Afghanistan
Afghanistan the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in South-Central Asia. Afghanistan is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, its territory covers 652,000 square kilometers and much of it is covered by the Hindu Kush mountain range, which experiences cold winters. The north consists of fertile plains, while the south-west consists of deserts where temperatures can get hot in summers. Kabul serves as its largest city. Human habitation in Afghanistan dates back to the Middle Paleolithic Era, the country's strategic location along the Silk Road connected it to the cultures of the Middle East and other parts of Asia; the land has been home to various peoples and has witnessed numerous military campaigns, including those by Alexander the Great, Muslim Arabs, British and since 2001 by the United States with NATO-allied countries. It has been called "unconquerable" and nicknamed the "graveyard of empires"; the land served as the source from which the Kushans, Samanids, Ghaznavids, Khaljis, Hotaks and others have risen to form major empires.
The political history of the modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotak and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a buffer state in the "Great Game" between British India and the Russian Empire, its border with British India, the Durand Line, was formed in 1893 but it is not recognized by the Afghan government and it has led to strained relations with Pakistan since the latter's independence in 1947. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919 the country was free of foreign influence becoming a monarchy under King Amanullah, until 50 years when Zahir Shah was overthrown and a republic was established. In 1978, after a second coup Afghanistan first became a socialist state and a Soviet Union protectorate; this evoked the Soviet–Afghan War in the 1980s against mujahideen rebels. By 1996 most of Afghanistan was captured by the Islamic fundamentalist group the Taliban, who ruled most of the country as a totalitarian regime for over five years.
The Taliban were forcibly removed by the NATO-led coalition, a new democratically-elected government political structure was formed, but they still control a significant portion of the country. Afghanistan is a unitary presidential Islamic republic with a population of 31 million composed of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks and Uzbeks, it is a member of the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Group of 77, the Economic Cooperation Organization, the Non-Aligned Movement. Afghanistan's economy is the world's 108th largest, with a GDP of $64.08 billion. The name Afghānistān is believed to be as old as the ethnonym Afghan, documented in the 10th-century geography book Hudud ul-'alam; the root name "Afghan" was used in reference to a member of the ethnic Pashtuns, the suffix "-stan" means "place of" in Persian. Therefore, Afghanistan translates to land of the Afghans or, more in a historical sense, to land of the Pashtuns. However, the modern Constitution of Afghanistan states that "he word Afghan shall apply to every citizen of Afghanistan."
Excavations of prehistoric sites by Louis Dupree and others suggest that humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, that farming communities in the area were among the earliest in the world. An important site of early historical activities, many believe that Afghanistan compares to Egypt in terms of the historical value of its archaeological sites; the country sits at a unique nexus point where numerous civilizations have interacted and fought. It has been home to various peoples through the ages, among them the ancient Iranian peoples who established the dominant role of Indo-Iranian languages in the region. At multiple points, the land has been incorporated within large regional empires, among them the Achaemenid Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Indian Maurya Empire, the Islamic Empire. Many empires and kingdoms have risen to power in Afghanistan, such as the Greco-Bactrians, Hephthalites, Kabul Shahis, Samanids, Ghurids, Kartids, Timurids and the Hotak and Durrani dynasties that marked the political origins of the modern state.
Archaeological exploration done in the 20th century suggests that the geographical area of Afghanistan has been connected by culture and trade with its neighbors to the east and north. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Neolithic and Iron ages have been found in Afghanistan. Urban civilization is believed to have begun as early as 3000 BCE, the early city of Mundigak may have been a colony of the nearby Indus Valley Civilization. More recent findings established that the Indus Valley Civilisation stretched up towards modern-day Afghanistan, making the ancient civilisation today part of Pakistan and India. In more detail, it extended from what today is northwest Pakistan to northwest India and northeast Afghanistan. An Indus Valley site has been found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan. There are several smaller IVC colonies to be found in Afghanistan as well. After 2000 BCE, successive waves of semi-nomadic
Fayzabad, Badakhshan
Fayzabad is a city in northeast Afghanistan, with a population of about 30,000 people. It serves as largest city of Badakhshan Province, it is situated in Fayzabad District and is at an altitude of 1,200 m.. Fayzabad is the main administrative center of the Pamir region; the Kokcha River runs alongside the city. The Fayzabad Airport is located next to the city; the Afghan Air Force has access to the airport. The city was called Jauz Gun until 1680 because of the number of nuts in the area; the name was changed to Faizabad, which can be translated as "abode of divine bounty and charity", when the robe of Muhammed was delivered to the city. Tradition states that it was brought here by Muhammad Shaykh Ziya and Shaykh Niyaz after Wais Quran brought it to Balkh. At that time the city replaced Munjan as the capital of Badakhshan. In 1768, Ahmad Durrani took the robe to Kandahar, established the Mosque of the Cloak of the Prophet Mohammed there in 1695; the Sáhibzádas of Samarkand removed the relic of the prophet from the capital in 1734.
