climates, runoff from infrequent rain spills
out of the mountains and percolates
through sand and gravel that has been
deposited by water. These landform features, occurring wherever intermittent
streams flow out onto the valley floors are
called alluvial fans.
Villages are often situated on the alluvial fans to take advantage of scarce
groundwater. Virtually all villages in
such locations across have qanats, which
are cleaned regularly of silt and sand, so
that water may be lifted or pumped, or
flow out to irrigated crops along alluvial
fan’s margins.
During the Soviet invasion, as well as
Lessons may be learned from the Soothers down through history, the interviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in
laced shafts and tunnels of qanats proDecember 1979. The Soviets attempted to
vided temporary hiding places for local
fight a more or less conventional war
villagers, particularly women and chilagainst a ragtag guerrilla army and were
dren. In fact, a favorite Soviet military
forced to negotiate a withdrawal in April
tactic was to pour diesel fuel into these
1988.
qanats and ignite it in an effort to elimiIn addition to the Soviets, Alexander
nate them as hiding places. When the
the Great of Macedonia, the Turks, IndiWestern press learned of this barbaric
ans Mongols, Persian and British also attactic, the practice was condemned
tempted unsuccessfully to conquer the
widely. Nonetheless, qanats offer a mulloosely bound, non-Arab tribal groups
titude of hiding and
historically comprisstorage places all
ing the Afghan popuacross the country.
lation.
With the takeAfghanistan is a
UZEBEKISTAN
over by the Soviets,
TAJIKISTAN
landlocked country,
TURKMENISTAN
radical groups of
bordered on the west
mostly Arabs from
h
by Iran, the north by
N
u s
across North Africa
A
Turkmenistan,
K
Mazar-e Sharif
T
and the Middle East
N
Tajikistan
and
u
TA
S
rushed
to
d
S
Uzbekistan, on the
I
n
I
P
i
Afghanistan’s
aid,
a
H
s
K
r
northeast by China
opamisu
N
ostensibly to proand to the east by PakiHerat
tect Islam from the
Kabul
A
stan.
Islamabad
infidels.
These
Afghanistan, a
guerrilla
fighters,
country about the size
Elevations in Feet
called
the
of Texas, boasts eleva0 - 3,280
mujahedeen,
were
tions to more than
3,281 - 9,840
supported clandes9,841
- 16,400
24,000 feet. Its rugged
Qandahar
tinely by the United
16,401
+
IRAN
topography has both
States, and ultiphysical and cultural
0
150 mi
mately they were
implications, critical to Geography in the News 09/28/01
0
150 km
instrumental in deunderstanding why Elevation Data: NIMA, http://164.214.2.59/nimahome.html ©2001 Maps.com
feating the Soviets
the country has never
using
U.S.
Stinger
missiles.
Osama bin
invaders.
They
often
used
natural
limebeen totally conquered. One of the world’s
Laden
was
a
mujahedeen.
stone
caves-similar
to
those
shown
as
most rugged mountain chains, the Hindu
One thing is clear, Afghanistan’s rugOsama bin Laden’s headquarters. But
Kush, extends from the Pamir Knot into
ged
topography, numerous caves and
there
are
other
more
unconventional
hidthe country. This northeast-southwest
massive
system of qanats are likely to
ing
places,
as
well.
trending range and its little known westcontinue to play a role in military interFor example, at the foot of mountain
ward extension the Paropamisus comvention by outsiders.
valleys across the region, systems of handpose a core of high, nearly impenetrable
And that is Geography in the News.
dug
shafts
and
tunnels
called
qanats
(kahmountains covering the central two-thirds
September
28, 2001. #592.
NOTs)
provide
irrigation.
A
qanat
conof Afghanistan.
sists
of
a
shaft
that
penetrates
to
naturally
In these rugged mountains, alternat(The author is a Geography Professor at
stored groundwater found in delta-like
ing high ridges and deep valleys create a
Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.)
features at the base of mountains. In arid
topography, or lay of the land, unequaled
in North America. It is partly because of
the isolation of these valleys that cultural
distinctiveness is so prevalent across Afghanistan.
This topography makes modern land
transportation very, very difficult. Outside of cities, most roads are tortuous one
or two lane dirt and gravel, often with
switchbacks, washouts and landslides that
slow conventional traffic to a few miles
per hour.
The majority of Afghanistan’s very
traditional population of about 26 million
inhabits this harsh land of desert and arid
highlands, but most live in the mountain
valleys. Here they grow wheat, nuts and
fruits and raise sheep, chickens, goats and
cattle. A population dot map of Afghanistan would show the population in linear
patterns, following these fertile valleys,
isolated by the high, sparsely populated
ridges that separate them
Throughout history, Afghanistan’s
valley population often has taken to the
mountains, where they have built rudimentary fortifications to wait out or repel
AFGHANISTAN’S
TOPOGRAPHY
A
F
G
H
P
A
Rugged Lands
© 2001 maps.com