All You Must Know About Afghanistan Before Visiting
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Are you planning to visit Afghanistan? But you must know about Afghanistan before planning.
Afghanistan, approximately the size of Texas, is bordered on the north by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, on the extreme northeast by China, on the east and south by Pakistan, and by Iran on the west. The country is split east to west by the Hindu Kush mountain range, rising in the east to heights of 24,000 ft (7,315 m). With the exception of the southwest, most of the country is covered by high snow-capped mountains and is traversed by deep valleys.
Climate
The climate of Afghanistan is arid to semiarid with cold winters and hot summers and temperatures varying by altitude. Kabul’s average January temperature is 0 degrees C (32 F), while noon temperatures in July often reach 38 Celsius (100 Fahrenheit). Jalalabad can hit 46 Celsius (115 Fahrenheit) in the summer.
Most of the precipitation that falls in Afghanistan comes in the form of winter snow. The nation-wide annual average is only 10–12 inches (25–30 centimeters), but snowdrifts in the mountain valleys can reach depths of over 6.5 ft (2 m).
Official Languages
Afghanistan’s official languages are Dari and Pashto, both of which are Indo-European languages in the Iranian sub-family. Written Dari and Pashto both use a modified Arabic script. Other Afghan languages include Hazaragi, Uzbek, and Turkmen.
Dari is the Afghan dialect of the Persian language. It is quite similar to Iranian Dari, with slight differences in pronunciation and accent. The two are mutually intelligible. Dari is the lingua franca, and around 77% of Afghanis speak Dari as their first language.
About 48% of the people of Afghanistan speak Pashto, the language of the Pashtun tribe. It is also spoken in the Pashtun areas of western Pakistan. Other spoken languages include Uzbek 11%, English 6%, Turkmen 3%, Urdu 3%, Pashayi 1%, Nuristani 1%, Arabic 1%, and Balochi 1%. Many people speak more than one language.