His clothing which came from the Turkish Campaign, was taken by Temorlane to Samarkand. Whilst the relic was being conveyed to India it was captured by Mír Yár Beg who deposited it at Fayzabad. Many visitors used to come to a shrine erected in the city; the Khoja community of Badakhshán were made attendants at the shrine. There are seven historical forts around the city, several of which are in ruins; these forts were built to help defend the roads leading in and out. In 1979 the town became a hotbed of guerrilla groups. Fayzabad became a base for the Soviet garrison. Many NGOs who work in the Badakhshan province have placed their headquarters in the new part of the city. Near the city Germany is leading the Provincial Reconstruction Team. Danish and Czech teams had been a part of the PRT but the Czechs left in 2007 and the Danes in 2008; the camp is based at an old Russian air strip. The city is located on the right bank of the Kokcha River near where the river exits from a gorge and before it reaches a large open plain.
Fayzabad has a hot summer Mediterranean continental climate. It has cold, moderately wet winters. Precipitation falls in spring and winter. Fayzabad has been isolated from other parts of the country because of the lack of paved roads. There are two active bazaars in the city where items as diverse as cotton, cotton cloth and goods, sugar, tea and cutlery are traded, it has been two years since the asphalted ring road of Afghanistan reached Fayzabad. The cost of the road connecting Fayzabad with Taloqan and Kunduz was about $US 200 million, paid for by USAID. Several varieties of cash crops are grown in the vicinity including barley and rice and there are a number of gardens and orchards. There has been some success in panning for gold in the vicinity, beryl can be found and there is a salt mine located nearby; the city has a handicraft industry producing woolen goods and there are flour and rice mills. There is a working power station in the city and there is considerable potential for expansion of hydroelectric power.
The majority of the inhabitants are Tajiks, while there are minority communities of Pashtuns, Uzbeks and Turkmens. Eleven languages are spoken in the city, including Dari, Munji, Ishkashimi, Sarikoli, Rushani and Turkmen. There are a number of shrines of historical importance in the city; the city has several schools including an all-girls school. There is a government hospital in the province. There are a number of commercial guesthouses in the city, Qasre Kokcha Hotel is the best among them which has security, central heating system and internet. There is a guest house called Lapis Lazuli for expatriates. 2002 Hindu Kush earthquakes Badakhshan Province Faizabad Airport, Badakhshan Province on YouTube
Badakhshan Province
Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the farthest northeastern part of the country between Tajikistan and northern Pakistan. It shares a 56.5-mile border with China. It is part of a broader historical Badakhshan region; the province contains 22 to 28 districts, over 1,200 villages, 904,700 people. Feyzabad serves as the provincial capital. Badakhshan is bordered by Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province and Khatlon Province in Tajikistan to the north and east. In the east of the province a long spur called the Wakhan Corridor extends above northern Pakistan's Chitral and Northern Areas to a border with China; the province has a total area of 44,059 square kilometres, most of, occupied by the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges. Badakhshan was a stopover on the ancient Silk Road trading path, China has shown great interest in the province after the fall of the Taliban, helping to reconstruct roads and infrastructure. According to the World Wildlife Fund, Badakhshan contains temperate grasslands and shrublands, as well as Gissaro-Alai open woodlands along the Pamir River.
Common plants found in these areas include pistachio, walnut, apple and sagebrush. Montane grasslands and shrublands are existent in the province, with the Hindu Kush alpine meadow in the high mountains in the northern and southwestern regions; the Wakhan corridor contains two montane grassland and shrubland regions: the Karakoram-West Tibetan Plateau alpine steppe and in the Pamir Mountains and Kuh-e Safed Khers in Darwaz region. South of Fayzabad the terrain becomes dominated by xeric shrublands. Common vegetation includes thorny bushes, zizyphus and Amygdatus. Paropamisus xeric woodlands can be found in central areas. Common vegetation includes almond, pistachio and sea-buckthorn; the area has a long history like the rest of Afghanistan, dating to its conquering by the Achaemenid Empire and beyond. Badakhshan etymologically derives from an official title; the suffix of the name, -ān, means the region belonged to someone with the title badaxš. The territory was ruled by the Uzbek Khanate of Bukhara between the early 16th century and the mid-18th century.
