Afghanistan

Mountains fill most of landlocked Afghanistan. The Hindu Kush runs across its centre from the north-east, where the narrow Wakhan Corridor stretches out towards China, and valleys among its ranges, such as Panjshir and Bamiyan, hold most of the farmland. To the north the plains slope down to the Amu Darya; to the south-west lie the deserts of Registan and the basin of the Helmand. Mountain winters are severe and lowland summers hot and dry.

Its passes made it a road for conquerors and traders. Alexander the Great marched through it, Buddhist kingdoms carved giant figures into the cliffs at Bamiyan, destroyed in 2001, and Silk Road caravans linked China, India and Persia through Balkh and Herat. Ahmad Shah Durrani founded the modern state in 1747. Britain fought three Anglo-Afghan wars, and in 1919 Afghanistan won full control of its foreign affairs. A monarchy ruled until 1973, and the Soviet intervention of 1979 began decades of war.

Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks and many smaller peoples share a deep love of poetry; landays, two-line verses composed by Pashtun women, are among its oldest forms. Buzkashi, played on horseback with a goat carcass, is the national game, and kabuli palaw, rice with carrots, raisins and lamb, is the dish for guests. Most families farm wheat, fruit and nuts, Kandahar is famed for pomegranates and Herat for saffron, and lapis lazuli from Badakhshan has been traded since ancient times.