Hairatan

{{Infobox settlement   |official_name = Hairatan |other_name = |native_name = حیرتان |nickname = |settlement_type =  |motto =  |image_skyline = Welcome to Afghanistan in Hairatan.jpg |imagesize = |image_caption = The ''Welcome to Afghanistan'' sign at the Hairatan port in 2010 |image_flag = |flag_size = |image_seal = |seal_size = |image_shield = |shield_size = |image_blank_emblem = |blank_emblem_type = |blank_emblem_size = |image_map = |mapsize = |map_caption = |image_map1 = |mapsize1 = |map_caption1 = |image_dot_map = |dot_mapsize = |dot_map_caption = |dot_x = |dot_y = |pushpin_map = Afghanistan  |pushpin_label_position =bottom |pushpin_map_caption =Location in Afghanistan  |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = {{flag|Afghanistan}} |subdivision_type1 = Province |subdivision_name1 = Balkh Province |subdivision_type2 = District |subdivision_name2 = Kaldar District |subdivision_type3 = |subdivision_name3 = |subdivision_type4 = |subdivision_name4 =  |government_footnotes = |government_type = |leader_title = |leader_name = |leader_title1 =  |leader_name1 = |leader_title2 = |leader_name2 = |leader_title3 = |leader_name3 = |leader_title4 = |leader_name4 = |established_title =  |established_date = |established_title2 =  |established_date2 = |established_title3 =  |established_date3 =  |area_magnitude = |unit_pref =Imperial  |area_footnotes = |area_total_km2 =  |area_land_km2 =  |area_water_km2 = |area_total_sq_mi = |area_land_sq_mi = |area_water_sq_mi = |area_water_percent = |area_urban_km2 = |area_urban_sq_mi = |area_metro_km2 = |area_metro_sq_mi = |area_blank1_title = |area_blank1_km2 = |area_blank1_sq_mi =  |population_as_of = |population_footnotes = |population_note = |population_total = |population_density_km2 = |population_density_sq_mi = |population_metro = |population_density_metro_km2 = |population_density_metro_sq_mi = |population_urban = |population_density_urban_km2 = |population_density_urban_sq_mi = |population_blank1_title =Ethnicities |population_blank1 = |population_blank2_title =Religions |population_blank2 = |population_density_blank1_km2 = |population_density_blank1_sq_mi =  |timezone = Afghanistan Time |utc_offset = +04:30 |timezone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = |coordinates = {{coord|37|13|1|N|67|25|01|E|region:AF|display=inline}} |elevation_footnotes =  |elevation_m = 300 |elevation_ft =  |postal_code_type =  |postal_code = |area_code = |blank_name = |blank_info = |blank1_name = |blank1_info = |website = |footnotes = }}

'''Hairatan''' (Dari and {{langx|ps|حیرتان}}; Uzbek and {{langx|tg|Ҳайратон}}) is a port city along the Amu Darya in the northern Balkh Province of Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-199384 |title=Efforts Underway to Modernize Hairatan Port |work=TOLOnews |date=27 May 2026 |access-date=2026-05-27 |lang=en}}</ref><ref name="Balkh: Tourists flocking to Hairatanborder town" /> It serves as the capital of Kaldar District and is about {{cvt|60|km}} north of Mazar-i-Sharif.<ref name="VOA"/> The port and border checkpoint are located in the eastern section of the city. The Amu River forms the border with neighboring Uzbekistan, and the two nations are connected by the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan Friendship Bridge. The city of Termez in Uzbekistan is a short distance away to the northwest of Hairatan, on the other side of the Amu River.

