Afghanistan is a landlocked country in South and Central Asia. With a population of about 28 million it has an area of 647 500 km² making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east Iran in the west Turkmenistan Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north and the People's Republic of China in the far northeast. The territory that now forms Afghanistan has been an ancient focal point of the Silk Road and human migration.
