Gardēz (Pashto: ګردېز, Persian: گردیز) is the capital of the Paktiā province of Afghanistan. The population of the city was put at ca. 10,000 in the 1979 census, but is estimated to be 70,000 in 2008, which is overwhelmingly Pashtun. The city of Gardez is located at the junction between two important roads that cut through a huge alpine valley. Surrounded by the mountains of the Hindu Kush, which boil up from the valley floor to the north, east and west, it is the axis of commerce for a huge area of eastern Afghanistan, and has been a strategic location for armies throughout this country’s long history of conflict. Observation posts built by Alexander the Great are still crumbling on the hilltops just outside the city limits.

Gardēz is located at 2,300m above sea-level, being the third highest capital of an Afghan province, and is not far from the Tora Bora region of caves and tunnels. The city is watered by the upper course of the Rūd-e Gardēz (Gardēz-River), which ends in the Āb-e Istāda lake. Gardēz is located at a junction between two important roads, one linking Pakistan with Ghazni, the other connecting Kabul and Khost. The city is west of Khost and 60 miles south of Kabul.