Afghanistan, officially the
Islamic Republic
of Afghanistan (
Pashto
: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت,
Persian
: جمهوری اسلامی افغانستان), is a
landlocked country
that is located approximately in the center of
Asia
. It is variously designated as geographically located within
Central Asia
,
South Asia
,
and the
Middle East
.
It has religious, ethno-linguistic, and geographic links with most of its neighboring states. It is bordered by
Pakistan
in the south and east,
Iran
in the west,
Turkmenistan
,
Uzbekistan
and
Tajikistan
in the north, and
China
in the far northeast. The name Afghanistan means the "Land of
Afghans
."
Afghanistan is a culturally mixed nation, a crossroads between the
East
and the
West
, and has been an ancient focal point of
trade
and
migration
. It has an important
geostrategical
location, connecting South, Central and Southwest Asia. During its long history, the land has seen various invaders and conquerors, while on the other hand, local entities invaded the surrounding vast regions to form their own empires.
Ahmad Shah Durrani
created the
Durrani Empire
in , with its capital at
Kandahar
.
Subsequently, the capital was shifted to
Kabul
and most of its territories ceded to former neighboring countries. In the th century, Afghanistan became a
buffer state
in "
The Great Game
" played between the
British Indian Empire
and
Russian Empire
. On
August
, , following the
third Anglo-Afghan war
, the country regained full independence from the United Kingdom over its
foreign affairs
.
Since the late s Afghanistan has suffered continuous and brutal
civil war
, which included foreign interventions in the form of the
Soviet invasion
and the recent
US-led invasion
that toppled the
Taliban
government. In late the
United Nations Security Council
authorized the creation of an
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
. This force is composed of
NATO
troops that are involved in assisting the government of President
Hamid Karzai
in establishing the writ of law as well as rebuilding key
infrastructures
in the nation. In , the
United States
and Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership agreement committing both nations to a long-term relationship. In the meantime, multi-billion
US dollars
have also been provided by the international community for the
reconstruction
of the country. |