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City profile · Afghanistan · Asia

Mazār-e Sharīf

Balkh · Afghanistan
City population
523,300
#3
in Afghanistan
#1
in Balkh
#1,082
worldwide
KabulMazār-e Sharīf
36.709, 67.111 · 306 km from Kabul
Share of Afghanistan
1.2%
Of the national population
Elevation
361 m
Approximate — modelled, not surveyed
Distance to capital
306 km
To Kabul
Time zone
Asia/Kabul
IANA zone identifier

About Mazār-e Sharīf

Located 306 km from Kabul, Mazār-e Sharīf has a population of 523,300 and ranks third among Afghanistan's listed cities. The city accounts for 1.2% of the national population and sits at 361 m elevation in Balkh region, where it is the largest of three listed settlements. Balkh lies 20 km away with 114,883 residents; Tirmiz, 59 km distant, has 182,800.

This summary is AI-generated from the figures on this page. The figures themselves come from the sources cited beside each value.

Position in Afghanistan
#3of 53
LargestSmallest
Position in Balkh
#1of 3
LargestSmallest

Key Facts

Country
Afghanistan
Region
Balkh
Rank in region
#1of 3
Coordinates
36.709, 67.111
Record updated
13 April 2026
Entry edited, not measured

City population, GeoNames. GeoNames publishes no year for its population figures, so “record updated” is when the entry was last edited — not the date the population was measured. Elevation is modelled from a digital elevation model rather than surveyed, so it is approximate.

Nearby Cities

All 53 in Afghanistan

Closest listed cities by great-circle distance from the city centre.

20KMBalkh115K people52KMKhulm65K people59KMTirmiz183K people · Uzbekistan95KMAībak48K people113KMSang-e Chārak15K people

Compared with the World's Largest Cities

City-proper population against the fifteen largest cities in the dataset.

  1. Shanghai24.9M
  2. Beijing19M
  3. Shenzhen17.5M
  4. Guangzhou16.1M
  5. Kinshasa16M
  6. Istanbul15.7M
  7. Lagos15.4M
  8. Ho Chi Minh City14M
  9. Chengdu13.6M
  10. Lahore13M
  11. Mumbai12.7M
  12. São Paulo12.4M
  13. Mexico City12.3M
  14. Karachi11.6M
  15. Tianjin11.1M
  16. Mazār-e Sharīf523K
City-proper figures only. Administrative boundaries differ between countries, so these are not directly comparable to metropolitan-area estimates.
Mazār-e Sharīf compared with the fifteen largest cities
NameCity population
Shanghai24.9M
Beijing19M
Shenzhen17.5M
Guangzhou16.1M
Kinshasa16M
Istanbul15.7M
Lagos15.4M
Ho Chi Minh City14M
Chengdu13.6M
Lahore13M
Mumbai12.7M
São Paulo12.4M
Mexico City12.3M
Karachi11.6M
Tianjin11.1M
Mazār-e Sharīf523K

Mazār-e Sharīf Population FAQ

What is the population of Mazār-e Sharīf?

Mazār-e Sharīf has a city population of 523,300. That is the population within the city's own boundary, not its wider metropolitan area. City population, GeoNames.

Where is Mazār-e Sharīf?

Mazār-e Sharīf is in Balkh, Afghanistan, 306 km from the capital, Kabul. Its coordinates are 36.709, 67.111.

How big is Mazār-e Sharīf compared with other cities in Afghanistan?

It is the 3rd largest of the 53 cities listed in Afghanistan, holding 1.2% of the national population.

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