It was given to Ahmad Shah Durrani by Murad Beg of Bukhara after a treaty of friendship was reached in or about 1750 and became part of the Durrani Empire. It was ruled by the Durranis followed by the Barakzai dynasty, was untouched by the British during the three Anglo-Afghan wars that were fought in the 19th and 20th centuries, it remained peaceful for about 100 years until the 1980s Soviet–Afghan War at which point the Mujahideen began a rebellion against the central Afghan government. During the 1990s, much of the area was controlled by forces loyal to Burhanuddin Rabbani and Ahmad Shah Massoud, who were de facto the national government until 1996. Badakhshan was the only province that the Taliban did not conquer during their rule from 1996 to 2001. However, during the course of the wars a non-Taliban Islamic emirate was established in Badakhshan by Mawlawi Shariqi, paralleling the Islamic Revolutionary State of Afghanistan in neighboring Nuristan. Rabbani, a Badakhshan native, Massoud, were the last remnants of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance during the peak of Taliban control in 2001.
Badakhshan was thus one of the few provinces of the country that witnessed little insurgency in the Afghan wars - however during the 2010s Taliban insurgents managed to attack and take control of several districts in the province. On 26 October 2015, the 7.5 Mw Hindu Kush earthquake shook northern Afghanistan with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII. This earthquake destroyed 30,000 homes, left several hundred dead, more than 1,700 injured; the current Governor of the province is Shah Waliullah Adeeb. His predecessors were Baz Mohammad Ahmadi; the borders with neighboring Tajikistan and Pakistan are monitored by the Afghan Border Police. All law enforcement activities throughout the province are handled by the Afghan National Police. A provincial Police Chief is assigned to lead both the ANP and the ABP; the Police Chief represents the Ministry of the Interior in Kabul. The ANP is backed by the military, including the NATO-led forces. Fayzabad, the capital of Badakhshan province, sits on the Kokcha River and has an approximate population of 50,000.
The chief commercial and administrative center of northeast Afghanistan and the Pamir region, Fayzabad has rice and flour mills. Fayzabad Airport serves the province with regular direct flights to Kabul; the percentage of households with clean drinking water increased from 13% in 2005 to 21% in 2011. The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant increased from 1.5% in 2003 to 2% in 2011. The overall literacy rate fell from 31% in 2005 to 26% in 2011; the overall net enrolment rate increased from 46% in 2005 to 68% in 2011. Despite massive mineral reserves, Badakhshan is one of the most destitute areas in the world. Opium poppy growing is the only real source of income in the province and Badakhshan has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world, due to the complete lack of health infrastructure, inaccessible locations, bitter winters of the province. BORNA Institute of Higher Education being the first private university located on the bank of Kokcha river. Lapis lazuli has been mined in the Sar-e-Sang mines, located in the Kuran wa Munjan District of Badakhshan, for over 6,000 years.
The mines were the largest and most well-known source in ancient times. Most recent
Shighnan District
Shighnan District is one of the 28 districts of the Badakhshan Province in eastern Afghanistan. It's part of the history region of Shighnan, today divided between Afghanistan and Tajikistan; the district borders the Panj River and Tajikistan in the northeast, the Maimay district to the west, the Raghistan district in the southwest, the Kohistan, Arghanj Khwa, Shuhada districts in the south, the Ishkashim district in the southeast. The Khowar, Tajiks and Pamiris are the major ethnic groups. Pashto and Persian are spoken; this District has a population of 27,750 >Shighnan District
Kuran wa Munjan District
Kuran wa Munjan District is one of the 28 districts of Badakhshan Province in eastern Afghanistan. Located in the Hindu Kush mountains, the district is home to 8,000 residents; the district administrative center is Kuran wa Munjan. The district is in the southwest corner of the province, is bordered on its northeast side by the Jurm and Zebak Districts. Most of the district's boundaries are adjacent to other Afghan provinces, but a small section on the eastern edge of the district lies on the international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan; the epicenter of the October 26 2015 Hindu Kush earthquake was 45 km north of here. Map at the Afghanistan Information Management Services
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is a combat support agency under the United States Department of Defense and a member of the United States Intelligence Community, with the primary mission of collecting and distributing geospatial intelligence in support of national security. NGA was known as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency until 2003. NGA headquarters known as NGA Campus East, is located at Fort Belvoir North Area in Virginia; the agency operates major facilities in the St. Louis, Missouri area, as well as support and liaison offices worldwide; the NGA headquarters, at 2.3 million square feet, is the third-largest government building in the Washington metropolitan area after The Pentagon and the Ronald Reagan Building. In addition to using GEOINT for U. S. military and intelligence efforts, the NGA provides assistance during natural and man-made disasters, security planning for major events such as the Olympic Games. In September 2018, researchers at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency released a high resolution terrain map of Antarctica, named the "Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica".
