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 the Middle East and other parts of Asia. Kabul serves as its capital and largest city. Its population as of 2020 is 31.4 million, composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks. Occupying 652,864 square kilometres (252,072 sq 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 ( / æ f ˈ ɡ æ n ɪ s t æ n, æ f ˈ ɡ ɑː n ɪ s t ɑː n/ ( listen) Pashto/ Dari: افغانستان Afġānestān, Pashto pronunciation:, Dari pronunciation: ), officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central and South Asia.
