Urgun

Urgun
ورګون
Urgun

Location in Afghanistan

Coordinates: 32°54′2.160″N 69°09′24.840″E / 32.90060000°N 69.15690000°E / 32.90060000; 69.15690000Coordinates: 32°54′2.160″N 69°09′24.840″E / 32.90060000°N 69.15690000°E / 32.90060000; 69.15690000
Country  Afghanistan
Province Paktika Province
District Urgun District
Elevation 2,315 m (7,595 ft)
Population
  Total 10,665
  Ethnicities Pashtuns
  Religions Islam
Time zone UTC+4:30

Urgun (Pashto: ورګون, Persian: اورگون), also called Orgun (Pashto: اورګون) or Urgin (Pashto: ورګين), is the main town of the Urgun District of Paktika Province, Afghanistan, with an estimated population of 10,665.[1] Urgun contains the main bazaar of eastern Paktika.

Names

The town of Urgun is also called Loy Urgun (لوی ورګون) or Urgun-e Kalan, "Greater Urgun".

Like many place names in Afghanistan, Urgun can be spelled a number of different ways. Orgun, Urgin, Urgum, Urgim, Urghim, Wargun, Warghun, Arghun, Urgon, and Orgon are the most popular alternative spellings.

History

Formerly, Urgun used to be the capital of the largely undeveloped and remote province of Paktika. In the 1970s, however, the provincial capital was moved from Urgun to the town of Sharana, due to Sharana's proximity with the main highway connecting it to the larger cities and commercial centers of Kabul and Kandahar.

The Siege of Urgun during the Soviet-Afghan War took place between 1983 and 1984. It devastated the town.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, April 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.