 2021 |quote=}} and is the fourth-largest city of Afghanistan by population.{{cite web|title=The State of Afghan Cities Report 2015 |url=http://unhabitat.org/books/soac2015/ |access-date=21 October 2015 |ref=UN-Habitat |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031111515/http://unhabitat.org/books/soac2015/ |archive-date=31 October 2015 }} It has a total land area of 8,304 Hectares with 77,615 total number of dwellings.{{cite web|title=The State of Afghan Cities Report 2015|url=http://unhabitat.org/books/soac2015_volume2/|access-date=20 October 2015|ref=UN-Habitat|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031111658/http://unhabitat.org/books/soac2015_volume2/|archive-date=31 October 2015|url-status=dead}}

The November 2003 issue of National Geographic magazine indicated the ethnic composition as Pashtuns 15%, Hazaras 12%, Tajiks 53%, Turkmens 10%, and Uzbeks 20%.{{cite web |url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0311/feature2/images/mp_download.2.pdf |title=2003 National Geographic Population Map |work=Thomas Gouttierre, Center For Afghanistan Studies, University of Nebraska at Omaha; Matthew S. Baker, Stratfor |publisher=National Geographic Society |date=November 2003 |access-date=2022-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080911075214/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0311/feature2/images/mp_download.2.pdf |archive-date=2008-09-11}} Occasional ethnic violence has been reported in the region in the last decades, mainly between Pashtuns and the other groups.{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002/05/13/pashtuns.htm |title=Pashtuns say they're being brutalized |date=2002-05-12 |newspaper=USA Today |access-date=2011-04-01|first=Steven|last=Komarow}}{{cite news |url=http://www.hewad.com/news2.htm |title=UN Condemns Attacks On Ethnic Pashtuns |date=March 14, 2002 |first=Charles |last=Recknagel |publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |location=Prague |website=hewad.com |access-date=2011-04-01}}{{cite news |url=http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/4-2-2002-15812.asp |title=Pashtuns attacked in brutal raids by rival ethnic groups |year=2008 |work=Guardian News |publisher=buzzle.com |access-date=2011-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050209000904/http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/4-2-2002-15812.asp |archive-date=2005-02-09 |url-status=usurped }}{{cite news|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,IRBC,,AFG,,3ae6aab050,0.html |title=Afghanistan: Situation in, or around, Aqcha (Jawzjan province) including predominant tribal/ethnic group and who is currently in control |date=February 1, 1999 |publisher=Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada/UNHCR |access-date=2011-04-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510011619/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country%2C%2CIRBC%2C%2CAFG%2C%2C3ae6aab050%2C0.html |archive-date=May 10, 2011 }} In 2011 news reports mentioned assassinations taking place in the area but with no evidence as to who is behind them.{{cite news |url=http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/03/31/tribal-elders-balkh-worry-about-assassinations |title=Tribal elders in Balkh worry about assassinations |date=March 31, 2011 |first=Zabiullah |last=Ehsas |publisher=Pajhwok Afghan News |location=Afghanistan |access-date=2011-04-01}}

The dominant language in Mazar-i-Sharif is Persian, followed by Pashto, and Uzbek.

{{Further|Economy of Afghanistan}}

File:Berezka (5778258455).jpg name in Cyrillic]]

Mazar-i-Sharif serves as the major trading center in northern Afghanistan. The local economy is dominated by trade, agriculture and Karakul sheep farming. Small-scale oil and gas exploitation have also boosted the city's prospects. It is also the location of consulates of India and Pakistan for trading and political links.{{cite web |title=Mazar-e-Sharif Consular Affairs – Ministry of Foreign Affairs |url=https://mofa.gov.pk/mazar-e-sharif-afghanistan-consular-affairs/ |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs Government of Pakistan}}{{cite web |title=Consulates: Mazar-e-Sharif |url=https://eoi.gov.in/kabul/?0350?000 |website=Embassies of India}}

The modern city of Mazar-i Sharif is centred around the Shrine of Ali. Much restored, it is one of Afghanistan's most glorious monuments. Outside Mazar-i Sharif lies the ancient city of Balkh. The city is a centre for the traditional buzkashi sport, and the Blue Mosque is the focus of northern Afghanistan's Nowruz celebration. Although most Muslims believe that the real grave of Ali is found within Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, Iraq, others still come to Mazar-i-Sharif to pay respect.

