Nari District is a boundary mountainous district in the most eastern part of Kunar Province

Kunar Province

Kunar is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital is Asadabad. It is one of the four "N2KL" provinces...

 in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

. It borders Bar Kunar District

Bar Kunar district

Bar Kunar District is situated in the northeastern part of Kunar Province, Afghanistan. It borders Asadabad district to the southwest, Nuristan Province to the northwest, Nari district to the northeast and Dangam district to the southeast. The population is 19,500 - all Pashtun...

 to the west, Nuristan Province to the north, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 to the east and Dangam district

Dangam district

Dangam District is situated in the eastern end of Kunar Province, Afghanistan. It borders Marawara district to the west, Asadabad district to the northwest, Bar Kunar district to the north, Nari district to the northeast and Pakistan to the east and south. The district is mountainous and poor. The...

 to the south. The population is 24,500 (2006)—60% of them Pashtun

Pashtun people

Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...

. The district center is the village of Nari (Naray) 35.2103°N 71.5250°E at 1153 m altitude in a river valley. The arable land is not enough. The residents usually collect wood and beans and sell them. Many people go and work in Pakistan.

Historically the Naray region used to belong to the Mehtar

Mehtar

Mehtar is a Persian word meaning "Mighty" and was used in several ancient area of Pakistan to denote the local ruler. It is the title of the ruler of the former State of Chitral....

 of Chitral. The ancient fortress of Narsat at Nari town was built by Mehtar Aman-ul-Mulk of Chitral. Upper Kunar and the Kamvir and Barg-i-Matal areas of Nuristan came under Afghan rule in 1895.

External links

• Building Bridges in the Back of Beyond Washington Post May 1, 2008