Sholgara ( prs, شولگره, ''šol(a)-gara'', lit. "rice paddy field", old name Boyena Qara, prs, بوینه‌قره) is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

(pop: 110,600) in the southern part of

Balkh Province Balkh (Dari: , ''Balx'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country. It is divided into 15 districts and has a population of about 1,509,183, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a Persian-speaking society. The c ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Sholgara, just south of Mazari Sharif (Mazar), is strategically located at the crossroads between several districts: Sangcharak, Kishindih, Dar-I-Suf. Dar-I-Suf and Sangcharak are known for their resistance to the

Taliban insurgency {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the Afghanistan conflict , image = 2021 Taliban Offensive.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Map of the 2021 Taliban of ...

. It is commonly said that "who holds Sholgara, holds Mazar".UNHCR District Profile, p.1

, compiled 2002-04-11, accessed 2007-11-25 (PDF).

Economy

The demography is not clear as no census has taken place yet. The economy is almost entirely agricultural. The Sholgar River irrigates some 40,000

jerib The jerib or djerib ( fa, جریب; tr, cerip) is a traditional unit of land measurement in the Middle East and southwestern Asia. It is a unit of area used to measure land holdings (real property) in much the way that an acre or hectare are. ...

s (8,000 hectares) of land, and another two or three thousand are irrigated from springs. Although rainfall is low (120 mm to 200 mm a year), 150,000 jeribs (30,000 hectares) are in dry farming, mostly wheat and some barley. Only 5% of the agriculture is in orchards. Nonetheless, Sholgara District, along with Balkh District, are the sole producers of industrial products in Balkh Province.''Balkh Province Provincial Development Plan Draft'' (15 July 2007) Afghanistan National Development Strategy
p. 18 In addition karakul skins are processed in Sholgara District.

Notes

Districts of Balkh Province {{Balkh-geo-stub