File:C-5 Galaxy at Mazar-e-Sharif Airport in northern Afghanistan.jpg at Mazar-i-Sharif Airport]]

File:Blue Mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif.jpg is a destination for pilgrims.]]

File:Palace of Balkh Governor in 2010.jpg

File:Gate of Mazar-e Sharif in July 2012.jpg

• Airports
• Mazar-i-Sharif Airport – serves the population of Balkh Province and is also used by NATO-led forces, including the Afghan Air Force. It is being expanded to become the 4th international airport in Afghanistan.
• Mosques
• Shrine of Ali
• Parks and monuments
• Park-e-Ariana
• Maulana Jalaludin Cultural Park
• Tashkurgan Palace
• Governors Palace
• Mazar-i-Sharif Gate
• Khalid Ibn-al Walid Park{{cite web|url=http://rasaana.com/archives/1392/15/1231|title= پارک تفریحی شهرک خالد ابن رسانه|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202173921/http://rasaana.com/archives/1392/15/1231 |archive-date=2014-02-02 }}
• Universities
• Balkh University
• Aria University
• Sadat University
• Mawlana University
• Taj University
• Turkistan University
• Rah-e-Saadat University

;Professional sports teams from Mazar-i-Sharif

• Stadiums
• Balkh Cricket Stadium
• Buzkashi Stadium

{{Further|Transport in Afghanistan}}

File:Hairatan to Mazar-e-Sharif Railway Project in Afghanistan.jpg

It became the first city in Afghanistan to connect itself by rail with a neighboring country. Rail service from Mazar-i-Sharif to Uzbekistan began in December 2011 and cargo on freight trains arrive at a station near Mazar-i-Sharif Airport,{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16287929 |work=BBC News |title=Afghan railway: First train runs on new line in north |date=December 21, 2011}} where the goods are reloaded onto trucks or airplanes and sent to their last destinations across Afghanistan.

As of June 2016 Mazar-i-Sharif Airport has direct air connections to Kabul, Mashad, Tehran, and Istanbul.

Highway AH76 links Mazar-i-Sharif to Sheberghan in the west, and Pul-e Khomri and Kabul to the south-east. Roads to the east link it to Kunduz. Roads to the north link it to the Uzbek border town Termez, where it becomes highway M39 going north to Samarkand and Tashkent. Roads to the south link it to Bamiyan Province and the mountainous range of central Afghanistan.

