Nowshak, at 7,485 m (24,557 ft) above sea level. The climate varies by region and tends to change quite rapidly. Large parts of the country are dry, and fresh water supplies are limited. The endorheic Sistan Basin is one of the driest regions in the world.[25] Afghanistan has a continental climate with very harsh winters in the central highlands, the glacierized northeast (around Nuristan) and the Wakhan Corridor, where the average temperature in January is below -15°C, and hot summers in the low-lying areas of Sistan Basin of the southwest, the Jalalabad basin of the east, and the Turkistan plains along the Amu River of the north, where temperature averages over 35°C in July. The country is frequently subject to minor earthquakes, mainly in the northeast of Hindu Kush mountain areas. Some 125 villages were damaged and 4000 people killed by the May 31, 1998 earthquake. At 249,984 sq mi (647,500 km²), Afghanistan is the world's 41st-largest country (after Burma). Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan border Afghanistan to the north, Iran to the west, Pakistan to the south and the People's Republic of China to the east. The country's natural resources include gold, silver, copper, zinc, and iron ore in the Southeast; precious and semi-precious stones (such as lapis, emerald, and azure) in the Northeast; and potentially significant petroleum and natural gas reserves in the North. The country also has uranium, coal, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, and salt.[1][26][27][28] However, these significant mineral and energy resources remain largely untapped, due to the effects of the Soviet invasion and the subsequent civil war. Plans are under way to begin extracting them in the near future.[29][30] History Main article: History of Afghanistan History of Afghanistan This article is part of a series Timeline Pre-Islamic Period Achaemenids (550-330 BC) Seleucids (330-150 BC) Greco-Bactrians (256-125 BC) Sakas (145 BC - ) Kushans (30 CE - 248 CE) Indo-Sassanid (248 - 410) Kidarites (320-465) Hephthalites (410-557) Sassanids (224-579) Kabul Shahi (565-670) Islamic Conquest Umayyads (661-750) Abbasids (750-821) Tahirids (821-873) Saffarids (863-900)[31] Samanids (875-999) Ghaznavids (963-1187) Seljukids (1037-1194) Khwarezmids (1077-1231) Ghurids (1149-1212) Ilkhanate (1258-1353) Timurids (1370-1506) Mughals (1501-1738) Safavids (1510-1709) Hotaki dynasty (1709-1738) Afsharids (1738-1747) Durrani Empire (1747-1823) Emirate (1823-1926) Kingdom (1926-1973) Republic (1973-1978) Democratic Republic (1978-1992) Islamic State (1992-1996) Islamic Emirate (1996-2001) Islamic Republic (2001-) Afghan Civil War 1979–1989 1989–1992 1992–1996 1996–2001 2001–present Afghanistan Portal  v • d • e  For many centuries, the region that is now Afghanistan was the eastern part of the Persian Empire. Ever since, it forms the eastern periphery to the Iranian Cultural Continent. Though the modern state of Afghanistan was founded or created in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani,[10] the land has an ancient history and various timelines of different civilizations. Excavation of prehistoric sites by Louis Dupree, the University of Pennsylvania, the Smithsonian Institution and others suggests that humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, and that farming communities of the area were among the earliest in the world.[32][33] Afghanistan is a country at a unique nexus point where numerous Indo-European civilizations have interacted and often fought, and it was an important site of early historical activity. Through the ages, the region has been home to various people, among them the Aryan (Indo-Iranian) tribes, such as the Bactrians, Arians, Arachosians, etc. It also has been conquered by a host of people, including the Median and Persian Empires, Alexander the Great, the Seleucids, the Indo-Greeks, the Indians, Turks, and Mongols. In recent times, military operations from the British, Soviets, and most recently by the United States and their allies have taken place. On the other hand, native entities have invaded surrounding regions in Iranian plateau, Central Asia and Indian subcontinent to form empires of their own. Pre-Islamic period Main article: Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom at its maximum extent, circa 180 BCE In 2000 BC, Indo-European-speaking Aryans are thought to have been in the region of Afghanistan. It is unlikely[34] that the Aryans themselves originated in Afghanistan although they did migrate from there south towards India and west towards Persia, but they also migrated into Europe via north of the Caspian. These Aryans set up a nation which became known as Airyanem Vaejah. Original homelands of the Aryans have been proposed as Anatolia, Kurdistan, Central Asia, Iran, or India, with the directions of the historical migration varying accordingly.