Afghanistan

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Introduction; Land and Resources; People; Culture; Economy; Government; History

Introduction

Afghanistan, a country in southwestern Asia that is situated on a landlocked plateau between Iran, Pakistan, China, and several countries in Central Asia. Afghanistan is a rugged place. Rocky mountains and deserts cover most of the land, with little vegetation anywhere except the mountain valleys and northern plains. The country has hot, dry summers and bitterly cold winters. Kābul is the capital and largest city.

Afghanistan has long been known as the crossroads of Asia, with ancient trade and invasion routes crossing its territory. Over the centuries many different people passed through Afghanistan, and some made it their homeland. Today this history is reflected in the country’s ethnic and linguistic diversity. The Pashtuns, who make up the largest ethnic group, were long known as Afghans, but in modern times the term Afghan denotes nationality for all citizens of the country.

Afghanistan was a monarchy from 1747 to 1973, when military officers overthrew the king and established a republic. In 1979 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) invaded Afghanistan, starting the Soviet-Afghan War. The United States supplied military aid to the guerrilla insurgents who fought the Soviet-backed Afghan government. After the Soviets withdrew in 1989, the country erupted in civil war. An Islamic fundamentalist movement called the Taliban seized control of Kābul in 1996. The Taliban gave refuge to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, and after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, against the United States, U.S. military forces invaded Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban from power in late 2001. Afghanistan adopted a new constitution establishing a presidential form of government in 2004.

Land and Resources

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Afghanistan is bounded on the north by the Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan; on the east by China and the part of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmīr controlled by Pakistan; on the south by Pakistan; and on the west by Iran.

Natural Regions

High mountains cover much of Afghanistan. About half the land area is more than 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in elevation. Small glaciers and year-round snowfields are common. The highest peak, Nowshāk (Noshaq), rises 7,485 m (24,557 ft) on the northeastern border and is a lower spur of the Tirich Mīr peak in Pakistan. It is part of the Hindu Kush mountain system, which is located primarily in northeastern Afghanistan just south of another major system, the Pamirs. From the Hindu Kush, other lower ranges radiate outward, with the main spurs extending in a southwesterly direction almost to the western border with Iran. These lower ranges include the Paropamisus Range, which crosses northern Afghanistan, and the Safed Koh range, which forms part of the eastern border with Pakistan and contains the Khyber Pass, an important route linking the two countries. Lowland areas are concentrated in the south and west. They include the Herāt-Ferah Lowlands in the extreme northwest, the Sīstān Basin and Helmand River valley in the southwest, and the Rīgestān Desert in the south.

Except for the river valleys and a few places in the lowlands where underground fresh water makes irrigation possible, agriculture is difficult. Only 12 percent of the land is suitable for farming. Forests, located primarily in eastern and southeastern Afghanistan, cover about 1 percent of the country’s land area (2005). The ravages of war, the scarcity of fuel, and the need for firewood for cooking and heating have caused rapid deforestation.

Because Afghanistan has so many high mountains, the passes through them have been of profound importance in both the history of invasion of the country and in commerce. In 330 bc Alexander the Great invaded the country through the Kushan Pass (about 4,370 m/about 14,340 ft) in the west and left it to the east through the low Khyber Pass (1,072 m/3,517 ft) to invade India. These same passes were used by the Mughal emperor Babur to conquer both Afghanistan and India in the 1500s. The famous Sālang Pass (3,880 m/12,720 ft) and its Soviet-built tunnel in the central Hindu Kush was one of the main routes the Soviets used to invade Afghanistan in 1979.

Rivers and Lakes

Many of Afghanistan’s major rivers are fed by mountain streams. Most rivers in the country become only trickles during the long dry season and have large flows of water only in the spring, when the winter snow in the mountains melts rapidly. Most of the rivers end in lakes, swamps, or salt flats. The Kābul River is an exception, flowing east into Pakistan to join the Indus River, which empties into the Indian Ocean. The country’s only navigable river is the Amu Darya, on the northern border, although ferry boats can cross the deeper areas of other rivers. The Amu Darya receives water from two main tributaries, the Panj and the Vakhsh, which rise in the Pamirs. The Harīrūd River rises in central Afghanistan and flows to the west and northwest to form part of the border with Iran. Water from the Harîrûd is used to irrigate the Herāt region of Afghanistan. The long Helmand River rises in the central Hindu Kush, crosses the southwest of the country, and ends in Iran. This river is used extensively for irrigation, although a buildup of mineral salts has decreased its usefulness in watering crops.

Afghanistan’s lakes are small in size and number, but include Lake Zarkol in the Wakhan Corridor along the Tajikistan border, Shīveh in Badakhshān, and the saline Lake Istādeh-ye Moqor, located south of Ghaznī. The Hamun-i-Helmand (Sīstān Lake), which straddles the border between Afghanistan and Iran, is located in a region of wetlands and salt marshes at the end of the Helmand River. A number of hydroelectric dams have created artificial reservoirs on some of the country’s rivers. These include the Sarowbī (Sarobi) and Naghlū dams on the Kābul River east of the capital city, the Kajakī Reservoir on the Helmand River, and the Arghandāb Dam on a tributary of the Helmand near the city of Kandahār.

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Introduction

Land and Resources

Natural Regions

Rivers and Lakes