Elevation extremes: lowest point: Amu Darya 258 m highest point: Nowshak 7,485 m
Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones
Land use: arable land: 12% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 46% forests and woodland: 3% other: 39% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 30,000 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding
Environment-current issues: soil degradation; overgrazing; deforestation (much of the remaining forests are being cut down for fuel and building materials); desertification
Environment-international agreements: party to: Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation
Geography-note: landlocked
@Afghanistan:People
Population: 24,792,375 (July 1998 est.)