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History | Geography | The people | Who are the Taliban?
Afghanistan covers around 653,000 square kilometres. It lies between Iran in the west and Pakistan in the east and south. To the north are the former Soviet states of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and a small area of China.
The huge Hindu Kush mountain range cuts across the centre of the country forming the Central Highland region, through which the famous Khyber Pass runs.
South of the mountains is the high, infertile desert of the Southern Plateau. To the north lie the fertile Northern Plains where most agriculture takes place. Mineral deposits and natural gas are also found here.
Around 20% of the population live in the cities. Kabul, the capital, badly damaged by war, is in the central region and has a population of over a million. Other large cities (over 100,000 population apiece) are Kandahar in the south, where the Taliban was formed, the western town of Herat, and Mazar-e-Sharif in the north.
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