U. S. mapping and charting efforts remained unchanged until World War I, when aerial photography became a major contributor to battlefield intelligence. Using stereo viewers, photo-interpreters reviewed thousands of images. Many of these were of the same target at different angles and times, giving rise to what became modern imagery analysis and mapmaking; the Engineer Reproduction Plant was the Army Corps of Engineers's first attempt to centralize mapping production and distribution. It was located on the grounds of the Army War College in Washington, D. C. Topographic mapping had been a function of individual field engineer units using field surveying techniques or copying existing or captured products. In addition, ERP assumed the "supervision and maintenance" of the War Department Map Collection, effective April 1, 1939. With the advent of the Second World War aviation, field surveys began giving way to photogrammetry, photo interpretation, geodesy. During wartime, it became possible to compile maps with minimal field work.
Out of this emerged AMS, which absorbed the existing ERP in May 1942. It was located at the Dalecarlia Site on MacArthur Blvd. just outside Washington, D. C. in Montgomery County and adjacent to the Dalecarlia Reservoir. AMS was designated as an Engineer field activity, effective July 1, 1942, by General Order 22, OCE, June 19, 1942; the Army Map Service combined many of the Army's remaining geographic intelligence organizations and the Engineer Technical Intelligence Division. AMS was redesignated the U. S. Army Topographic Command on September 1, 1968, continued as an independent organization until 1972, when it was merged into the new Defense Mapping Agency and redesignated as the DMA Topographic Center; the agency's credit union, Constellation Federal Credit Union, was chartered during the Army Map Service era, in 1944. It has continued to serve all successive legacy their families. After the war, as airplane capacity and range improved, the need for charts grew; the Army Air Corps established its map unit, renamed ACP in 1943 and was located in St. Louis, Missouri.
ACP was known as the U. S. Air Force Aeronautical Chart and Information Center from 1952 to 1972. A credit union was chartered for the ACP in 1948, called Aero Chart Credit Union, it was renamed Arsenal Credit Union in 1952, a nod to the St. Louis site's Civil War-era use as an arsenal. Shortly before leaving office in January 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized the creation of the National Photographic Interpretation Center, a joint project of the CIA and US DoD. NPIC was a component of the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology and its primary function was imagery analysis. NPIC became part of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency in 1996. NPIC first identified the Soviet Union's basing of missiles in Cuba in 1962. By exploiting images from U-2 overflights and film from canisters ejected by orbiting Corona s, NPIC analysts developed the information necessary to inform U. S. influence operations during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Their analysis garnered worldwide attention when the Kennedy Administration declassified and made public a portion of the images depicting the Soviet missiles on Cuban soil.
The Defense Mapping Agency was created on January 1, 1972, to consolidate all U. S. military mapping activities. DMA's "birth certificate", DoD Directive 5105.40, resulted from a classified Presidential directive, "Organization and Management of the U. S. Foreign Intelligence Community", which directed the consolidation of mapping functions dispersed among the military services. DMA became operational on July 1, 1972, pursuant to General Order 3, DMA. On Oct. 1, 1996, DMA was folded into the National Imagery and Mapping Agency – which became NGA. DMA was first headquartered at the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D. C at Falls Church, Virginia, its civilian workforce was concentrated at production sites in Bethesda, Northern Virginia, St. Louis, Missouri. DMA was formed from the Mapping and Geodesy Division, Defense Intelligence Agency, from various mapping-related organizations of the military services. DMA Hydrographic Center DMAHC was formed in
Arakht
Arakht is a village in Badakhshan Province in north-eastern Afghanistan. It is located between Lake Shiva and the Panj River, at an elevation of 3,100 metres near the Tajikistan border, it lies 5.3 kilometres from Pish, 4.2 km from Wishtayn, 6.1 km from Gordzhak and 10.0 km from Ghar Javin. The nearest airport is 14 km away across the border at Khorog. Badakhshan Province Satellite map at Maplandia.com
Afghanistan
