Asia > Afghanistan Geography Profile

Asia: Afghanistan Geography Profile

2012/02/15

Afghanistan is a mountainous country with plains to the north and south-west. The highest point of the country at 7485 m above the sea, is Noshaq. Large parts of the country is arid, and fresh water is limited. Afghanistan is a continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. The country is frequently subject to earthquakes.

The major cities of Afghanistan are its capital Kabul, Herat, Jalalabad, Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandahar.

Afghanistan is a landlocked nation in south-central Asia. Strategically located at the crossroads of major north-south and east-west trade routes, it has attracted a succession of invaders including Alexander the Great, in the fourth century B.C. Currently, the United States continues the global war on terrorism there.

The Hindu Kush mountains, running northeast to southwest across the country, divide it into three major regions: 1) the Central Highlands, which form part of the Himalayan Mountains and account for roughly two thirds of the country’s area; 2) the Southwestern Plateau, which accounts for one-fourth of the land; and 3) the smaller Northern Plains area, which contains the country’s most fertile soil.

Land elevations generally slope from northeast to southwest, following the general shape of the Hindu Kush massif, from its highest point in the Pamir Mountains near the Chinese border to the lower elevations near the border with Iran. To the north, west, and southwest there are no mountain barriers to neighboring countries. The northern plains pass almost imperceptibly into the plains of Turkmenistan. In the west and southwest, the plateaus and deserts merge into those of Iran.

The greater part of the northern border and a small section of the border with Pakistan are marked by rivers; the remaining boundary lines are political rather than natural. The northern frontier extends approximately 1,689 km southwestward, from the Pamir Mountains in the northeast to a region of hills and deserts in the west, at the border with Iran. The border with Iran runs generally southward from the Hari River across swamp and desert regions before reaching the northwestern tip of Pakistan. Its southern section crosses the Helmand River.

Afghanistan is located on the Eurasian Tectonic Plate. The Wakhan Corridor and the rest of northeastern Afghanistan, including Kabul, are situated in a geologically active area. Over a dozen earthquakes occurred there during the twentieth century.

Location:

Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran

Geographic coordinates:

33 00 N, 65 00 E

Map references:

Asia

Area

Total:

652,230 sq km

Comparison to the world:

Land:

652,230 sq km

Water:

0 sq km

Note:

Area comparative:

slightly smaller than Texas

Land boundaries Total:

5,529 km

Land boundaries Note:

Border countries

Countries:

China 76 km, Iran 936 km, Pakistan 2,430 km, Tajikistan 1,206 km, Turkmenistan 744 km, Uzbekistan 137 km

Coastline

Value:

0 km (landlocked)

Note:

Maritime claims

Territorial sea:

none (landlocked)

Exclusive economic zone:

Climate:

arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers

Terrain:

mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest

Elevation extremes

Lowest point:

Amu Darya 258 m

Highest point:

Noshak 7,485 m

Note:

Natural resources:

Natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones.

Land use

Kind:

arable land

Percentage:

12,13%

Year:

2005

Note:

Kind:

permanent crops

Percentage:

0,21%

Kind:

other

Percentage:

87,66%

Irrigated land

Value:

27,200 sq km

Year:

2003

Total renewable water resources

Value:

65 cu km

Year:

1997

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)

Total:

23.26 cu km/yr (2%/0%/98%)

Per capital:

779 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding; droughts

Environment - current issues:

limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; soil degradation; overgrazing; deforestation (much of the remaining forests are being cut down for fuel and building materials); desertification; air and water pollution

Environment - international agreements

Party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection

Signed but not ratified:

Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation

Geography note:

landlocked; the Hindu Kush mountains that run northeast to southwest divide the northern provinces from the rest of the country; the highest peaks are in the northern Vakhan (Wakhan Corridor)