{{Infobox City in Afghanistan | official_name =Kabul | native_name =کابل | province_name =Kabul | image =Kabul Skyline.jpg | image_size = 275px | image_caption = Kabul City | latd = 34.533 | longd = 69.166 | districts = 18 sectors or boroughs | population_total = 2994000| population_as_of = 2005 | population_footnote = | population_note = UN estimate of city proper | population_metro = | population_metro_as_of = | population_rank = 1st | population_density_km2 = | area_total_km2 = | elevation_m = 1790 | numdistricts = | leader_title = Mayor | leader_name = Engineer Mir Abdul Ahad Sahebi | leader_title_2 = Chief of Police | leader_name_2 = General Mohammad Ayub Salangi }}

Kābul (Persian and Pashto: کابل, IPA: 1) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with an estimated population of approximately three million. It is an economic and cultural centre, situated 5,900 feet (1,800 m) above sea level in a narrow valley, wedged between the Hindu Kush mountains along the Kabul River. Kabul is linked with Ghazni, Kandahar, Herat and Mazar-e Sharif via a long beltway (circular highway) that stretches across the country. It is also linked by highways with Pakistan to the east and southeast and Tajikistan to the north.

Kabul's main products include munitions, cloth, furniture, and beet sugar, but, since 1978, a state of nearly continuous war has limited the economic productivity of the city.

Kabul is over 3,000 years old. Many empires have long fought over the city for its strategic location along the trade routes of Southern and Central Asia. In 1504, Babur captured Kabul and used it as his headquarters until 1526, before his conquest of India. In 1776, Timur Shah Durrani made it the capital of modern Afghanistan. The population of the city is predominantly Persian-speaking. "Kabul." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 17 Feb. 2008 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9044257>.

History

The city of Kabul is thought to have been established between 2000 BCE and 1500 BCE. In the Rig Veda (composed between 1700–1100 BCE) the word "Kubhā" is mentioned, which appears to refer to the Kabul River. There is a reference to a settlement called Kabura by the Persian Achaemenids around 400 BCEFact: date=January 2008 which may be the basis for the use of the name Kabura by Ptolemy. Alexander the Great conquered Kabul during his conquest of the Persian Empire. The city later became part of the Seleucid Empire before becoming part of the Mauryan Empire. The Bactrians founded the town of Paropamisade near Kabul, but it was later ceded to the Mauryans in the 1st century BCE.