Herat is one of the largest cities in Afghanistan, located in the west of the country. It is the third most populous city in Afghanistan after Kabul and Kandahar. Herat is the industrial hub and the most important cultural and artistic center of Afghanistan. The famous Harirod River passes by this city. It is one of the most important cities of Herat, where the main airport of Herat is located.
It is one of the most populated cities in Afghanistan, and along with Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif and Kandahar are some of the four largest cities in Afghanistan. Its principal inhabitants speak Persian with a Herati accent. Herat has been a center of attraction for many immigrants from all over Afghanistan since the 1370s. Then, the principal inhabitants of this city were Persian-speaking ethnic groups, but now Herat has different ethnic groups, and the primary colloquial language in this city is Persian. Therefore, most people in this city speak Persian with a Herati accent.
Other ethnic groups are Pashtun, Hazara, Turkmen, Baluch, and Arab (Khazaei Arabs, Sheibani Arabs). The city of Herat in western Afghanistan is located in one of the smoothest geographical areas of Afghanistan. Herat is called ancient Herat in literary and official discourses. The city is famous for its magnificent minarets and architecture, and in the past and present, Herat has been one of the major educational centers. The town was included in UNESCO's Thousand Cities and Thousand Lives program in 2009 after UNESCO surveyed various cities worldwide.
Many Persian poets, writers, mystics, and Sufis were born or lived in this city. However, Herat is considered the largest commercial center of Afghanistan due to having two borders with Iran and Turkmenistan and having the most significant industrial town in Afghanistan.
The city is connected to Kandahar, Kabul, and Mazar-e-Sharif via Afghanistan's ring road, through its western road to Mashhad, Iran through the port of Islam Qala, and through its northern route to the Turkmen city of Merv by the seaport of Burgundy.