Geography of Afghanistan
Afganistan is located in Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran. Coordinates for Afghanistan are 33 00N, 65 00E. Afghanistan is located in Asia. The size of it is a bit smaller than Texas, making it a total of 2,529km. The climate in Afghanistan can be arid to semi arid, and it has cold winters and hot summers.
The land use in Afghanistan is: arable land:12.13%, permanent crops: 0.22%, and other: 87.65%. There are also a few of natural hazards, such as, damaging earthquakes that occur in the Hindu Kush mountains, floods, and droughts.
These items are some that can be found in Afghanistan: copper, gold, coal deposits, silver, lapis, salt, iron ore, sulfur, chrome, zinc, uranium, oil, and rubies. Many of these items are mined in small amounts, and others are still some what exploited.
Two thirds of Afghanistan's landscape is occupied by mountains. These mountain terrains have little or no vegetation. This is typical for an arid country. Because of this vegetation in places like these, this plays a major role in the ecosystem. Half of the remaining parts of the country's landscape are deserts. Deserts here can be hostile enviorments. The rest of the lands are farmlands and pastures. Only 6% of 15% of the agriculture is actually being cultivated. Afghanistan has a rugged terrain and harsh climate. Yet it has not stopped foreign invaders. Afghanistan has many stories of invasions. Afghanistan is shaped as if it was a hanging leaf.
The mountains in Afghanistan rule the landscape, making it look like a skeleton. These mountains run mostly in a northeast-southwest direction. There is a mountain range that is called the Hindu Kush. The name Hindu Kush means Hindu killer. These mountains memorialize the Indian slaves who vanished in the mountains while being lead to Central Asian slave markets. The mountains of Hindu Kush stretch westward towards the middle, near the capitol of Afghanistan, Kabul.
Afghanistan does not only have mountains, but also rivers. The country has many rivers, river banks, river basins, lakes, and desert areas. The four major river systems are the Amu Darya, the Oxus of antiquity, the Hilmana and the Kabul. The Oxus of antiquity borders with central Asia. The Kabul River, and only it, joining the Indus system in Pakistan, leading to the sea. Three major dams hold these rivers for land reclamation, and hydroelectric purposes. The Three major dams are the Arghandab Dam, the Kajakai Dam, and the Nagiu Dam.