[35][36] Later, during the rule of Ashkanian, Sasanian and after, it was called Eranshahr (Persian: ???????? – Iranšahr) meaning “Dominion of the Aryans”. It has been speculated that Zoroastrianism might have originated in what is now Afghanistan between 1800 to 800 BC, as Zoroaster lived and died in Balkh.[37][38] Ancient Eastern Iranian languages, such as Avestan, may have been spoken in this region around the time of the rise of Zoroastrianism. By the middle of the sixth century BC, the Persian Empire of the Achaemenid Persians overthrew the Median Empire and incorporated Afghanistan (known as Arachosia to the Greeks) within its boundaries. Alexander the Great conquered Afghanistan after 330 BCE. Following Alexander's brief occupation, the successor state of the Seleucid Empire controlled the area until 305 BCE, when they gave most of the area to the Hindu Mauryan Empire as part of an alliance treaty. During Mauryan rule, Hinduism and Buddhism became the dominant religions in the region. The Mauryans were overthrown by the Sunga Dynasty in 185 BCE, leading to the Hellenistic reconquest of Afghanistan by the Greco-Bactrians by 180 BCE. Much of Afghanistan soon broke away from the Greco-Bactrians and became part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom. The Indo-Greeks were defeated by the Indo-Scythians and expelled from most of Afghanistan by the end of the 2nd century BCE. During the first century, the Parthian Empire subjugated Afghanistan, but lost it to their Indo-Parthian vassals. In the mid to late 1st century AD the vast Kushan Empire, centered in modern Afghanistan, became great patrons of Buddhist culture. The Kushans were defeated by the Sassanids in the third century. Although various rulers calling themselves Kushanshas (generally known as Indo-Sassanids) continued to rule at least parts of the region, they were probably more or less subject to the Sassanids.[39] The late Kushans were followed by the Kidarite Huns[40] who, in turn, were replaced by the short-lived but powerful Hephthalites, as rulers of the region in the first half of the fifth century.[41] The Hephthalites were defeated by the Sasanian king Khosrau I in AD 557, who re-established Sassanid power in Persia. However, the successors of Kushans and Hepthalites established a small dynasty in Kabulistan called Kushano-Hephthalites or Kabul-Shahan/Shahi, who were later defeated by the Muslim Arab armies and finally conquered by Muslim Turkish armies led by the Ghaznavids. Islamic conquests and Mongol invasion Main articles: Islamic conquest of Afghanistan and Mongol invasion of Central Asia Islam arrived to Afghanistan in the 7th century from Khorasan in the west In the Middle Ages, up to the nineteenth century, Afghanistan was part of a larger region known as Greater Khorasan.[42][43][44] Several important centers of Khorasan are thus located in modern Afghanistan, such as Balkh, Herat, Ghazni and Kabul. It was during this period of time when Islam was introduced and spread in the area. The region of Afghanistan became the center of various important empires, including that of the Shahis, Samanids (875–999), Ghaznavids (977–1187), Seljukids (1037–1194), Ghurids (1149–1212), Mongol Empire, Ilkhanate (1225–1335), and Timurids (1370–1506). Among them, the periods of the Ghaznavids[45] and Timurids[46] are considered as some of the most brilliant eras of the region's history. In 1219 the region was overrun by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, who devastated the land, including, for example, exterminating every human being in the ancient cities of Herat and Balkh.[47] The destruction caused by the Mongols depopulated major cities and caused much of the population to revert to an agrarian rural society.[48] Their rule continued with the Ilkhanate (one of four Subordinate Mongolian Khanates), and was extended further following the invasion of Timur Lang (“Tamerlane”), a ruler from Central Asia. In 1504, Babur, a descendant of both Timur Lang and Genghis Khan, established the Mughal Empire with its capital at Kabul. By the early 1700s, Afghanistan was controlled by several ruling groups: Uzbeks to the north, Safavids to the west and the remaining larger area by the Mughals or self-ruled by local tribes. Hotaki dynasty Main article: Hotaki dynasty In 1709, Mir Wais Hotak, a local Afghan (Pashtun) from the Ghilzai clan, overthrew and killed Gurgin Khan, the Safavid governor of Kandahar. Mir Wais successfully defeated a Safavid army sent for retaliation and held the region of Kandahar until his death in 1715. He was succeeded by his son Mir Mahmud Hotaki. In 1722, Mir Mahmud led an Afghan army to Isfahan (Iran), sacked the city and proclaimed himself King of Persia. However, the great majority still rejected the Afghan regime as usurping, and after the massacre of thousands of civilians in Isfahan by the Afghans – including more than three thousand religious scholars, nobles, and members of the Safavid family – the Hotaki dynasty was eventually removed from power by a new ruler, Nadir Shah of Persia.