Hairatan is one of the major transporting, shipping and receiving locations in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesca.com/uzbekistan-and-afghanistan-aim-to-boost-trade-to-5-billion/ |title=Uzbekistan and Afghanistan Aim to Boost Trade to $5 Billion |work=The Times of Central Asia |date=25 May 2026 |access-date=2026-05-27 |lang=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://pajhwok.com/2022/12/29/hairatan-port-revenue-surges-to-nearly-8-billion-afs/ |title=Hairatan Port revenue surges to nearly 8 billion afs |work=Pajhwok Afghan News |date=29 December 2022 |access-date=2022-12-29}}</ref> It is also an official border crossing between the people of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. Security in and around the town is provided by the Afghan National Security Forces. All foreign travelers must possess a valid travel visa to enter Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web |title=Afghanistan tourist visa for Uzbek citizens |url=https://visalist.io/afghanistan/visa-requirements/uzbekistan |publisher=visalist |date=July 7, 2022 |access-date=2022-08-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Uzbekistan tourist visa for Afghan citizens |url=https://visalist.io/uzbekistan/visa-requirements/afghanistan |publisher=visalist |date=August 19, 2022 |access-date=2022-08-18}}</ref> Citizens of Afghanistan could stay visa-free for up to 2 weeks in the Airitom Free Zone of Termez.<ref name="VOA"/>

==History== {{Further|History of Afghanistan}} The region around Amu River has been important in the history of civilizations from the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex, and the area around Hairatan was important during early Indo-Iranian migration by the Andronovo culture. In the early 1990s, Hairatan was the location of the 70th Division of General Abdul Momen, who was loosely aligned with Abdul Rashid Dostum's National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan. After Momen's 1994 death by an RPG missile attack, the 70th Division split and Dostum loyalist Colonel General Helaluddin took command.<ref>Anthony Davis, 'The Battlegrounds of Northern Afghanistan,' Jane's Intelligence Review, July 1994</ref>

During the presidency of Hamid Karzai, the town became an important strategic location for Afghanistan. NATO-trained Afghan National Security Forces established bases to provide security and maintain border activities. The Afghan Border Police are in charge of protecting the border while the Afghan National Customs regulate and monitor all trade activities. They are backed by the Afghan Armed Forces.

[[File:New training program begins at Afghan border.jpg|thumb|left|Members of the Afghan Border Police search a locomotive near the Hairatan border crossing point.]]

A freight terminal in Hairatan is the terminus of one of three rail lines in Afghanistan - a 10 km (6 mile) link to Termez.<ref>{{cite news |title=Afghan rebuild underway |url=https://www.railwaygazette.com/afghan-rebuild-underway/32196.article |date=2007-07-12 |access-date=2010-02-24 |publisher=Railway Gazette International}}</ref> In January 2010, the construction was started of a 75 km (50 mile) rail link from Hairatan to a terminal at Gur-e Mar near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. The project, part of the transport strategy and action plan of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program, was contractually scheduled for completion by June 2011,<ref>{{cite web |title=Hairatan to Mazar-i-Sharif railway |work=Andrew Grantham |url=http://www.andrewgrantham.co.uk/afghanistan/railways/hairatan-to-mazar-i-sharif/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Construction of Afghan railway launched |url=https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/construction-of-afghan-railway-launched/34726.article |date=2010-01-27 |access-date=2010-02-24 |publisher=Railway Gazette International}}</ref> but was complete ahead of schedule, in November 2010.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://think-asia.org/handle/11540/694 |title=Unstoppable: The Hairatan to Mazar-e-Sharif Railway Project Performance-Based Operation and Maintenance Contract |date=2014-02-01 |publisher=Asian Development Bank |language=English |access-date=2021-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224184630/https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/31203/unstoppable-hairatan-mazar-e-sharif-railway-project.pdf |archive-date=2020-12-24 |format=pdf}}</ref>

