Welcome to Afghanistan!
Afghanistan is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central and South Asia. Once the center of many powerful empires, the country has been in a state of chaos and turmoil since the 1970s. Political unrest is rampant, and the country suffers from a myriad of social problems such as war, drought, a public health crisis, terrorism, corruption, warlordism, poverty, and high levels of illiteracy.
However, under less extreme circumstances, this vast, mountainous country has a lot to offer to the adventurous, thrill-seeking traveller. Its landscapes are simply majestic, the history lover can appreciate numerous historical sites from all eras, and the architecture lover can feast their eyes on such wonderful Islamic architecture. There's even a shrine that houses a cloak once worn by Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam.
Afghanistan is a melting pot of different cultures, with Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks constituting the largest ethnic groups. Islam is the state religion, hence the name "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan". A majority of Afghans are Sunni Muslims, although a sizeable portion of them are Shia Muslims.
Under less dire circumstances for the country, tourists might find themselves being treated as celebrities here, in fact, they might be showered with a lot of hospitality and care, even if they unintentionally make a few cultural blunders.
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south (including a short border with Pakistani-controlled Gilgit–Baltistan, a territory claimed by India), Iran to the west, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to the north, and Tajikistan and China to the northeast. Occupying 652,864 square kilometres (252,072 sq mi) of land, the country is predominately mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest that are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. As of 2020, its population is 31.4 million, composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks. Kabul is the country's largest city and serves as its capital.
Human habitation in Afghanistan dates back to the Middle Paleolithic era, and the country's strategic location along the historic Silk Road connected it to the cultures of other parts of Asia as well as Europe, leaving behind a mosaic of ethnolinguistic and religious groups that has influenced the modern Afghan nation. The land has historically been home to various peoples and has witnessed numerous military campaigns, including those by Alexander the Great, the Maurya Empire, Muslim Arabs, the Mongols, the British, the Soviet Union, and most recently by an American-led coalition. Afghanistan also served as the source from which the Greco-Bactrians and the Mughals, among others, rose to form major empires. The various conquests and periods in both the Indian and Persian cultural spheres made the area a center for Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and later Islam throughout history.The modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotaki and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a buffer state in the "Great Game" between British India and the Russian Empire. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, the country became free of foreign dominance, and eventually emerged as the independent Kingdom of Afghanistan in June 1926 under Amanullah Khan. This kingdom lasted almost 50 years, until Zahir Shah was overthrown in 1973, following which a republic was established. Afghanistan's history since the late 1970s has been dominated by prolonged warfare, starting with the country becoming a socialist state and provoking the Soviet–Afghan War, followed by three consecutive civil wars (1989–1992, 1992–1996, and 1996–2001) that resulted in the large-scale takeover of the country by the Taliban and its totalitarian regime, which was overthrown by a United States-led invasion and subsequent 20-year-long war that concluded with the Taliban's summer offensive and the resulting fall of Kabul in August 2021.The country has high levels of terrorism, poverty, and child malnutrition. Afghanistan's economy is the world's 96th-largest, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $72.9 billion by purchasing power parity, the country fares much worse in terms of per-capita GDP (PPP), ranking 169th out of 186 countries as of 2018.