[49][50] Durrani Empire: beginning of the Afghan state Main article: Durrani Empire Soldiers of the Durrani Empire. In 1738, Nadir Shah and his army, which included four thousand Pashtuns of the Abdali clan,[51] conquered the region of Kandahar; in the same year he occupied Ghazni, Kabul and Lahore. On June 19, 1747, Nadir Shah was assassinated, possibly planned by his nephew Ali Qoli. Following Nadir's death, one of Nadir's military commanders and personal bodyguard, Ahmad Shah Abdali, a Pashtun from the Abdali clan, called for a loya jirga (a "grand assembly"). The Afghans gathered at Kandahar and chose Ahmad Shah as their new leader, coronating him King in October 1747. Ahmad Shah is often regarded as the founder of modern Afghanistan.[1][52][53] After the inauguration, Ahmad Shah changed his title or clans' name to “Durrani”, which derives from the Persian word Durr, meaning “Pearl”.[51] By 1751, Ahmad Shah Durrani and his Afghan army conquered the entire present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Khorasan and Kohistan provinces of Iran, along with Delhi in India.[22] In October 1772, Ahmad Shah retired to his home in Maruf, Kandahar, where he died peacefully. He was succeeded by his son, Timur Shah Durrani, who transferred the capital from Kandahar to Kabul. Timur died in 1793 and was finally succeeded by his son Zaman Shah Durrani. Ahmad Shah Durrani nee Abdali's grandsons had a weak hold on the legacy left to them by their famous ancestor. They sorted out their differences through a "round robin of expulsions, blindings and executions",[54] which naturally resulted in the deterioration of the Afghan hold over far-flung territories, such as Attock and Kashmir. An interesting fallout was that Abdali's grandson, Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk, fled the wrath of his brother and successfully sought refuge with the Sikhs. This was a rather amazing event. Not only had Abdali invaded the Punjab many times, but had, not too long ago, destroyed the holiest shrine of the Sikhs - the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, defiling its sarowar with the blood of cows. The Sikhs, under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, were to eventually wrest a large part of the Kingdom of Kabul (present day Pakistan, but not including Sind) from the Afghans.[55] Hari Singh Nalwa, the Commander-in-Chief of the Sikh Empire along its Afghan frontier, took the boundary of his country to the very foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains.[56] The Sikhs struck terror in the hearts of the Pashtuns. In 1837, the whole Afghan Army descended through the Khyber Pass on a handful of Sikh forces at Jamrud. Despite the paucity of troops and the death of the valiant general, the terror of Hari Singh Nalwa’s name alone kept the entire army of the Kingdom of Kabul at bay for over a week — the time it took reinforcements to reach Jamrud from Lahore.[57] European influence Main article: European influence in Afghanistan First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–42). William Brydon was the sole survivor of the invading British army of 16,500 soldiers and civilian camp followers. During the nineteenth century, following the Anglo-Afghan wars (fought 1839–42, 1878–80, and lastly in 1919) and the ascension of the Barakzai dynasty, Afghanistan saw much of its territory and autonomy ceded to the United Kingdom. The UK exercised a great deal of influence, and it was not until King Amanullah Khan acceded to the throne in 1919 that Afghanistan re-gained complete independence over its foreign affairs (see “The Great Game”). During the period of British intervention in Afghanistan, ethnic Pashtun territories were divided by the Durand Line. This would lead to strained relations between Afghanistan and British India – and later the new state of Pakistan – over what came to be known as the Pashtunistan debate. Kingdom of Afghanistan Main articles: Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war and Kingdom of Afghanistan King Amanullah on a royal trip to Berlin. This trip initiated a great alliance between Afghanistan and Germany that continues to this day. King Amanullah (1919–1929) moved to end his country's traditional isolation in the years following the Third Anglo-Afghan war. He established diplomatic relations with most major countries and, following a 1927 tour of Europe and Turkey (during which he noted the modernization and secularization advanced by Atatürk), introduced several reforms intended to modernize Afghanistan. A key force behind these reforms was Mahmud Tarzi, Amanullah Khan's Foreign Minister and father-in-law – and an ardent supporter of the education of women. He fought for Article 68 of Afghanistan's first constitution (declared through a Loya Jirga), which made elementary education compulsory.