Geography
Cities: Capital (1999/2000 UN est.) Kabul--1,780,000. Other cities
(1988 UN est.; current figures are probably significantly higher)--Kandahar (226,000);
Herat (177,000); Mazar-e-Sharif (131,000); Jalalabad (58,000); Konduz (57,000).
Terrain: Landlocked; mostly mountains and desert.
Climate: Dry, with cold winters and hot summers.
| Location: |
Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran
|
| Geographic coordinates: |
33 00 N, 65 00 E
|
| Area: |
total:
647,500 sq km
land:
647,500 sq km
water:
0 sq km
|
| Area - comparative: |
slightly smaller than Texas
|
| Land boundaries: |
total:
5,529 km
border countries:
China 76 km, Iran 936 km, Pakistan 2,430 km, Tajikistan 1,206 km, Turkmenistan 744 km, Uzbekistan 137 km
|
| Coastline: |
0 km (landlocked)
|
| Maritime claims: |
none (landlocked)
|
| 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:
Nowshak 7,485 m
|
| Natural resources: |
natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones
|
| Land use: |
arable land:
12%
permanent crops:
0%
permanent pastures:
46%
forests and woodland:
3%
other:
39% (1993 est.)
|
| Irrigated land: |
30,000 sq km (1993 est.)
|
| Natural hazards: |
damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding; droughts
|
| Environment - current issues: |
soil degradation; overgrazing; deforestation (much of the remaining forests are being cut down for fuel and building materials); desertification
|
| Environment - international agreements: |
party to:
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban
signed, but not ratified:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation
|
| Geography - note: |
landlocked
|
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