BAND-E AMIR NATIONAL PARK
Country: Afghanistan
Category: Wounder of Nature
Band-e Amir National Park (Dari: پارک ملی بند امیر; Pashto: د امیر بند ملي پارک) is located in the central Bamyan Province of Afghanistan. It was established on 22 May 2009 as Afghanistan's first national park to promote and protect the natural beauty of a series of intensely blue lakes created by natural dams high in the Hindu Kush. Band-e-Amir is a chain of six lakes in the southern mountainous desert area of the national park. The lakes formed from mineral-rich water that seeped out of faults and cracks in the rocky landscape. Over time, the water deposited layers of hardened mineral (travertine) that built up into walls that now contain the water. The Balkh River originates here and flows to Balkh Province in the north.
The name Band-e Amir literally means "the Ruler's Dam" in Dari which is believed by some to be a reference to Ali, the fourth Caliph of the Muslims. The area is dominated by ethnic Hazaras, who are estimated to make up around 10 percent of Afghanistan's population.
In 2004, Band-e Amir was submitted for recognition as a World Heritage site. Efforts to make Band-e Amir a national park started in the 1970s but were then put on hold due to the wars.
In April 2009, Band-e Amir was finally declared Afghanistan's first national park.
By 2023, the number of local and foreign tourists visiting the Band-e Amir National Park was over 100,000. The area is monitored by park rangers.
Band-e Amir is situated approximately 75 km (47 mi) to the northwest of the ancient city of Bamyan, close to the town of Yakawlang. Together with Bamyan Valley, they are the heart of Afghanistan's tourism, attracting over 100,000 local and foreign tourists every year. The Band-e Amir lakes are primarily a late spring and summertime tourism destination, as the high elevation central Hazarajat region of Afghanistan is extremely cold in winter, with temperatures reaching as low as −20 °C (−4.0 °F). The six constituent lakes of Band-e Amir are:
Band-e Gholaman (Lake of the Slaves)
Band-e Qambar (Lake of Caliph Ali's slave)
Band-e Haibat (Lake of Grandiose)
Band-e Panir (Lake of Cheese)
Band-e Pudina (Lake of Wild Mint)
Band-e Zulfiqar (Lake of the Sword of Ali)
The white travertine dams created by fault lines, which are prevalent in the Band-e Amir Valley, form the barriers between the lakes. Band-e Haibat is the biggest and the deepest of the six, with an average depth of approximately 150 metres, as estimated by the Provincial Reconstruction Diving Team from New Zealand. Another comparable lake is Band-e Azhdahar (The Dragon), located a few kilometres southeast of the town of Bamyan, which has also been created as a result of carbon dioxide-rich water oozing out of the faults underground and depositing calcium carbonate precipitate to form the travertine walls of Band-e Amir.
| Location | Bamyan Province, Afghanistan |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Yakawlang, Bamyan |
| Coordinates | 34°50′23″N 67°13′51″E |
| Area | 606.16 km2 (234.04 sq mi) |
| Established | May 22, 2009 |