Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan with a population of the metropolitan area 2.8 million people (2008). It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan. It is an economic and cultural centre, situated 1,800 m ft (5,900) above sea level in a narrow valley, wedged between the Hindu Kush mountains along the Kabul River.

Kabul's main products include fresh and dried fruit, nuts, Afghan rugs, leather and sheep skin products, domestic clothes and furniture, and antique replicas, but the 1978-2001 wars have limited the economic productivity of the city. Economic productivity has improved since the establishment of the Karzai administration in late 2001.

Kabul is over 3,500 years old; many empires have long fought over the city for its strategic location along the trade routes of South and Central Asia. Since the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan, the city has been a target of militant groups. It is currently being re-developed but attacks by Taliban and other militants are slowing down the reconstruction process.