Afghanistan Map. Capital Kabul

Afghanistan is bounded on the north by the Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. On the east by China and the part of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmīr controlled by Pakistan. On the south by Pakistan, and on the west by Iran.

The Pashtun tribes were unified Afghanistan was founded in 1747. The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian Empires until it won independence from British control in 1919. The Soviet Union invaded the country in 1979 to support the Afghan communist regime, but the USSR to withdrew in 1989. A series of subsequent civil wars saw Kabul finally fall in 1996 to the Taliban.