50 Fun Facts About Afghanistan

Afghanistan is landlocked and shares borders with how many countries?

Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China.

Which mountain range dominates Afghanistan, separating the northern plains from the south-west?

The Hindu Kush runs some 800 km from the Pamirs in the north-east across central Afghanistan into Pakistan and is often described as the western extension of the Himalayas.

Afghanistan's highest point, Noshaq, rises to roughly what height?

Noshaq, on the Pakistani border in the Hindu Kush, reaches 7,492 m; the lowest point is just 258 m, on the bank of the Amu Darya in the north.

Afghanistan is roughly the size of which US state?

At about 652,000 sq km Afghanistan is slightly smaller than Texas (about 696,000 sq km) and slightly larger than France.

Afghanistan's longest land border, the Durand Line, is shared with which country?

The roughly 2,600 km Durand Line with Pakistan was agreed in 1893 between Abdur Rahman Khan and British India's Mortimer Durand, dividing Pashtun and Baloch lands.

The narrow Wakhan Corridor in the far north-east connects Afghanistan to which country?

The Wakhan Corridor ends at a short mountain border with China; it was carved out in the 1890s as a buffer so that Russian and British territory would never touch.

At about 5,900 feet above sea level, Kabul is one of the world's highest what?

Kabul, at about 1,790 m (5,900 ft), is among the world's highest capital cities; the city on the Kabul River is thought to be over 3,500 years old.

Which famous mountain pass links eastern Afghanistan with Peshawar in Pakistan?

The Khyber Pass crosses the Spin Ghar (Safed Koh) range from Torkham, on the Afghan border, down to Peshawar; invading armies from Babur's to Britain's marched through it.

Because so many invaders have failed to hold it, Afghanistan is popularly nicknamed what?

The 'graveyard of empires' tag recalls the destruction of a British army retreating from Kabul in 1842 and the failed Soviet occupation of the 1980s.

Alexander reached Afghanistan in 330 BCE, the year after defeating Darius III at which battle?

Gaugamela, fought on 1 October 331 BCE, broke Darius III's army; Alexander then pursued him east and entered Afghanistan in 330 BCE, founding Alexandria in Arachosia near modern Kandahar.

Which blue stone, mined in Badakhshan, did ancient Afghanistan trade along the Silk Road?

Lapis lazuli from the Sar-i Sang mines of Badakhshan reached Sumerian Ur and Tutankhamun's Egypt, and ground into ultramarine pigment it coloured Renaissance paintings.

The Buddhas of Bamiyan, destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001, were how tall at their largest?

The larger western Buddha stood 55 m, the eastern one 38 m; carbon dating puts them at around 570 and 618 CE, and the Taliban dynamited both in March 2001.

The Minaret of Jam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site built around 1190, was the work of which dynasty?

The 65 m brick tower stands in a remote valley of Ghor Province and is on the danger list.

Which 'Pearl of Khorasan' was the focus of the Timurid Renaissance under Shah Rukh?

Its Thursday poetry nights and Great Mosque continue the tradition.

The 13th-century mystic poet Rumi was born in which Afghan city?

Rumi, called Balkhi, was born in 1207 in or near Balkh, then part of the Khwarazmian realm; his family fled west before the Mongol invasion and settled in Konya.

The world's earliest known use of oil painting was found where in Afghanistan?

Murals in the Bamiyan caves, painted around the 7th century with walnut and poppy-seed oils, are the earliest known oil paintings, predating European use by centuries.

The modern Afghan state is generally dated from which ruler's empire, founded in 1747?

Ahmad Shah Durrani was crowned at Kandahar in 1747 and built an empire reaching Delhi; his Durrani state, not yet called Afghanistan, is the origin of the modern country.

Which Mughal founder captured Kabul in 1504 and made it his headquarters?

His garden tomb, the Bagh-e Babur, remains one of Kabul's landmarks.

Afghanistan served as a buffer state in the 19th-century 'Great Game' between which two empires?

Britain and Russia vied for influence across Central Asia; Emir Abdur Rahman Khan likened Afghanistan to a goat between two lions, or a grain of wheat between two millstones.

Afghanistan's Independence Day, 19 August, marks the treaty that ended which war in 1919?

The Third Anglo-Afghan War began when Emir Amanullah Khan invaded British India in May 1919; the Treaty of Rawalpindi that August gave Afghanistan control of its foreign affairs.

Zahir Shah, the last king, reigned from 1933 until he was deposed by his cousin in which year?

In July 1973, while Zahir Shah was in Italy for medical treatment, his cousin Daoud Khan seized power and proclaimed a republic, ending 226 years of monarchy.

The Soviet-Afghan War ran from December 1979 until the Soviet withdrawal in which month?

The last Soviet troops crossed the Friendship Bridge over the Amu Darya on 15 February 1989; the nine-year war is often called 'the Soviet Union's Vietnam'.

Ahmad Shah Massoud, the 'Lion of Panjshir', was assassinated by al-Qaeda on which date?

Two al-Qaeda operatives posing as journalists killed Massoud with a bomb hidden in a camera on 9 September 2001, two days before the 9/11 attacks; the Tajik commander had held the Panjshir Valley against the Soviets and the Taliban.

The Taliban returned to power in which year after capturing Kabul?

The Taliban entered Kabul on 15 August 2021 as the US-backed government collapsed; they had first held most of the country from 1996 until the 2001 US-led invasion.

The Taliban's flag is a white field bearing what?

The white flag bears the Shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith, in black script; the republic's flag it replaced was a black, red and green tricolour with a mosque emblem.

What are Afghanistan's two official languages?

