Mazar-i-Sharif or
Mazar-e-Sharif (
Persian/
Pashto: مزارِ شریف, ) is the
third-largest city of
Afghanistan, with a population of 693,000 (2015). It is the capital of
Balkh province and is linked by highways with
Kunduz in the east,
Kabul in the southeast,
Herat in the west and
Uzbekistan in the north. Mazar-e Sharif, along with Herat,
Jalalabad in the east and
Kandahar in the south, makes Afghanistan an important strategic location in Asia. The city also serves as one of the many tourist attractions because of its famous shrines as well as the
Muslim and
Hellenistic archeological sites. In 2006, the discovery of new
Hellenistic remains was announced.