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Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, [26] it is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south , [f] Iran to the west , Turkmenistan to the northwest , Uzbekistan to the north , Tajikistan to the northeast , and ...
- Simple English
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan...
- Ethnic Groups in Afghanistan
Ethnic groups in Afghanistan as of 1997. Afghanistan is a...
- Flag
The national flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan...
- Leadership Council
The Leadership Council of the Islamic Emirate of...
- Hasan Akhund
Mohammad Hasan Akhund (born c. 1945 – c. 1950 or c. 1955 –...
- Afghanistan (Disambiguation)
Afghanistan is a country located at the crossroads of...
- Politics of Afghanistan
Hibatullah Akhundzada is the supreme leader of Afghanistan,...
- Demographics of Afghanistan
Population, fertility rate and net reproduction rate, United...
- Emblem
The national emblem of Afghanistan is a national symbol of...
- Supreme Leader
The Supreme Leader of Afghanistan (Pashto: د افغانستان مشر,...
- Simple English
The history of Afghanistan, preceding the establishment of the Emirate of Afghanistan in 1823 is shared with that of neighbouring Iran, central Asia and Indian subcontinent. The Sadozai monarchy ruled the Afghan Durrani Empire, considered the founding state of modern Afghanistan.
The conflict officially ended with the 2021 Taliban offensive, which overthrew the Islamic Republic, and re-established the Islamic Emirate. It was the longest war in the military history of the United States, surpassing the length of the Vietnam War (1955–1975) by approximately six months.
- Taliban control over Afghanistan increases compared to pre-intervention territory
- Overview
- Land
Afghanistan is a landlocked multiethnic country located in the heart of south-central Asia. Lying along important trade routes connecting southern and eastern Asia to Europe and the Middle East, Afghanistan has long been a prize sought by empire builders, and for millennia great armies have attempted to subdue it, leaving traces of their efforts in great monuments now fallen to ruin.
Should the United States continue its use of drone strikes abroad in countries such as Afghanistan?
Whether the United States should continue its use of drone strikes abroad in countries such as Afghanistan is hotly debated. Some argue the strikes make the United States safer by remotely decimating terrorist networks across the world and are legal under American and international law. Others argue the strikes mostly kill low-value targets and create more terrorists, while terrorizing and killing civilians. For more on the international drone strikes debate, visit ProCon.org.
Afghanistan, multiethnic landlocked country located in the heart of south-central Asia. Lying along important trade routes connecting southern and eastern Asia to Europe and the Middle East, Afghanistan has long been a prize sought by empire builders, and for millennia great armies have attempted to subdue it, leaving traces of their efforts in great monuments now fallen to ruin. The country’s forbidding landscape of deserts and mountains has laid many imperial ambitions to rest, as has the tireless resistance of its fiercely independent peoples—so independent that the country has failed to coalesce into a nation but has instead long endured as a patchwork of contending ethnic factions and ever-shifting alliances.
The modern boundaries of Afghanistan were established in the late 19th century in the context of a rivalry between imperial Britain and tsarist Russia that Rudyard Kipling termed the “Great Game.” Modern Afghanistan became a pawn in struggles over political ideology and commercial influence. In the last quarter of the 20th century, Afghanistan suffered the ruinous effects of civil war greatly exacerbated by a military invasion and occupation by the Soviet Union (1979–89). In subsequent armed struggles, a surviving Afghan communist regime held out against Islamic insurgents (1989–92), and, following a brief rule by mujahideen groups, an austere movement of religious students—the Taliban—rose up against the country’s governing parties and warlords and established a theocratic regime (1996–2001) that soon fell under the influence of a group of well-funded Islamists led by an exiled Saudi Arabian, Osama bin Laden. The Taliban regime collapsed in December 2001 in the wake of a sustained U.S.-dominated military campaign aimed at the Taliban and fighters of bin Laden’s al-Qaeda organization. Soon thereafter, anti-Taliban forces agreed to a period of transitional leadership and an administration that would lead to a new constitution and the establishment of a democratically elected government.
The capital of Afghanistan is its largest city, Kabul. A serene city of mosques and gardens during the storied reign of the emperor Bābur (1526–30), founder of the Mughal dynasty, and for centuries an important entrepôt on the Silk Road, Kabul lay in ruins following the long and violent Afghan War. So, too, fared much of the country, its economy in shambles and its people scattered and despondent. By the early 21st century an entire generation of Afghans had come to adulthood knowing nothing but war.
Afghanistan is completely landlocked—the nearest coast lies along the Arabian Sea, about 300 miles (480 km) to the south—and, because of both its isolation and its volatile political history, it remains one of the most poorly surveyed areas of the world. It is bounded to the east and south by Pakistan (including those areas of Kashmir administered by Pakistan but claimed by India), to the west by Iran, and to the north by the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. It also has a short border with Xinjiang, China, at the end of the long, narrow Vākhān (Wakhan Corridor), in the extreme northeast. Its overall area is roughly twice that of Norway.
Britannica Quiz
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the ...
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United States invasion of Afghanistan; Part of the War in Afghanistan: Major American special forces operations in Afghan territory between October 2001 and March 2002