Dari and Pashto have been co-official since the 1964 constitution; Dari, a variety of Persian, serves as the lingua franca, and bilingualism is common.

Which ethnic group is Afghanistan's largest, at roughly two-fifths of the population?

Pashtuns make up roughly 40-42% of Afghans by most estimates, with Tajiks next at about 27% and Hazaras and Uzbeks around 9% each; no complete census has ever been held.

What is Afghanistan's currency?

The afghani, introduced in 1923 to replace the Afghan rupee, is nominally divided into 100 puls, though no pul coins circulate.

Kabuli palaw, the national dish, is steamed rice with marinated meat, raisins and what?

It is often garnished with almonds and pistachios; in Saudi Arabia it is called Bukhari rice.

Which ancient spring-equinox festival begins the year in Afghanistan's solar calendar?

Nowruz, on or about 21 March, opens the Solar Hijri year; Mazar-i-Sharif's Blue Mosque hosts the biggest celebrations, though the Taliban have discouraged the festival.

What is the national sport of Afghanistan?

In buzkashi, horsemen compete to drag a goat or calf carcass into a scoring circle; it is a Friday passion of the northern plains.

Which two sports are the most popular in modern Afghanistan?

Cricket and football draw the biggest followings; the national cricket team, which played its first ODI in 2009, reached the 2015, 2019 and 2023 World Cups and the 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final.

Rashid Khan's first Test as captain, in September 2019 aged 20, came against which team?

Rashid Khan led Afghanistan to a 224-run win over Bangladesh at Chattogram in September 2019, aged 20 years 350 days; the leg-spinner had already become the youngest bowler to top the ICC ODI rankings.

Attan, performed by Afghans of all backgrounds, is the national what?

It is a group dance; singer Ahmad Zahir remains the country's most celebrated pop voice.

The karakul hat, worn constantly by President Hamid Karzai, is made from the fur of what?

The hat is made from the tightly curled pelt of newborn lambs of the karakul, a fat-tailed sheep breed of Central Asia.

After the Soviet invasion, Afghan weavers began producing what variant of the traditional rug?

War rugs wove tanks, helicopters and Kalashnikovs into traditional patterns from the 1980s; later examples depicted the 9/11 attacks.

What natural barrier holds back the blue lakes of Band-e Amir, Afghanistan's first national park?

Travertine dams, walls of calcium carbonate deposited by the mineral-rich water, hold back Band-e Amir's six lakes in Bamyan Province; the park was created in 2009.

Which wild animal is found in Afghanistan only in the high Pamirs of the Wakhan Corridor?

Marco Polo sheep, the huge-horned Pamir argali, occur in Afghanistan only in the Big and Little Pamir of the Wakhan Corridor, sharing the alpine tundra with snow leopards and brown bears.

The Afghan hound's long silky coat developed as protection against what?

The Afghan hound's thick, silky coat insulated it against the harsh mountain climate where it hunted; the AKC calls the breed an 'aloof and dignified aristocrat of sublime beauty'.

Afghanistan's Salang Tunnel, at nearly 11,200 feet, was completed in 1964 by which country?

It is 2.67 km long and lies about 90 km north of Kabul on Highway 1.

The famous 1985 National Geographic cover 'Afghan Girl' was taken by which photographer?

Steve McCurry photographed Sharbat Gula, a 12-year-old Pashtun refugee, at Nasir Bagh camp near Peshawar in December 1984; she was identified only in 2002.

Khaled Hosseini's 2003 debut novel about a Kabul boy named Amir is called what?

The Kite Runner follows Amir, who fails to protect his friend Hassan during a Kabul kite tournament; guilt drives the story, which sold millions and became a 2007 film.

In the early 2020s Afghanistan was a top-three producer of cashmere and which spice?

Saffron, grown mainly around Herat, made Afghanistan a top-three producer in the early 2020s, behind Iran; the country also ranked third for cashmere, after China and Mongolia.

Which fruits is Afghanistan especially known for producing?

Kandahar pomegranates, raisin grapes and Mazar melons are Afghanistan's signature fruits; dried fruit and nuts are among its biggest exports.

Nuristan, converted to Islam by Abdur Rahman Khan in the 1890s, was previously called what?

Kafiristan, 'land of the unbelievers', kept its polytheistic faith until Abdur Rahman Khan conquered it in 1895-96 and renamed it Nuristan, 'land of light'; Kipling set 'The Man Who Would Be King' there.

Kabul is Afghanistan's largest city with a population of roughly how many?

Kabul's population is estimated at roughly 4.5 to 5 million, far ahead of Kandahar and Herat; the whole country is put at between 35 and 45 million, no census having been completed.

The 75 km railway opened in 2011 from Mazar-i-Sharif runs to which country's border?

Uzbekistan: the line from Hairatan, at the Amu Darya Friendship Bridge, to Mazar-i-Sharif opened in 2011, built by Uzbek railways with Asian Development Bank funding; two shorter links cross into Turkmenistan.

As of 2018, roughly what share of Afghans aged 15 and over were literate?

UNESCO put adult literacy at 43% in 2018, 55% for men and 30% for women, one of the lowest rates in the world.

The Kabul River flows east to join which great river before reaching the Indian Ocean?

The Kabul River joins the Indus at Attock in Pakistan, whose waters reach the Arabian Sea; the Amu Darya, by contrast, rises north of the Hindu Kush and forms part of the northern border.

The Kushan Empire, centred on Afghanistan in the first century CE, were great patrons of which religion?

Under the Kushans, whose ruler Kanishka is remembered as a great patron of Buddhism, Gandharan Buddhist art flourished and the faith spread along the Silk Road to China.