| Kingdom of Afghanistan د افغانستان شاهي دولت (Pashto) Dǝ Afġānistān Šahi Dawlat پادشاهی افغانستان (Dari) Pādišāhi-yi Afğānistān | ||||||
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| Motto: لا إله إلا الله، محمد رسول الله "Lā ʾilāha ʾillā llāh, Muhammadun rasūlu llāh" "There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of Allah." |
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| Anthem: سرود ملی Sūrud-e-Millī ("National Anthem") Royal anthem: لوی سلام Loya Salami "Grand Salute" |
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| Capital (and largest city) | Kabul | |||||
| Official languages | Dari • Pashto | |||||
| Religion | Islam (Dominant) | |||||
| Demonym | Afghan | |||||
| Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy | |||||
| - | Monarch | Mohammed VIII | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Mohammed Alamgir | ||||
| Legislature | National Assembly | |||||
| - | Upper house | House of Elders | ||||
| - | Lower house | House of the People | ||||
| Formation | ||||||
| - | Hotak dynasty | 1709 | ||||
| - | Durrani Empire | 1747 | ||||
| - | Emirate | 1823 | ||||
| - | Dost Mohammad unites Afghanistan | 27 May 1863 | ||||
| - | Independence | 19 August 1919 | ||||
| - | Kingdom | 9 June 1926 | ||||
| - | Republic | 17 July 1973 | ||||
| - | Democratic Republic | 27–28 April 1978 | ||||
| - | Barakzai Restoration | 28 April 1992 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 652,864 km2 252,072 sq mi |
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| Population | ||||||
| - | estimate | -- | ||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2025 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | -- | ||||
| - | Per capita | -- | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2025 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | -- | ||||
| - | Per capita | -- | ||||
| Gini (2025) | -- | |||||
| HDI (2025) | -- | |||||
| Currency | Afghani (افغانی) (AFN) |
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| Time zone | UTC+4:30 | |||||
| Drives on the | right | |||||
| Internet TLD | .af | |||||
| Calling code | +93 | |||||
Afghanistan, officially the Kingdom of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 sq mi) of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. Kabul is the country's capital and largest city. Afghanistan's population is estimated to be between 36 and 50 million.
Human habitation in Afghanistan dates to the Middle Paleolithic era. Popularly referred to as the graveyard of empires, the land has witnessed numerous military campaigns, including those by the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Maurya Empire, Arab Muslims, the Mongols, the British, the Soviet Union, and a US-led coalition. Afghanistan also served as the source from which the Greco-Bactrians and the Mughals, among others, rose to form major empires. Because of the various conquests and periods in both the Iranian and Indian cultural spheres, the area was a center for Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and later Islam. The modern state of Afghanistan began with the Durrani Afghan Empire in the 18th century, although Dost Mohammad Khan is sometimes considered to be the founder of the first modern Afghan state. Afghanistan became a buffer state in the Great Game between the British Empire and the Russian Empire. From India, the British attempted to subjugate Afghanistan but were repelled in the First Anglo-Afghan War; the Second Anglo-Afghan War saw a British victory. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, Afghanistan became free of foreign political hegemony, and emerged as the independent Kingdom of Afghanistan in 1926. This monarchy lasted almost half a century, until Zahir Shah was overthrown in 1973, following which the Republic of Afghanistan was established.
Since the late 1970s, Afghanistan's history has been dominated by extensive warfare, including coups, invasions, insurgencies, and civil wars. The conflict began in 1978 when a communist revolution established a socialist state (itself a response to the dictatorship established following a coup d'état in 1973), and subsequent infighting prompted the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan in 1979. Mujahideen fought against the Soviets in the Soviet–Afghan War and continued fighting among themselves following the Soviets' withdrawal in 1989. The Taliban controlled most of the country by 1996, but their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan received little international recognition before its overthrow in the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan. The Monarchy was allowed to return to power under the still widely respected Mohammed VII Zahir Shah, along with the Barakzai restoration came extensive efforts to re-stabilize the country.
