Afghanistan

Afghanistan, currently governed as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central and South Asia, bordered by Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China, with Kabul as its capital and largest city. The Taliban regained control of the country on 15 August 2021 after decades of warfare that included the Soviet invasion of 1979 to 1989, subsequent civil wars, and a 2001 to 2021 conflict led by the United States; the resulting government, led by Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Prime Minister Hasan Akhund with no legislature, is described in reference sources as a unitary totalitarian theocratic Islamic emirate. It remains widely unrecognized by the international community, in large part over reported human rights violations, particularly the Taliban's treatment of women. Afghanistan's population is estimated between 35 and 50 million, and its economy, with a GDP per capita of around 2,174 dollars in purchasing power terms, ranks among the poorest in the world.