Is Samangan safe?
Afghanistan · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Samangan is a city in Afghanistan, home to about 138k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,566 of 6,168, with a safety score of 44.7 out of 100 - mid-table: neither the data for concern nor the data for reassurance dominates.
Emergency 119 (police)
- US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Afghanistan, updated 2026-02-19.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to this countryOfficial UK government travel advice, updated 2026-07-30.
- Same-sex activity criminalized - death penalty in lawLaw on the books in Afghanistan as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- Mazar-e-Sharif (Sih Dokan mosque near the Shrine of Ali known as Rawza e Mubarak )50 deaths · 1 event
- Imam Zaman Mosque, Pule Khumri31 deaths · 1 event
- Sarak e Bandar area, in the vicinity of Aybak city, the centre of Samangan province. Bandar road area of the city23 deaths · 1 event
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Samangan, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
How safe is Samangan really?
No published homicide figure exists for Samangan itself, so the national rate stands in: Afghanistan recorded 4.2 homicides per 100,000 people in 2023 - close to the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average.
Samangan also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 256 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 60 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Mazar-e-Sharif (Sih Dokan mosque near the Shrine of Ali known as Rawza e Mubarak ) (50 deaths), Imam Zaman Mosque, Pule Khumri (31 deaths), Sarak e Bandar area, in the vicinity of Aybak city, the centre of Samangan province. Bandar road area of the city (23 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Afghanistan at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2026-02-19). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to this country. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Afghanistan
Terrorism in Afghanistan · Terrorist kidnap · Tour operators in Afghanistan · Protests · UK government support for detainees · Crime · Criminal kidnaps · Laws on dress · Lack of women’s rights · Ramadan · Illegal food, drugs and alcohol · Mobile phones, internet access and communications · Using cameras in secure areas · LGBT+ travellers · +6 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Afghanistan — country-level, not specific to Samangan. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 4.2 /100knational rate, 2023
- Conflict deaths
- 256within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- no datacountry,
- Human development
- HDI 0.496country, 2023
- Income
- $2,250/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 138kurban centre · 6,270/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 15.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 28/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 24/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 16/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 7.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.28Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 37.9 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 31%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 0.3 doctors /1k0.4 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 18 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Afghanistan
- Earthquake
- 8.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 8.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 7.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Afghanistan as a whole, not Samangan specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Afghanistan, with the death penalty applying in law (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Afghanistan; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Samangan that gives 44.7/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Samangan compared with Mazar i sharif
| Measure | Samangan | Mazar i sharif | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 44.7 | 46.0 | −1.3 — better for Mazar i sharif |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 4.2 /100k | 4.2 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 256 | 179 | +77 — better for Mazar i sharif |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Afghanistan, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Mazar i sharif →
Nearby cities
- Baghlan 43.4
- Puli Khumri 43.3
- Kunduz 44.6
- Mazar i sharif 46.0
- Termez, Uzbekistan 63.3
- Taloqan 44.8
- Bamian 53.9
- Golbahar 39.4
See Samangan on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →