Map Study of Afghanistan

Why in news?

• The Taliban have seized power in Afghanistan two weeks before the U.S. was set to complete its troop withdrawal after a two-decade war.

Geographical location:

• Afghanistan is a landlocked mountainous country located within South Asia and Central Asia.
• The region centered at Afghanistan is considered the "crossroads of Asia", and the country has had the nickname Heart of Asia
• The geography in Afghanistan is mostly mountainous and rugged
• It is dominated by the Hindu Kush range, the western extension of the Himalayas that stretches to eastern Tibet via the Pamir Mountains and Karakoram Mountains in Afghanistan's far north-east.
• Afghanistan is bounded by seven different countries:
  • Pakistan (longest boundary),
  • India (through PoK)
  • Tajikistan
  • Turkmenistan
  • Iran
  • China (shortest border)
  • Uzbekistan

• Afghanistan has an estimated population of 4.6 million composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks.

Important places/features:

• Durand Line:
  • The Durand Line is the 2,430-kilometre international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
• Wakhan Corridor:
  • The Wakhan Corridor, wedged between the Pamir Mountains to the north and the Karakoram Range to the south, is a narrow strip of territory in northeastern Afghanistan that extends to China and separates Tajikistan from Pakistan.
  • India shares border with this region

Indian investment in Afghan

• Zaranj-Delaram highway:
  • This is an India financed Highway in Afghanistan, which connects the Garland Highway, linked to all Afghan cities, to Chabahar port in Iran and provides Afghanistan stable access to regional markets.
• Salma Dam:
  • It is a hydroelectric and irrigation dam project located on the Hari River in Herat Province in western Afghanistan.
  • Since this project is funded and constructed by the Government of India, the then Afghan cabinet renamed the Salma Dam to the Afghan-India Friendship Dam
• Power transmission line from Pul-e-Khumri to Kabul
  • The Pul-e-Khumri to Kabul transmission line in Afghanistan is a 202km-long double-circuit line which is funded by the Government of India under its assistance package for power generation and transmission in Afghanistan.
• Afghanistan Parliament:
  • The Afghan Parliament in Kabul was built by India at $90 million.
  • It was inaugurated in 2015 and it was a gift from India to the war-ravaged nation.
  • The contract was awarded to an Indian infrastructure company in 2008
• INSTC trade route:
  • International North-South Transport Corridor is a 7,200-km-long multi-mode transport project for moving freight among India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.
  • Recently, in March 2021, India proposed the inclusion of Chabahar port in the INSTC route, with Jaishankar expressing hope that member states involved with the INSTC will agree on expanding membership of this project.

Major cities in the country:

• The only city in Afghanistan with over 1 million population is its capital, Kabul. The rest are smaller cities and towns.
• When the Taliban seized power in 1996 >> capital of the country was transferred to Kandahar.

PRELIMS QUESTION:

What is the correct sequence of occurrence of the following cities in Asia as one proceeds from south to north?

1. Kabul

2. Islamabad

3. Tashkent

4. Kandahar

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 2-3-1-4

(b) 4-2-1-3

(c) 1-2-3-4

(d) 4-3-1-2

Answer