Afghanistan

1
Afghanistan

• Afghanistan is an extremely poor, landlocked
  country, highly dependent on farming and
  livestock raising (sheep and goats).
• Afghanistan is bordered on the west by Iran, the
  north by Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan,
  on the northeast by China and to the east by
  Pakistan.

2
Background

• Afghanistan was invaded and occupied by the
  Soviet Union in 1979.
• The USSR was forced to withdraw 10 years later by
  anti-communist mujahidin forces supplied and
  trained by the US, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and
  others.
• Fighting continued among the various mujahidin
  factions, but the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban
  movement has been able to seize most of the
  country.
• In addition to the continuing civil strife, the
  country suffers from enormous poverty, a
  crumbling infrastructure (roads, schools,
  hospitals), and widespread live mines (weapon
  that explodes when stepped on).
• International aid can deal with only a fraction
  of the humanitarian problem.
• Afghanistan was by far the largest producer of
  opium poppies in 1999, and narcotics trafficking
  is a major source of revenue.

3
Afghanistans Topography
4
Afghanistans Topography

• Afghanistan, a country about the size of Texas,
  boasts elevations to more than 24,000 feet. Its
  rugged topography has both physical and cultural
  implications, critical to understanding why the
  country has never been totally conquered. One of
  the world's most rugged mountain chains, the
  Hindu Kush, extends from the Pamir Knot into the
  country.
• These rugged mountains, alternating high ridges
  and deep valleys create a topography, or lay of
  the land, unequaled in North America. It is
  partly because of the isolation of these valleys
  that cultural distinctiveness is so prevalent
  across Afghanistan.
• This topography makes modern land transportation
  very, very difficult.
• Throughout history, Afghanistan's valley
  population often has taken to the mountains,
  where they have built rudimentary fortifications
  to wait out or repel invaders. They often used
  natural limestone cavessimilar to those shown as
  Osama bin Laden's headquarters. But there are
  other more unconventional hiding places, as well.
  
• For example, at the foot of mountain valleys
  across the region, systems of hand-dug shafts and
  tunnels called qanats (kah-NOTs) provide
  irrigation. A qanat consists of a shaft that
  penetrates to naturally stored groundwater found
  in delta-like features at the base of mountains.
  In arid climates, runoff from infrequent rain
  spills out of the mountains and percolates
  through sand and gravel that has been deposited
  by water. These landform features, occurring
  wherever intermittent streams flow out onto the
  valley floors are called alluvial fans.
• Villages are often situated on the alluvial fans
  to take advantage of scarce groundwater.
  Virtually all villages in such locations across
  have qanats, which are cleaned regularly of silt
  and sand, so that water may be lifted or pumped,
  or flow out to irrigated crops along alluvial
  fan's margins.
• During the Soviet invasion, as well as others
  down through history, the interlaced shafts and
  tunnels of qanats provided temporary hiding
  places for local villagers, particularly women
  and children. In fact, a favorite Soviet military
  tactic was to pour diesel fuel into these qanats
  and ignite it in an effort to eliminate them as
  hiding places. When the Western press learned of
  this barbaric tactic, the practice was condemned
  widely. Nonetheless, qanats offer a multitude of
  hiding and storage places all across the country.
  
• Geography in the News. September 28, 2001. 592.

5
Afghanistans Civil War
6
Afghan Refugees

• Afghans remain the largest, single refugee group
  in the world, a result of more than 10 years of
  fighting with the Soviet Union
• More than 3.5 million refugees reside in Pakistan
  and Iran alone.