Afghanistan 🇦🇫
Afghanistan is a country in Asia with a population of 41,128,771. Its capital is Kabul. The official currency is AFN, and the main languages are Pashto, Dari.
Quick facts
- Capital: Kabul
- Continent: Asia
- Population: 41,128,771
- Area: 652,230 km²
- Density: 63.1 people per km²
- Currency: AFN
- Languages: Pashto, Dari
- ISO code: AF
Where Afghanistan sits
Afghanistan 🇦🇫 is one of 48 countries in Asia, with its capital at Kabul. It covers 652,230 square kilometres — 40th in the world — and is home to about 41,128,771 people, 36th globally.
The countries it shares a continent with include China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.
How Afghanistan compares
Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Afghanistan sits closest to Poland and Canada. In land area, its nearest counterparts are South Sudan and France.
At 63.1 people per square kilometre it is close to the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by population than by area, so it is more crowded than its size alone suggests.
Pashto is listed as official in Afghanistan alone. The AFN is used by Afghanistan and no one else.
To see Afghanistan next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.
How to remember Afghanistan
Kabul sits on the Kabul River, high in the mountains. K for Kabul, K for the Hindu Kush around it.
The flag of Afghanistan: black, red and green
🇦🇫 The flag is the flag used in quizzes and at the United Nations has three vertical stripes of black, red and green with the national emblem in white in the centre; since 2021 the Taliban administration has used a white flag with black writing instead. On the tricolour, black is usually said to stand for the past, red for those who fought for independence and green for hope and Islam.
Region and neighbours
Afghanistan is a landlocked, mountainous country where Central Asia meets South Asia, crossed by the Hindu Kush mountains. It shares land borders with 6 countries: Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China. The very short border with China is at the end of the Wakhan Corridor, a narrow strip of land in the northeast. Afghanistan is landlocked, with no coast on the open ocean.
- Pakistan 🇵🇰 — capital Islamabad
- Iran 🇮🇷 — capital Tehran
- Turkmenistan 🇹🇲 — capital Ashgabat
- Uzbekistan 🇺🇿 — capital Tashkent
- Tajikistan 🇹🇯 — capital Dushanbe
- China 🇨🇳 — capital Beijing
Three facts about Afghanistan
- The Hindu Kush mountains cover much of the country.
- The Wakhan Corridor, a long thin strip of land, gives Afghanistan a short border with China.
- The Minaret of Jam, a tall brick tower built in the 1100s in a remote valley, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Sources: Wikipedia: Afghanistan, Wikipedia: Flag of Afghanistan, Wikipedia: Kabul, CIA World Factbook.
Quiz yourself on Afghanistan
- Asian capitals quiz — match Afghanistan to Kabul
- Asian flags quiz — spot the Afghanistan flag among its neighbours
- Landlocked countries quiz — Afghanistan has no sea coast
Quizzes that include Afghanistan
Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Afghanistan those are:
- Asia map quiz — place it on a blank map
- Asia flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
- Asia capitals quiz — match it to Kabul
- Afghanistan capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Afghanistan
- Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day
Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.
Read more about Afghanistan
- Capital of Afghanistan: Kabul — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
- All 48 countries of Asia
Nearby countries
- Armenia 🇦🇲 — capital Yerevan
- Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 — capital Baku
- Bahrain 🇧🇠— capital Manama
- Bangladesh 🇧🇩 — capital Dhaka
- Bhutan 🇧🇹 — capital Thimphu
- Brunei 🇧🇳 — capital Bandar Seri Begawan
- Cambodia 🇰🇠— capital Phnom Penh
- China 🇨🇳 — capital Beijing
- Georgia 🇬🇪 — capital Tbilisi
- India 🇮🇳 — capital New Delhi
- Indonesia 🇮🇩 — capital Jakarta
- Iran 🇮🇷 — capital Tehran
Frequently asked questions
What are the colours of the Afghanistan flag?
The flag of Afghanistan is the flag used in quizzes and at the United Nations has three vertical stripes of black, red and green with the national emblem in white in the centre; since 2021 the Taliban administration has used a white flag with black writing instead. On the tricolour, black is usually said to stand for the past, red for those who fought for independence and green for hope and Islam.
Which countries border Afghanistan?
Afghanistan shares land borders with Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China. The very short border with China is at the end of the Wakhan Corridor, a narrow strip of land in the northeast.
How can I remember the capital of Afghanistan?
Kabul sits on the Kabul River, high in the mountains. K for Kabul, K for the Hindu Kush around it.