In May 2010, then-U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, the president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), several the Afghan ministers, and fellow ambassadors from Japan, Finland, and Uzbekistan attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony inaugurating the Hairatan rail line.<ref>[http://kabul.usembassy.gov/remarks_2505.html "May 25, 2010: U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry Remarks at Hairatan Rail Line Ceremony"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615030728/http://kabul.usembassy.gov/remarks_2505.html |date=June 15, 2011 }}</ref> The United States and Japan became the two largest shareholders in ADB. This rail link became the first phase of a larger rail network planned to link Iran in the west and Tajikistan via a line at Sher Khan Bandar in neighboring Kunduz Province to the east.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesca.com/new-cargo-terminal-opens-hairatan-mazar-i-sharif-railway/ |title=Uzbekistan, Afghanistan Open New Cargo Terminal on Hairatan-Mazar-i-Sharif Railway |work=The Times of Central Asia |date=25 May 2026 |access-date=2026-05-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Hairatan-Uzbekistan Rail Project |url=https://www.railway-technology.com/projects/hairatanuzbekistanra/ |date=26 March 2013 |access-date=2022-08-19 |publisher=Railway Gazette International}}</ref> These future lines will create a rail corridor through northern Afghanistan and enable freight coming from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to reach South Asian and Persian Gulf ports on rail.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://tolonews.com/business-199235 |title=Russia, Uzbekistan Continue Studies on Trans-Afghan Railway Project |work=TOLOnews |date=15 May 2026 |access-date=2026-05-27}}</ref>

In 2023, the Afghanistan Railway Authority (ARA) took control of the Hairatan-Mazar rail service.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://bakhtarnews.af/en/afghanistan-to-take-responsibilities-over-hairatan-mazar-e-sharif-railwayara/ |title=Afghanistan to Take Responsibilities Over Hairatan-mazar-e-sharif Railway:ARA |work=Bakhtar News Agency |date=December 31, 2022 |access-date=2023-01-01 |archive-date=2022-12-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231075606/https://bakhtarnews.af/en/afghanistan-to-take-responsibilities-over-hairatan-mazar-e-sharif-railwayara/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://tashkenttimes.uz/world/10130-afghanistan-signs-contract-to-run-hairatan-mazar-railway-with-kazakh-company |title=Afghanistan signs contract to run Hairatan-Mazar railway with Kazakh company |work=The Tashkent Times |date=1 January 2023 |access-date=2023-01-01}}</ref> Meanwhile, the Airitom Free Zone opened in neighboring Termez, which allows Afghans and other foreigners to stay there for up to two weeks without a travel visa.<ref name="VOA">{{cite news |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/uzbekistan-opens-free-economic-zone-on-afghan-border/7789564.html |title=Uzbekistan opens free economic zone on Afghan border |work=VOA |date=September 18, 2024 |access-date=2025-01-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://tolonews.com/business-181358 |title=First Part of Joint Market Opens on Border with Uzbekistan |work=TOLOnews |date=27 December 2022 |access-date=2022-12-29}}</ref> Many tourists from other provinces of Afghanistan visit Hairatan for leisure and pleasure purposes.<ref name="Balkh: Tourists flocking to Hairatanborder town">{{cite news |url=https://pajhwok.com/2022/12/05/balkh-tourists-flocking-to-hairatanborder-town/ |title=Balkh: Tourists flocking to Hairatanborder town |work=Pajhwok Afghan News |date=5 December 2022 |access-date=2023-01-01}}</ref>

== See also == *Rail transport in Afghanistan *Afghanistan–Uzbekistan border *Afghanistan–Uzbekistan relations *Aqina (border crossing between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan) *Sher Khan Bandar (border crossing between Afghanistan and Tajikistan) *Tourism in Afghanistan

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == {{Commonscat|Hairatan}} * {{YouTube|fkB7nTtrxRE|Hairatan Afghan Geographic Cinematic Drone 2024}} * {{YouTube|Ej2f3vuOdCE|ترمینل باربری حیرتان در ولایت بلخ}} * {{YouTube|wZXUtM-3FfA|Hairatan port sees rise in Afghan exports}} * {{YouTube|FzFrrhyjjYU|Hairatan Border, Afghanistan}} * [https://www.simplextrans.com/directions-of-transportation/transports-in-afghanistan/rail-station-hairatan-afghanistan Information on Hairatan rail station with photos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423010840/https://www.simplextrans.com/directions-of-transportation/transports-in-afghanistan/rail-station-hairatan-afghanistan |date=2024-04-23 }}

Category:Afghanistan–Uzbekistan border crossings Category:Populated places in Balkh Province