Dushanbe TAJIKISTAN UZBEKISTAN ✪ CHINA

Qarshi

Khorugh AFGHANISTAN Lyangar AFGHANISTAN Sarhadd Parkhar Panjeh Kerki Vrang FULL NAME: Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Afghanistan literally Chah-e Ab Feyzabad means Land of the Afghan. Shir Khan CAPITAL: Kabul (population about 700,000) Rostaq Baharak LOCATION: Central Asia Emam Saheb Chakaran Qarqin Termiz BORDERING COUNTRIES: Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Rajikistan, Bayramaly Keshem Jorm Eshkäshem Uzbekistan, China Hazareh Toghay Qonduz Taloqan Zibak KASHMIR AREA: 647,500 square miles. Landlocked with mostly rugged mountains Aqcheh Farkhar Kholm Khanabad and some plains in the north and southwest. Andkhvoy AREA SIZE: Slightly smaller than the state of Texas. TURKMENISTAN Balkh Eshkamesh POPULATION: 26.8 million (July 2001 estimate) Sheberghan Mazar-e Sharif Shahr-e CLIMATE: Arid to semi-arid; cold winters and hot summers Baghlan Monjan RELIGION: Sunnit and Shiit Muslims Boyni Qara Nahrin LANGUAGE: Pashtu, Dari, Turkic languages Samangan LIFE EXPECTANCY: Male: 46.97 years Female: 45.47 years Dowlatabad Deh Khavak Aq Kopruk Banow Pol-e Komri Kamdesh INDEPENDENCE: Aug. 19, 1919, from the United Kingdom over Afghan SarÐe Pol foreign affairs NATIONAL HOLIDAY: Independence Day, Aug. 19 Meymaneh Tokzar Qal‘eh-ye Sarkari Banow Barikowt BACKGROUND: The Soviet Union invaded and occupied Afghanistan Mashad Asmar in 1979, but was forced to withdraw 10 years later by anti-communist Belcheragh Sarowbi Mikh- Zahrrin Golbahar Asadabad Saidu mujahedeen forces supplied and trained by the United States, Saudi Qeysar Jabal os Saraj Arabia, Pakistan and others. The rebels quickly turned their guns on Sayghan Charikar Narang each other, causing the rise of the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban, which Bala Morghab Teylan Tarkhoj Konar-e Khas seized most of the country starting in 1994. In September 1996, the Bamian Paghman militant Taliban took the capital of Kabul. U.S.-led air strikes against Mardan Srina Afghanistan were launched Oct. 7, 2001, for harboring Saudi exile Qal‘eh–ye Now Nayak Kabul ✪ Towr Osama Bin Laden, the top suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in Jalalabad Kham KoshkÐe Peshawar the United States. With the support of U.S. bombs and Special Forces, Qal‘eh–ye Niaz Golran Koneh Diwal Qol Achin Islamabad a loose collection of warlords called the Northern Alliance took control Dowlat Yar Qal‘eh-ye ✪ and captured Kabul in November. In mid-December, the U.S. Embassy Qades Saber Eslam Qul‘eh Panjab Shekhabad in Kabul reopened after 12 years. Today, Afghanistan is on a road to Karokh ‘Ali Kheyl recovery. However, after decades of war, the economy is still in ruins, Tir Pol Chaghcharan Rawalpindi IRAN Chamkani its environment is in a state of crisis. The country is riddled with landmines Owbeh Soltankhel Kohat Jammu left from the war, which are still injuring and killing people on a daily Ghurian Herad Tulak Shahrak Gardeyz basis. Zendeh Jan Ghazni Maydan POLITICAL SITUATION: An interim administration, headed by Hamid Khvolah Karzai, took power December 22, 2001 after various delegates in Bonn, Wazay Germany signed an accord. The administration ruled for six months, AFGHANISTAN Soltan Bagh and an emergency loya jirga (Traditional Grand Assembly) was convened Qarah Bagh Namakzar Farsi Gizab Bannu to decide on a transitional authority to lead Afghanistan until the people Adraskan Sang-e Masheh Zarghun Orgun can elect a permanent government. Karzai was elected president by Yazdan Teywarah Shahr the loya jirga, in June 2002 and appointed a cabinet. The transitional Sagodhar Shindand Hazar Quadam Moqor Sarowbi government represents the midpoint of the immediate plan for Afghanistan. Teywarah The third phase is a permanent and elected government that is supposed Mandel Por Chaman Jani Kheyl to be in place no later than June 2004. Gowmal Lahore Khvosh Asia Wãnow Bailugh Shah Juy Kalay Dera Ismait Khan Nawah Faisalabad Anar Darreh Musa Qal‘eh Mashuray BULGARIA KAZAKHSTAN Qualat DarakhtÐ RUSSIA KYRGYZSTAN e Yahya Tashkent Delaram Now Zad Kajaki GREECE Black Sea Farah Jaldak GEORGIA UZBEKISTAN CHINA Karizak Shinkay Tifilis TAJIKISTAN SoltanÐe Bakva AZERBAIJAN Gereshk ARMENIA Dushanbe Kandahar Athens Ankara Baku TURKMENISTAN Yerevan Zhob TURKEY Caspian Ashgabat Ma‘ruf Incirlik Sea Kabul Islamabad Lash-e Joveyn BazarÐe Mediterranean Khash Lashkar Gah Sea SYRIA Tehran AFGHANISTAN Panjva’i LEBANON Beirut Damascus Bagdad New Delhi Spin Buldak PAKISTAN Shah Malan Jerusalem IRAN Chakhansur Amman INDIA ISRAEL IRAQ PAKISTAN Cairo JORDAN Kang Kuchnay Darvishan Multan Kuweit Zabol Saffar Kalay KUWAIT Zaranj EGYPT Rigestan BAHRAIN Persian Quetta Manama Gulf Gulf of Oman Landay Towrzi Doha Rhiyad QATAR Muscat Abu Dhabi Chehar Borjak Deh Shu UNITED ARAB Bahawalpur EMIRATES SAUDI ARABIA OMAN Arabian Sea Rudbar Red N Sea 0 100 200 300 400 INDIA SUDAN ERITREA YEMEN Klilometers N Asmara Sanaa 0 100 200 300 400 500 Khartoum 0 100 200 300 400 Zahedan DJIBOUTI Dalbandin Miles ETHIOPIA Djibouti SOMALIA

PETER JAEGER/Stars and Stripes