Afghanistan
is a heterogeneous country – geographically and ethnically. It encompasses an area of 245,000 square miles and is located between four strategically significant regions – Central Asia in the north, West Asia/Middle East in the west, China in the northeast and South Asia in the southeast. The current boundaries of
Afghanistan
were established towards the end of nineteenth century and the beginning of twentieth century. The eastern frontier with the then British
India
was determined by the Durand Line in 1893; northern frontier with
Russia
was determined in 1896; boundary with
Iran
was defined in 1903 and was finally demarcated in 1935.
The Land
Geographically, Afghanistan consists of eleven zones – The Wakkan Corridor and the Pamir Knot, Badakshan, central mountains, eastern mountains, northern mountains and the foothills, southern mountains and the foothills, Turkistan plains, Herat- Farah lowlands, Sistar Basin – Helmand Valley, western stony deserts, and south-western sandy deserts. The
Hindu Kush
, extending from the
Pamir
mountain range towards the northwest, bisects
Afghanistan
into northern and southern parts. It played and continues to play a significant role in the social, political and economic development of the country, positively and negatively. It served as a barrier, in the past, diverting the Central Asian migration towards the west. On the negative side, the
Hindu Kush
was and continues to be a major obstacle in the social, political and economic integration of the country. Four major river systems drain
Afghanistan
–
Amu Darya
,
Hari Rud
, Hilmand-Arghanbad and
Kabul
.
Kabul
is the only river that has an outlet to the sea, that too as a tributary of the
Indus
River
.
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| Source: www.afghan-info.com
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The People
Afghanistan
is heterogeneous in terms of its ethnic composition.. Prior to the Soviet troops entering
Afghanistan
, the Pashtuns constituted 48 percentage of the population. The Afghan turmoil of the 1980s and 90s resulted in the Pashtuns leaving the country as refugees; today, they constitute roughly 40 percentage of the population. They speak Pashto and a small section of Pashtuns living in
Kabul
speak Dari. Pashtuns principally live in the south and also in small conclaves in the north (mainly due to the resettlement policies carried out by Amir Abdul Khan towards the end of the nineteenth 19th century). They also live in
Pakistan
, especially in the
North
Western
Frontier
Province
. Pashtuns are mostly Sunni Muslims. Rulers of
Afghanistan
have traditionally been from the Pashtun community.
Tajiks are the second largest ethnic community and speak Persian. They live primarily in the northeast and also in the west, especially in the
Herat
province. Tajiks constitute the major section of
Afghanistan
’s educated elite. Ahmad Shah Massoud and Rabbani belong to the Tajiks. They are mostly Sunni Muslims.
Turks form the third major ethnic community and speak turkik and Persian. Among the Turks, the Uzbeks form the main group, followed by the Turkmen and the
Kirghiz
. These three communities have close ethnic links with the Central Asian states, especially
Tajikistan
and
Uzbekistan
. The Turks live in the north and northeastern parts of
Afghanistan
. They are mostly Sunni Muslims.
The Hazaras live in the area between Bamiyan and the
Herat
valley, in the south of
Hindu Kush
. Hazaras belong to Mongol race and occupied the area they currently inhabit, when Ghengiz Khan massacred the local population during his invasion. Hazaras are mostly Shiite Muslims. (It is generally believed that all Hazaras are Shiite Muslims, which is not true; there are some Sunni Muslims too.)
Besides these major ethnic communities, there are smaller communities such as the Nuristanis and Baluchis, who live along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
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