{{expand section|date=November 2019}}

• Emir Wazir Akbar Khan, buried in the city
• Emir Sher Ali Khan, buried in the city
• Ajab Khan Afridi, freedom fighter against the British Raj
• Morsal Obeidi (German-Afghan murder victim) – Born in Mazar-i-Sharif,{{cite web|url=https://www.shz.de/regionales/hamburg/hamburg-vor-zehn-jahren-starb-morsal-obeidi-id19848571.html|author=Hencke, Gerrit|title=Hamburg: Vor zehn Jahren starb Morsal Obeidi|work=Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag|date=2018-05-15|access-date=2019-11-30|language=de|quote=Morsal Obeidi wurde am 7. September 1991 in Masar-e Scharif[...]}} moved to Germany at age three,{{cite web|author=Gutsch, Jochen-Martin|author-link=:de:Jochen-Martin Gutsch|author2=Per Hinrichs|author3=Susanne Koelbl|author4=Gunther Latsch|author5=Sven Röbel|author6=Andreas Ulrich|translator=Christopher Sultan|url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/the-high-price-of-freedom-honor-killing-victim-wanted-to-live-like-other-german-girls-a-555667.html|title=The High Price of Freedom|work=Der Spiegel|date=2008-05-27|page=[https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/the-high-price-of-freedom-honor-killing-victim-wanted-to-live-like-other-german-girls-a-555667.html 1]|access-date=2019-11-30}} – Original German version: {{cite news|url=https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-57119339.html|title=Eigentum des Mannes|newspaper=Der Spiegel |date=25 May 2008 |last1=Gutsch |first1=Jochen-Martin |last2=Hinrichs |first2=Per |last3=Koelbl |first3=Susanne |last4=Latsch |first4=Gunther |last5=Röbel |first5=Sven |last6=Ulrich |first6=Andreas }} – [https://magazin.spiegel.de/EpubDelivery/spiegel/pdf/57119339 PDF page]. and lived in Mazar-i-Sharif for eight months after her parents sent her there to Islamize her.{{cite web|author=Gutsch, Jochen-Martin|author-link=:de:Jochen-Martin Gutsch|author2=Per Hinrichs|author3=Susanne Koelbl|author4=Gunther Latsch|author5=Sven Röbel|author6=Andreas Ulrich|translator=Christopher Sultan|url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/the-high-price-of-freedom-honor-killing-victim-wanted-to-live-like-other-german-girls-a-555667.html|title=The High Price of Freedom|work=Der Spiegel|date=2008-05-27|page=[https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/the-high-price-of-freedom-honor-killing-victim-wanted-to-live-like-other-german-girls-a-555667-2.html 2]|access-date=2019-11-30}} – Original German version: {{cite news|url=https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-57119339.html|title=Eigentum des Mannes|newspaper=Der Spiegel |date=25 May 2008 |last1=Gutsch |first1=Jochen-Martin |last2=Hinrichs |first2=Per |last3=Koelbl |first3=Susanne |last4=Latsch |first4=Gunther |last5=Röbel |first5=Sven |last6=Ulrich |first6=Andreas }} – [https://magazin.spiegel.de/EpubDelivery/spiegel/pdf/57119339 PDF page]
• Zalmay Khalilzad (Afghan born American diplomat)
• Wasef Bakhtari, Afghan poet of the Persian language, literary figure and intellectual, one of the first Persian poets to introduce she’r-e nimaa'i ("Nimaic poetry") to Afghan-Persian literature, grew up in Mazar-i-Sharif
• Abdul Ali Mazari, ethnic Hazara and political leader of the Hezb-e Wahdat party, born in the village of Charkent, south of the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif
• Muhammad Mohaqiq, politician in Afghanistan as a member of the Afghanistan Parliament, founder and chairman of the People's Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan
• Atta Muhammad Nur, former mujahideen resistance commander for the Jamiat-e Islami against the Soviets and also commander in the United Front (Northern Alliance) under Ahmad Shah Massoud against the Taliban, also former Governor of Balkh Province (2004–2018), born in Mazar-i-Sharif
• Farshad Noor, Afghan professional football player who plays as a midfielder for the Afghanistan national football team

• {{flagicon|TJK}} Dushanbe, Tajikistan (since 1991)
• {{flagicon|IRN}} Mashhad, Iran

{{Portal|Afghanistan}}

• Battle of Qala-i-Jangi
• Balkh Province

{{Reflist}}

• [http://pantheon.hrw.org/legacy/reports98/afghan/index.htm#TopOfPage 'The Massacre in Mazar-i Sharif']. Report of Human Rights Watch, November 1998, Vol. 10, No. 7 (C). Retrieved 18 November 2017.
• {{cite EB1911|wstitle= Mazar-i-Sharif |volume= 17 | page= 941 |short= 1}}
• [https://watanchat.com/noble-shrine/ Noble Shrine or MAZAR-I-SHARIF a pilgrimage city in Afghanistan]
• Dupree, Nancy Hatch (1977): An Historical Guide to Afghanistan. 1st Edition: 1970. 2nd Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Afghan Tourist Organization.

{{Commons category|Mazar-e-Sharif}}

• {{wikivoyage inline|Mazar-e Sharif}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.islamicarchitecturedatabase.org/ircica/index2.php?page=Country&id=1 |title=Mezar-i Sharif |work=Islamic Cultural Heritage Database |publisher=Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture |location=Istanbul |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615060946/http://www.islamicarchitecturedatabase.org/ircica/index2.php?page=Country&id=1 |archive-date=June 15, 2013}}

{{Balkh Province}}

{{AfghanistanLargestCities}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Balkh Province

Category:Cities in Afghanistan

Category:Cities in Central Asia

Category:Populated places in Balkh Province

Category:Populated places along the Silk Road

Category:Provincial capitals in Afghanistan

Category:Populated places with period of establishment missing