Afghanistan is a landlocked country slightly smaller than Texas, situated in southwestern Asia on the Iranian Plateau. The Hindu Kush mountain range runs northeast to southwest and divides the northern provinces from the rest of the country. On the north, Afghanistan borders Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan; in the east, China; in the west, Iran; and in the south, Pakistan.

Borders and Topography

The total length of the Afghanistan border is 3,436 miles, and 44 percent of that border— 1,510 miles—is with Pakistan. Afghanistan’s border with Iran in the west is 582 miles, and it shares a 47-mile border with China. The remaining 1,297 miles border northern neighbors. The lowest elevation, Amu Darya, is 846 feet above sea level; the highest peak, in the northern Vakhan Wakhan Corridor, is Noshak at 24,557 feet. Slightly over 12 percent of the land is able to support crops.¹