Marjah

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Town in Helmand Province, Afghanistan

title: "Marjah" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-helmand-province"] description: "Town in Helmand Province, Afghanistan" topic_path: "general/populated-places-in-helmand-province" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjah" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Town in Helmand Province, Afghanistan ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
official_nameMarjah
native_name
settlement_type
image_skylineFile:Marines in poppy fields.jpg
imagesize250px
image_captionU.S. Marines on a patrol next to a poppy field in 2010
dot_x
pushpin_mapAfghanistan
pushpin_label_positionbottom
pushpin_map_captionLocation in Afghanistan
pushpin_mapsize250
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameAfghanistan
subdivision_type1Province
subdivision_name1Helmand Province
subdivision_type2District
subdivision_name2Nad Ali
population_footnotes
population_total80-85,000 (disputed)
125,000 (with surrounding area - also disputed)
timezoneUTC+4:30
coordinates
elevation_footnotes
::

|official_name =Marjah |other_name = |native_name = |nickname = |settlement_type = |motto = |image_skyline = File:Marines in poppy fields.jpg |imagesize = 250px |image_caption = U.S. Marines on a patrol next to a poppy field in 2010 |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 |pushpin_mapsize =250 |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = Afghanistan |subdivision_type1 = Province |subdivision_name1 = Helmand Province |subdivision_type2 = District |subdivision_name2 = Nad Ali |subdivision_type3 = |subdivision_name3 = |subdivision_type4 = |subdivision_name4 = |population_as_of = |population_footnotes = |population_note = |population_total =80-85,000 (disputed) 125,000 (with surrounding area - also disputed) |timezone = UTC+4:30 |utc_offset = |timezone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = |coordinates = |elevation_footnotes =
|elevation_m = |elevation_ft = Marjah (also spelled Marjeh; Pashto/) is an agricultural town in southern Afghanistan. It has been reported to have a population between 80,000 and 125,000, but some sources argue that its population is much smaller and is spread across 80 to 125 km2, an area larger than Cleveland or Washington, D.C. Another source described Marjah as "a cluster of villages" and "a community of 60,000 persons". The town sits in Nad Ali District of Helmand Province, southwest of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah.

Operation Moshtarak (or the Battle of Marjah) took place in the area.

Population and economy

Marjah is geographically situated in one of Afghanistan's major belts of poppy fields, which are a source of funds for the Taliban. According to one figure, 10% of global illicit opium production in the year 2000 originated from the Marjah/Nad-i-Ali area. During the 1950s and 1960s the United States funded a scheme, run by the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority, to irrigate the fields around Marjah (Lashkar Gah/Helmand was nicknamed "Little America"), with many canals remaining to this day.

In conjunction with this American-led development, which included building and staffing a number of local schools, the Afghan government jump-started a program in 1959 to resettle Pashtun nomads to the area, providing them each with "almost 15 acres of land, two oxen and free seeds", with a focus on growing wheat.

Climate

Data collected in the 1950s in the Marjah/Chah-i-Anjirs area showed an average rainfall of over one inch per month from December through March, peaking in January at 2.46 inches. The rest of the year experienced little or no precipitation, and besides January, there was actually a consistent net loss of water through evaporation. June, July, and August experienced average high temperatures of over 100 °F, while the average lows in winter bottomed out at just above freezing in December and January.

References

References

  1. Thompson, Mark. (2010-02-09). "U.S. Troops Prepare to Test Obama's Afghan War Plan".
  2. Perry, Tony. (2010-02-03). "In Afghanistan, Marines ready attack on Taliban redoubt". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  3. Marquez, Miguel. (2010-02-03). "Afghanistan: Marines Gear Up for Biggest Fight Yet". [[ABC News (United States).
  5. Porter, Gareth. (8 March 2010). "POLITICS: Fiction of Marja as City Was U.S. Information War".
  6. (2011). "When More is Less: The International Project in Afghanistan". C. Hurst.
  7. Nordland, Rod. (2010-02-03). "Military Officials Say Afghan Fight Is Coming". [[The New York Times]].
  8. Perry, Tony. (2010-01-31). "Marine assault vehicles key to Afghan strategy". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  9. Hafvenstein, Joel. (2007). "Opium Season: A Year on the Afghan Frontier". Globe Pequot.
  10. Chandrasekaran, Rajiv. (2010-02-10). "Marines plan joint mission to eject insurgents from last Helmand stronghold". [[The Washington Post]].
  11. Michel, Aloys Arthur. (1959). "The Kabul, Kunduz, and Helmand Valleys and the national economy of Afghanistan: a study of regional resources and the comparative advantages of development". National Academies.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

populated-places-in-helmand-province