Herat

Herat (; Persian: هرات; ; , Alexandria Ariana; ) is the third largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 436,300, and serves as the capital of Herat province, situated in the fertile valley of the Hari River. It is linked with Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif via highway 1 or the ring road. It is further linked to the city of Mashhad in neighboring Iran through the border town of Islam Qala.