Afghanistan Geography 1997

Location Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran

Geographic coordinates 33 00 N, 65 00 E

Map references Asia

Area
total: 647,500 sq km
land: 647,500 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative slightly smaller than Texas

Land boundaries
total: 5,529 km
border countries: China 76 km, Iran 936 km, Pakistan 2,430 km, Tajikistan 1,206 km, Turkmenistan744 km, Uzbekistan 137 km

Coastline 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims none (landlocked)

Climate arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers

Terrain mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest

Elevation extremes
lowest point: Amu Darya 258 m
highest point: Nowshak 7,485 m

Natural resources natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc,iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones

Land use
arable land: 12%
permanent crops : 0%
permanent pastures: 46%
forests and woodland: 3%
other: 39% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land 30,000 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding

Environment - current issues soil degradation; overgrazing; deforestation (much of the remainingforests are being cut down for fuel and building materials); desertification

Environment - international agreements
party to : Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, MarineDumping, Nuclear Test Ban
signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, MarineLife Conservation

Geography - note landlocked

NOTE: The information regarding Afghanistan on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Afghanistan Geography 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Afghanistan Geography 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.