Bala Murghab is the largest city of Badghis Province, while Bala Murghab District, with a population of 109,381, is also the most populous district of the province.

Throughout the War in Afghanistan, it was heavily contested by the Taliban and Afghan National Security Forces.

The Abbasid-era geographers report that Marw al-Rudh was the center of a flourishing agricultural region in Khorasan, at the site where the Murghab River leaves the mountains and enters the steppe of the Karakum Desert.

[2] Although the town appears to have escaped the destruction of Marw al-Shahijan (modern Mary, Turkmenistan) by the Mongols, it fell into ruins under the Timurids and was largely abandoned.

July is the hottest month of the year with an average temperature of 28.6 °C.