Torghundi, also spelled Turghundi or Towrgondi ( ps, تورغونډۍ, translit=Tōrghūnḍəi, tk, Torghundi), is a
border town
A border town is a town or city close to the boundary between two countries, states, or regions. Usually the term implies that the nearness to the border is one of the things the place is most famous for. With close proximities to a different cou ...
in northern
Herat Province
Herat ( Persian: ) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north-western part of the country. Together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the north-western region of Afghanistan. Its primary city a ...
of
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 ...
. The town's main attraction is the Torghundi
custom house and
border checkpoint
A border checkpoint is a location on an international border where travelers or goods are inspected and allowed (or denied) passage through. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. Access-controlled borders ofte ...
, which officially connects Afghanistan by road with
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
. Torghundi is the second checkpoint and
border crossing
Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it a ...
between the two countries, with
Aqina
Aqina ( prs, اقينه; ps, اقينه), also known as Aqina Port, is a border checkpoint and border crossing in the northern Faryab Province of Afghanistan. It has a train station by the same name, which serves as the second rail service betwe ...
to the northeast being the other. Torghundi is connected by both a regular road and a 1520 mm gauge
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
with the neighboring town of
Serhetabat
Serhetabat (formerly Gushgy) ( tk, Guşgy; russian: Кушка, Kushka) is a city in Tagtabazar District, Mary Province, Turkmenistan. Serhetabat lies in the valley of the Kushka River. The population was 5,200 in 1991. It is immediately opposit ...
in Turkmenistan. The city of
Herat
Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...
in Afghanistan is located about of driving distance south from Torghundi.
The railroad at Torghundi was originally established in 1960 as a single track, and was upgraded in 2017.
Torghundi has become the starting point of the
Lapis Lazuli trade corridor.
Situated at an altitude of approximately in the
Kushk District of Herat Province, Torghundi serves as one of the major transporting, shipping and receiving locations in Afghanistan. It also serves as one of the official
border crossing
Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it a ...
s between the people of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Security in and around the town is provided by the
Afghan National Security Forces, which includes the
Afghan Border Force. The town fell to
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
forces in July 2021, as part of the wider
2021 Taliban offensive
A military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and other allied militants led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan based in Kabul and marked the end of the nearly 20-year-old War in Afghanistan, that had begun following the ...
. Every visitor or traveler between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan is required to possess a valid
travel visa
A visa (from the Latin ''charta visa'', meaning "paper that has been seen") is a conditional authorization granted by a polity to a foreigner that allows them to enter, remain within, or leave its territory. Visas typically include limits on ...
.
Name
The name Torghundi means Dark Hill or Black Hill in
Pashto language
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...
.
Climate
With an influence from the local steppe climate, Torghundi features a
cold semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
(''BSk'') under the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
. The average temperature in Toraghundi is 15.8 °C, while the annual precipitation averages 300 mm.
July is the hottest month of the year with an average temperature of 28.5 °C. The coldest month January has an average temperature of 3.4 °C.
See also
*
Afghanistan–Turkmenistan border
The Afghanistan–Turkmenistan border is in length and runs from the tripoint with Iran to the tripoint with Uzbekistan.
Description
The border starts at the tripoint with Iran on the Tedzhen river. Then proceeds eastwards in a series of mostly ...
*
Afghanistan–Turkmenistan relations
The contemporary borders of the nations of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan are the products of The Great Game in Central Asia between the British and Russian Empires. As a result, the two countries have some cultural ties, with Afghanistan having 1.2 ...
*
Aqina
Aqina ( prs, اقينه; ps, اقينه), also known as Aqina Port, is a border checkpoint and border crossing in the northern Faryab Province of Afghanistan. It has a train station by the same name, which serves as the second rail service betwe ...
(second border crossing between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan)
*
Islam Qala
Islām Qala ( Persian/Pashto: اسلام قلعه, also ''Eslām Qalʿeh''), known historically as Kafir Qala, is a border town in the western Herat province of Afghanistan, near the Afghanistan–Iran border. It is the official entry by land fro ...
(border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran)
*
Hairatan
Hairatan ( prs, حیرتان; ps, حیراتان; Uzbek Cyrillic: Ҳайратон, Uzbek Latin: Hayraton) is a border town in northern Balkh Province of Afghanistan. The Hairatan dry port and border checkpoint is located in the eastern section ...
(border crossing between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan)
*
Sher Khan Bandar (border crossing between Afghanistan and Tajikistan)
*
Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India Pipeline (TAPI)
References
External links
*
*
Populated places in Herat Province
Afghanistan–Turkmenistan border crossings
{{Herat-geo-stub