Everything you need to know about Afghanistan
Discover Afghanistan through Herat’s architecture, Kabul’s gardens, Bamiyan’s archaeological landscape and the Hindu Kush. Learn all 34 provinces, place 24 cities and sixteen sights, and explore ten illustrated topics before beginning Pashto or Persian.
Read it, then make it stick
Geography of Afghanistan
The Hindu Kush connects high valleys with northern plains and southwestern deserts.
Know the shape of the country
Start with all 34 provinces, including Daykundi and Panjshir, then place 24 cities and towns and follow selected reaches of the Helmand, Hari, Panj and Amu Darya. Zoom in around Kabul for smaller provinces. Provinces: Wikimedia/geoBoundaries, public domain, generalised 2007 reference geometry. Rivers: Natural Earth, public domain, clipped with a small border margin; gaps can remain beside borders. City coordinates are curated. These learning maps do not show current security conditions, ethnic boundaries or a complete river network, and do not settle border disputes.
Heritage and landscapes
Essential · Archaeology
Bamiyan Valley and Buddha niches
The empty cliff niches recall the two giant standing Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001. Caves, paintings and later fortifications form a wider cultural landscape. The UNESCO property includes eight component areas, rather than only the niches.
Locate sixteen places across Afghanistan, from Bamiyan and Jam to Herat, Kabul, the northern plains and Wakhan. Learn their significance and the differences between archaeological sites, living places of worship and protected landscapes. Priorities indicate learning importance, not visitor recommendations. The UK advises against all travel, including organised tours. Pins and historical descriptions do not establish current opening, permissions or safety. Select a pin to read about a place, then play the map and find them all.
Take Pashto with you
Greetings and politeness
Hello, please, thank you, sorry: the eleven openers everything else builds on.
Keep going one country deeper
When you have had your fill of Afghanistan, the countries marked guide have a page like this one, and every other has maps of its own.
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