Afghanistan, (which literally means Land of the Afghan) is a mountainous, land-locked country located in Central Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran.

It has a history and culture that goes back over 5000 years. Throughout history, this area of the world has been known by many names. In ancient times, the people called the land Aryana. In the medieval era, it was called Khorasan, and in modern times, it is being called Afghanistan.

Afghanistan was founded in 1747.  It won it independence from Britian in 1919.

Afghanistan's economy is recovering from decades of conflict. The economy has improved a lot since 2001 with the help of international assistance. Despite the progress of the past few years, Afghanistan is extremely poor and very dependent on foreign aid, agriculture, and trade with neighboring countries. Much of the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs.