9781422273791

C H A P T E R

AFGHANISTAN’S GEOGRAPHY & LANDSCAPE

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T he landlocked country of Afghanistan is slightly smaller than Texas and approximately twice the size of Norway. Trade routes connected this part of Asia to both Europe and the Middle East. Many empires have been built in Afghanistan over millennia, and the ruins of great monuments tell the country’s rich historical tale. The people of Afghanistan are fiercely independent and due to its geographic location and history, the nation is an inevitable patchwork quilt of multiple ethnicities. Geography Afghanistan is a harsh landscape of mountains and deserts. The country is completely landlocked and therefore is very isolated, with few interior lakes and only a couple of major rivers. In fact, the Arabian seacoast is the nearest ocean, but it lies 300 miles (482 kilometers) to the south. Pakistan borders Afghanistan to the east and south. Iran lies to the west, and three Central Asian states—Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan—are located

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