View source for Aqcha

{{Distinguish | Akçe}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name          = Aqcha
|other_name             =
|native_name            = آقچه
|nickname               =
|settlement_type        = Town
|motto                  =
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|image_skyline          = Great honey melons in Aqcha.jpg
|imagesize              =
|image_caption          = A shop in Aqcha
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|pushpin_map            = Afghanistan
|pushpin_label_position =bottom
|pushpin_map_caption    =Location in Afghanistan
<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type       = Country
|subdivision_name       = {{flag|Afghanistan}}
|subdivision_type1      = [[Provinces of Afghanistan|Province]]
|subdivision_name1      = [[Jowzjan Province]]
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|established_title      =  <!-- Settled -->
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|population_total               = 1012000
|population_footnotes = {{citation needed|date=October 2014}}
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|timezone               = [[UTC+4:30]]
|utc_offset             =
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|coordinates            = {{coord|36|54|41|N|66|11|9|E|region:AF|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes    =
|elevation_m            =  283
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}}
'''Aqcha''' or '''Akcha''' ([[Persian alphabet|Persian spelling]]: آقچه), is a city in northern [[Afghanistan]].<ref name="about">{{cite web|url=http://www.about-afghanistan.com/aqcha.html|title=Aqcha Village...A Step Back in Time...|publisher=about-afghanistan.com|accessdate=2 May 2011}}</ref> It is located approximately {{convert|50|km}} east of [[Sheberghan]] and {{convert|100|km}} west of [[Mazar-i-Sharif]]. It serves as the center of the [[Aqcha District]] of Afghanistan's [[Jowzjan Province]]. The town is situated a few kilometers north of the main '''Sheberghan'''-'''Mazar-i-Sharif''' road called ''Aqyol'' (meaning ''White Road'' in most [[Turkic languages]]).
The population of the town is around 1,012,000 people, the majority of which consists mostly of [[Ethnic group|ethnic]] [[Turkmens]] and [[Uzbeks]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6aab050.html|title=Afghanistan: Situation in, or around, Aqcha (Jawzjan province) including predominant tribal/ethnic group and who is currently in control|date=1 February 1999|work=[[Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada]]|publisher=[[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]]|accessdate=2 May 2011}}</ref>
Aqcha is known for the [[Afghan carpet|traditional carpets and rugs]] that are made in the area. The predominant designs being the [[Turkmen rug|Turkmen]], [[Bukhara]], and Fil Pah ({{langx|fa|فیل پا}}; literally: Elephant's Foot) designs.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Aqcha belonged to [[Bukhara]] under [[Shah Murad]], but in 1855 it was recovered by [[Dost Mohammad Khan]], when it became a [[khanate]] within the province of [[Afghan Turkestan]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Afghan Turkestan|volume=1|page=319|first=Thomas Hungerford|last=Holdich|authorlink=Thomas Holdich}}</ref> At the beginning of the 20th century, it was protected by a mud wall and a citadel, with an estimated population of 8000 people, chiefly [[Uzbeks]]. The Khanate was small, but well watered and populous.<ref name="EB1911_2">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Akcha|volume=1|page=454}}</ref>
The rivers rising in the southern mountains, which no longer reach the [[Amu Darya]], terminate in vast swamps near Akcha, and the debris of yearly vegetation that springs up on the slopes of the southern hills is washed down into the swamps during floods.<ref name="EB1911"/>
==See also==
* [[Jowzjan Province]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Jowzjan Province}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Populated places in Jowzjan Province]]