Jowzjan Province
|
Jowzjan ولایت جوزجان |
|
|---|---|
| Province | |
 Map of Afghanistan with Jowzjan highlighted |
|
| Coordinates: 36°45′N 66°00′E / 36.75°N 66.00°ECoordinates: 36°45′N 66°00′E / 36.75°N 66.00°E | |
| Country |
 Afghanistan
|
| Capital | Sheberghan |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Maulvi Lutfullah Azizi |
| Area | |
| • Total | 11,798.3 km2 (4,555.3 sq mi) |
| Population (2015) | |
| • Total | 540,255 |
| • Density | 46/km2 (120/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+4:30 |
| ISO 3166 code | AF-JOW |
| Main languages |
Dari Uzbek Turkmen Pashto |
Jowzjan, sometimes spelled as Jawzjan or Jozjan (Persian: ولایت جوزجان, Pashto: جوزجان ولايت), is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country bordering neighboring Turkmenistan. The province is divided into 11 districts and contains hundreds of villages. It has a population of about 512,100, which is multi-ethnic and mostly agriculturers. Sheberghan is the capital of Jozjan province.
The province is named after the early medieval region and principality of Juzjan. Between the early 16th century and mid-18th century, the area was ruled by the Khanate of Bukhara. It was conquered by Ahmad Shah Durrani and became part of the Durrani Empire in or about 1750, which formed to the modern state of Afghanistan. The area was untouched by the British during the three Anglo-Afghan wars that were fought in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Following a series of changing allegiances and falling out with Uzbek warlord Abdul Malik Pahlawan in 1997, the Taliban withdrew from the area, but in 1998 a contingent of 8,000 Taliban troops pressed through neighboring Faryab, seizing Abdul Rashid Dostum's headquarters in Sheberghan.
Swedish-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), which has been based in Mazar-e-Sharif since about 2005 and responsible for four provinces including Jozjan, established an office and some troops in the province. Security situation in the province has rapidly deteriorated in 2009 and 2010. A new Turkish PRT has also been established in the province in the summer of 2010, providing security to the area which also covers Sar-e Pol. The Afghan National Security Forces (ANFS) began expanding in the last decade and gradually took over security from International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The Afghanistan-Turkmenistan border is maintained by the Afghan Border Police (ABP) while law and order for the rest of the province is provided by the NATO-trained Afghan National Police (ANP).
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Wikipedia