Wazir Akbar Khan, Kabul

Wazir Akbar Khan
Neighborhood of Kabol
Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in Kabul

Wazir Akbar Khan in northern Kabul
Country  Afghanistan
Province Kabul

Wazir Akbar Khan (وزیر اکبر خان) is a neighbourhood in northern Kabul, Afghanistan, named after the 19th century Afghan Emir Wazir Akbar Khan. It is one of the wealthiest parts in Kabul. Many foreign embassies are located there, including the American and Canadian.[1] The Kabul International Airport is also located in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood.

It is a common place for foreign workers to live. The streets are laid out on a grid with Western, two-story houses that date back to the 1960s and 1970s.[2] Like much of Kabul, the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) provide security for the area. Most of Afghanistan's national government institutions are located in the area, including the Presidential Palace, the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force and the German-Afghan Amani High School. A Marriott Hotel is being constructed across from the U.S. Embassy.

Terminology

The neighborhood is named after Emir Wazir Akbar Khan, a prominent Afghan hero during the early 1840s, a son of Emir Dost Mohammad Barakzai.

Akbar is Arabic for "great" and Khan means "chief/King" in Pashto.

In popular culture

The early part of the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is set in this suburb.

The second half of Max Ledman's novel "Conspiracy" takes place in this suburb.

References

Coordinates: 34°32′10″N 69°11′02″E / 34.536116°N 69.183869°E / 34.536116; 69.183869


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 30, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.