Claim: Afghanistan is the source of the Hephthalite Empire.

Afghanistan -LRB- -LSB- æfˈɡænᵻstæn -RSB- Pashto/Dari : , Afġānistān -RRB- , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan , is a landlocked country located within South Asia and Central Asia . It has a population of 33 million , making it the 42nd most populous country in the world . It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east ; Iran in the west ; Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan , and Tajikistan in the north ; and China in the far northeast . Its territory covers 652,000 km2 , making it the 41st largest country in the world .   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 . Through the ages the land has been home to various peoples and witnessed numerous military campaigns , notably by Alexander the Great , Mauryas , Muslim Arabs , Mongols , British , Soviet , and in the modern era by Western powers . The land also served as the source from which the Kushans , Hephthalites , Samanids , Saffarids , Ghaznavids , Ghorids , Khiljis , Mughals , Hotaks , Durranis , 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 . Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919 , King Amanullah unsuccessfully attempted to modernize the country . It remained peaceful during Zahir Shah 's forty years of monarchy . A series of coups in the 1970s was followed by a series of civil wars that devastated much of Afghanistan and continues to this day .   Afghanistan is a unitary presidential Islamic republic with Islam as an official state religion . It is a member of the United Nations , the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation , the Group of 77 , the Economic Cooperation Organization , and the Non-Aligned Movement . The country 's economy is ranked 108th in the world with the GDP of $ 64.08 billion .