Air quality comparison · Afghanistan, 581 km apart
Kandahār vs Mazār-e Sharīf Air quality index (AQI) today
Mazār-e Sharīf has cleaner air than Kandahār right now: AQI 47 (Good) against 59 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Mazār-e Sharīf averaged AQI 34 against 51, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Mazār-e Sharīf has more tree cover.
Afghanistan
AQI 59
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 12.3 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 10, 17:30 local
Afghanistan
AQI 47
Good
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 9.1 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Model estimate
- Reading
- Nov 11, 14:30 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Kandahār59Mazār-e Sharīf47
Head to head
Kandahār vs Mazār-e Sharīf at a glance
Mazār-e Sharīf is ahead on 5 of 5 measures, and Kandahār on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Kandahār | Mazār-e Sharīf | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 59 | 47 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 12.3 | 9.1 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 51 | 34 (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 0.6% | 2.8% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 92.4K | 85.5K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Kandahār and Mazār-e Sharīf right now?
Mazār-e Sharīf has cleaner air than Kandahār right now: AQI 47 (Good) against 59 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
KandahārMazār-e Sharīf
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Kandahār: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Mazār-e Sharīf: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Mazār-e Sharīf averaged AQI 34 against 51, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Kandahār0Mazār-e Sharīf5
- Average AQI
- Kandahār51Mazār-e Sharīf34
- Worst day, AQI
- Kandahār64Mazār-e Sharīf58
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Kandahār | Mazār-e Sharīf |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 64 | 58 |
| Nov 6 | 58 | 39 |
| Nov 7 | 57 | 25 |
| Nov 8 | 42 | 25 |
| Nov 9 | 28 | 28 |
| Nov 10 | 57 | 29 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Kandahār and Mazār-e Sharīf today?
Kandahār (AQI 59, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Mazār-e Sharīf (AQI 47, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Kandahār
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Mazār-e Sharīf
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Kandahār
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Mazār-e Sharīf
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Kandahār
- Not needed for most people.
- Mazār-e Sharīf
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Kandahār
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Mazār-e Sharīf
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Kandahār and Mazār-e Sharīf compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Kandahār's air is cleaner than 48% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Mazār-e Sharīf's is cleaner than 64%. Within Afghanistan, that is 40% and 50% of its 11 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Kandahār
- Beats 48%
- Mazār-e Sharīf
- Beats 64%
More tree cover than…
- Kandahār
- Beats 1%
- Mazār-e Sharīf
- Beats 6%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Kandahār
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Mazār-e Sharīf
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Kandahār or Mazār-e Sharīf?
Mazār-e Sharīf has more tree cover: 2.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 0.6% around Kandahār, or about 8,796 trees against 1,885.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Kandahār | Mazār-e Sharīf | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 1.9K | 8.8K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 92.4K | 85.5K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 41.5K kg | 194K kg (better) |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Kandahār vs Mazār-e Sharīf: your questions answered
Is Mazār-e Sharīf cleaner than Kandahār?
On air quality, yes, right now: Mazār-e Sharīf reads AQI 47 against 59, a gap of 12 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Mazār-e Sharīf averaged AQI 34 against 51, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Kandahār and Mazār-e Sharīf today?
In Kandahār, at AQI 59: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Mazār-e Sharīf, at AQI 47: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has more trees, Kandahār or Mazār-e Sharīf?
Mazār-e Sharīf has more tree cover: 2.8% of the land within 2 km of its center against 0.6% around Kandahār, or about 8,796 trees against 1,885. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Kandahār and Mazār-e Sharīf need?
Kandahār needs about 92,363 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Mazār-e Sharīf about 85,451 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Kandahār and Mazār-e Sharīf measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Kandahār vs Mazār-e Sharīf comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Sep 15, 2026 and Sep 15, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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