Badghis (
Pashto/) is one of the thirty-four
provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northwest of the country next to
Turkmenistan. The name means "home of the winds" in Persian and Pashto languages, referring to the steppe winds that blow into the province from the north and northwest. Badghis is irrigated by the
Murghab and
Hari rivers. Its northern border extends to the edge of the desert of
Sarakhs. Badghis includes the Chul formations through which the
Turkmen-Afghan boundary runs. The province was carved out of portions of
Herat Province and
Meymaneh Province in 1964 and has a total area of 20,591 km
2. It is counted as one of the most underdeveloped of the country's 34 provinces.
Qala i Naw, a small town halfway between
Maimana and
Herat, serves as the provincial center.