Jalalabad

Jalalabad

Jalalabad (/dʒəˈlæləˌbæd/; جلال آباد [d͡ʒä.lɑː.lɑː.bɑːd̪]) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274,[3] and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about 130 kilometres (80 mi) from the capital Kabul. Jalalabad is located at the junction of the Kabul River and the Kunar River in a plateau to the south of the Hindu Kush mountains.[4] It is linked by the Kabul-Jalalabad Road to the west and Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to the east through Torkham and the Khyber Pass. Jalalabad is a leading center of social and trade activity because of its proximity with the Torkham border checkpoint and border crossing, 65 km (40 mi) away.[5] Major industries include papermaking, as well as agricultural products including oranges, lemon, rice, and sugarcane, helped by its warm climate.[6] It hosts Afghanistan's second largest educational institute, Nangarhar University. For centuries the city has been favored by Afghan kings[7] and it has a cultural significance in Afghan poetry.[4] During Timur Shah's reign of the Durrani Empire, Jalalabad served as the Afghan winter capital.[8] Known at the time by names such as Nagarhara and Adinapur, Jalalabad was a major center of Greco-Buddhist culture during the late 1st millennium BCE, focused on sites such as Ahin Posh.