[58] Some of the reforms that were actually put in place, such as the abolition of the traditional Muslim veil for women and the opening of a number of co-educational schools, quickly alienated many tribal and religious leaders. Faced with overwhelming armed opposition, Amanullah was forced to abdicate in January 1929 after Kabul fell to forces led by Habibullah Kalakani. Prince Mohammed Nadir Khan, a cousin of Amanullah's, in turn defeated and killed Habibullah Kalakani in October of the same year, and with considerable Pashtun tribal support he was declared King Nadir Shah. He began consolidating power and regenerating the country. He abandoned the reforms of Amanullah Khan in favour of a more gradual approach to modernisation. In 1933, however, he was assassinated in a revenge killing by a Kabul student. Afghan King Zahir Shah and his wife with US President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline in New York. Mohammad Zahir Shah, Nadir Khan's 19-year-old son, succeeded to the throne and reigned from 1933 to 1973. The longest period of stability in Afghanistan was when the country was under the rule of King Zahir Shah. Until 1946 Zahir Shah ruled with the assistance of his uncle, who held the post of Prime Minister and continued the policies of Nadir Shah. In 1946, another of Zahir Shah's uncles, Sardar Shah Mahmud Khan, became Prime Minister and began an experiment allowing greater political freedom, but reversed the policy when it went further than he expected. In 1953, he was replaced as Prime Minister by Mohammed Daoud Khan, the king's cousin and brother-in-law. Daoud sought a closer relationship with the Soviet Union and a more distant one towards Pakistan. During this period Afghanistan remained neutral. It was not a participant in World War II, nor aligned with either power bloc in the Cold War. However, it was a beneficiary of the latter rivalry as both the Soviet Union and the U.S. vied for influence by building such works as hotels and sewer systems. A good two lane road was constructed from Iran. Running through Herat, Kandahar, and Kabul, it ended at the Pakistani border. By the late 1960s large numbers of travelers were using it as part of the hippie trail. Republic of Afghanistan Main article: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan In 1973, Zahir Shah's brother-in-law, Mohammed Daoud Khan, launched a bloodless coup and became the first President of Afghanistan while Zahir Shah was on an official overseas visit. Mohammed Daoud Khan jammed Afghan radio with anti-Pakistani broadcasts and looked to the Soviet Union and the United States for aid for development. In 1978 a prominent member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), Mir Akbar Khyber (or “Kaibar”), was killed by the government. The leaders of PDPA apparently feared that Daoud was planning to exterminate them all, especially since most of them were arrested by the government shortly after. Hafizullah Amin and a number of military wing officers of the PDPA managed to remain at large and organised an uprising. The PDPA, led by Nur Mohammad Taraki, Babrak Karmal and Amin overthrew the regime of Mohammad Daoud, who was killed along with his family. The uprising was known as the Khalq, or Great Saur Revolution ('Saur' means 'April' in Pashto). On May 1, 1978, Taraki became President, Prime Minister and General Secretary of the PDPA. The country was then renamed the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA), and the PDPA regime lasted, in some form or another, until April 1992. The 1978 Khalq uprising against the government of Daoud Khan was essentially a resurgence by the Ghilzai tribe of the Pashtun against the Durrani (the tribe of Daoud Khan and the previous monarchy).[59] Kabul's Queens Palace before the Soviet invasion, as the headquarters of the PDPA. Once in power, the PDPA moved to permit freedom of religion and carried out an ambitious land reform, waiving farmers' debts countrywide. They also made a number of statements on women’s rights and introduced women to political life. A prominent example was Anahita Ratebzad, who was a major Marxist leader and a member of the Revolutionary Council. Ratebzad wrote the famous May 28, 1978 New Kabul Times editorial which declared: “Privileges which women, by right, must have are equal education, job security, health services, and free time to rear a healthy generation for building the future of the country ... Educating and enlightening women is now the subject of close government attention.”[60] Many people in the cities including Kabul either welcomed or were ambivalent to these policies. However, the secular nature of the government made it unpopular with religiously conservative Afghans in the villages and the countryside, who favoured traditionalist 'Islamic' law. The U.S. saw the situation as a prime opportunity to weaken the Soviet Union. As part of a Cold War strategy, in 1979 the United States government (under President Jimmy Carter) began to covertly fund forces ranged against the pro-Soviet government, although warned that this might prompt a Soviet intervention, according to President Carter's National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski. Brzezinski described the U