Transportation
Landlocked Afghanistan has no functioning railways, but the Amu Darya (Oxus) River,
which forms part of Afghanistan's border with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan,
has barge traffic. During their occupation of the country, the Soviets completed
a bridge across the Amu Darya and built a motor vehicle and railroad bridge between
Termez and Jeyretan.
Most road building occurred in the 1960s, funded by the U.S. and the Soviet
Union. The Soviets built a road and tunnel through the Salang Pass in 1964, connecting
northern and southern Afghanistan. A highway connecting the principal cities of
Herat, Kandahar, Ghazni, and Kabul with links to highways in neighboring Pakistan
formed the primary road system.
The highway system requires almost total reconstruction, and regional roads
are in a state of disrepair. The poor state of the Afghan transportation and communication
networks has further fragmented and hobbled the struggling economy.
| Railways: |
total:
24.6 km
broad gauge:
9.6 km 1.524-m gauge from Gushgy (Turkmenistan) to Towraghondi; 15 km 1.524-m gauge from Termiz (Uzbekistan) to Kheyrabad transshipment point on south bank of Amu Darya
|
| Highways: |
total:
21,000 km
paved:
2,793 km
unpaved:
18,207 km (1998 est.)
|
| Waterways: |
1,200 km
note:
chiefly Amu Darya, which handles vessels with DWT up to about 500 (2001)
|
| Pipelines: |
petroleum products - Uzbekistan to Bagram and Turkmenistan to Shindand; natural gas 180 km
|
| Ports and harbors: |
Kheyrabad, Shir Khan
|
| Airports - with paved runways: |
total:
10
over 3,047 m:
3
2,438 to 3,047 m:
4
1,524 to 2,437 m:
2
under 914 m:
1 (2000 est.)
|
| Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total:
35
2,438 to 3,047 m:
4
1,524 to 2,437 m:
15
914 to 1,523 m:
4
under 914 m:
12 (2000 est.)
|
|
