The city of Mahmud-i-Raqi is the capital of Kapisa Province and center of Mahmud Raqi District in Afghanistan. It has a population of 50,490 and is made up of four districts. Mahmood Raqi, located to the northeast of Kabul, is classified as an urban village. It is approximately 70 km from Kabul and 20 km to Charikar. On 15 August 2021, Mahmud-i-Raqi was seized by Taliban fighters, becoming the thirtieth provincial capital to be captured by the Taliban as part of the wider 2021 Taliban offensive.

Climate

Mahmud-i-Raqi has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dsa). The annual mean temperature is 12.0 °C. The temperature are highest on average in July at around 25.0 °C. At -2.3 °C on average, January is the coldest month of the year.

Land use

It has a total land area of 3,970 hectares. The total number of dwellings in Mahmud-i-Raqi is 5,610. Agriculture is the dominant land use at 72%. Dwellings are dispersed throughout the municipality with low density and consisting entirely of irregular houses.