ABSTRACT
Afghanistan’s defining characteristics are its barrenness and its poverty, both now exacerbated by a quarter of a century of warfare and civil strife. It is a land-locked country, bounded by Pakistan to the east and south, by Iran to the west, and by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to the north. In the far north-east, in the high Pamirs, the Wakhan Corridor leads to a short frontier with China. An extensive mountain range, the Hindu Kush, runs from the north-east to the south-west of the country, dividing the plains of Afghan Turkestan from the regions to the south. Several of its peaks are among the highest in the world. A number of passes cross the range, allowing for the extension to India of the traditional ‘Silk Route’ between China and the Mediterranean. All of them were closed during the winter months until an all-season tunnel was driven through the Salang Pass in the 1960s. In general, Afghanistan’s communications are poor and have been greatly disrupted during the recent conflicts, although a much damaged ring road connects Mazar-i-Sharif, Kabul, Kandahar and Herat, with extensions leading to Pakistan, Iran and Uzbekistan.
