#The road to 56 free#

The last part of the name, ' -stan' is a Persian suffix for 'place of'. The Arabic and Persian form of the name, AfДЎДЃn, was first attested in the 10th-century geography book Hudud al-'Alam.

Historically, the ethnonym AfghДЃn was used to refer to ethnic Pashtuns. AЕ›vakan literally means 'horsemen', 'horse breeders', or ' cavalrymen' (from aЕ›va or aspa, the Sanskrit and Avestan words for ' horse'). The root name ' AfghДЃn' is, according to some scholars, derived from the Sanskrit name of the AЕ›vakan or Assakan, ancient inhabitants of the Hindu Kush region. 2.5.1 Democratic Republic and Soviet war.2.4.1 Barakzai dynasty and British wars.2.4 Death of Ahmad Shah and his Successors.2.3.4 Objectives and Invasions of India.2.2.2 Mongols and Babur with the Lodi Dynasty.Afghanistan's economy is the world's 96th largest, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $72.9В billion by purchasing power parity the country fares much worse in terms of per-capita GDP (PPP), ranking 169th out of 186 countries as of 2018. The country has high levels of terrorism, poverty, and child malnutrition. Its recent history since the late 1970s has been dominated by prolonged warfare, starting with it becoming a socialist state provoking the SovietвЂ“Afghan War and rebel control, territory capture by the Taliban militia and its totalitarian regime, the US invasion and a twenty-year-long war which concluded with the Taliban's summer offensive and the resulting fall of Kabul in August 2021. This kingdom lasted almost fifty years, until King Zahir was overthrown and a republic was established in 1973.

#The road to 56 free#

Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, the country became free of foreign dominance, eventually becoming the Kingdom of Afghanistan in June 1926 under King Amanullah. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a buffer state in the ' Great Game' between British India and the Russian Empire. The modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotaki and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. The various conquests made the area a center for Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism and Islam throughout history. The land also served as the source from which the Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, Hephthalites, Samanids, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Khaljis, Mughals, Hotaks, Durranis, and others have risen to form major empires. It is nicknamed the ' graveyard of empires', though it has been occupied during several different periods of its history. The land has historically been home to various peoples and has witnessed numerous military campaigns, including those by Alexander the Great, Mauryas, Muslim Arabs, Mongols, British, Soviets, and Americans (with coalition allies). Human habitation in Afghanistan dates back to the Middle Paleolithic Era, and the country's strategic location along the Silk Road connected it to the cultures of other parts of Asia as well as Europe its location on the Asian land routes has been described the 'roundabout of the ancient world', leaving behind a mosaic of ethnolinguistic and religious groups that has influenced present Afghanistan. Kabul serves as its capital and largest city. Its population as of 2020 is 31.4В million, composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks. Occupying 652,864 square kilometres (252,072В sqВ mi), the country is predominately mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest that are separated by the Hindu Kush mountains. It is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south (including a short border with Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, claimed by India), Iran to the west, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to the north, and Tajikistan and China to the northeast. Afghanistan ( / Г¦ f Л€ ЙЎ Г¦ n ЙЄ s t Г¦ n, Г¦ f Л€ ЙЎ Й‘Лђ n ЙЄ s t Й‘Лђ n/ ( listen) Pashto/ Dari: Ш§ЩЃШєШ§Щ†ШіШЄШ§Щ† AfДЎДЃnestДЃn, Pashto pronunciation:, Dari pronunciation: ), officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central and South Asia.