Helmand (Pashto/Dari: هلمند) is ane o the 34 provinces o Afghanistan. It is in the soothwast o the kintra. Its caipital is Lashkar Gah. The Helmand River flows throu the mainly desert region, providin watter for irrigation.
Helmand is the warld's lairgest opium-producin region, responsible for 75% o the warld's tot production.[1][2] This is mair nor the whole o Burma, which is the seicont lairgest producin naition efter Afghanistan. Afghan opium accounts for mair nor 90% o the global supply.
The Helmand valley region is mentioned bi name in the Avesta (Fargard 1:13) as Haetumant, ane o the early centers o the Zoroastrian faith, in pre-Islamic Afghan history. Housomeivver, awin tae the preponderance o non-Zoroastrians (Hindus an Buddhists), the Helmand an Kabul regions wur kent as "White Indie" in those days an aw.[3] Some Vedic scholars (eg. Kochhar 1999) believe the Helmand valley corresponds tae the Sarasvati aurie mentioned in the Rig Veda as the hameland for the Indo-Aryan migrations intae Indie, ca. 1500 BC an aw.[4]
More than 90 per cent of the province's arable land is choked with the hardy plant. A 600-strong, US-trained eradication force is hopelessly behind schedule on its target for this growing season in Helmand - to clear about a third of the crop, which is estimated to be a head-spinning 70,000 hectares.
She said opium cultivation is concentrated in the south of the country, with just one province ‘Helmand’ accounting for 42 percent of all the illicit production in the world. Many of the provinces with the highest levels of production also have the worst security problems.
Wikimedia Commons haes media relatit tae Helmand Province. |
Places aroond Helmand Province | |
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