AFGHANISTAN The eastern part of the Iranian plateau belongs to Afghanistan which has an area of about 246,000 square miles. The Hindu Kush and its outliers form the northern boundary of the plateau, and run across the country separating the basins of the Oxus and the Hari rud from those of the Indus and the Helmand. Except in the north and west, the elevation of the land is generally over 4,000 feet above sea-level, while the mountain-ranges rise to 15,000 or 20,000 feet. Climatic conditions are, therefore, determined by altitude rather than by latitude. The winters are generally cold, and over consider able areas snow lies for several months each year ; even at Kabul the mean temperature for January is below freezing-point. On the other hand, the summers are hot and dry. The total precipita tion, which does not exceed 15 inches, falls in the form of snow in winter, and of rain in spring.
The crops, which are frequently grown with the aid of irrigation, include the ordinary cereals and rice, European vegetables, temper ate and sub-tropical fruits, tobacco and cotton ; but as a rule the Afghan peoples are pastoralists rather than agriculturists, and their main wealth lies in their flocks and herds. Horses, camels, cattle,
sheep, and goats are all reared in lai ge numbers. Manufactures are of comparatively little importance, though silk goods are woven at Herat and Kandahar, carpets are made round Herat, and coats are fashioned from sheep-skins throughout the country. Minerals, including coal, silver, copper, and lead, are known to exist, but so far little has been done to develop them.
The chief imports are textiles from Russia and British India, and tea, sugar, and hardware from the latter country. The exports include raw silk, which is produced in the districts bordering the Oxus and is sent to Persia and Turkestan, wool forwarded to Persia en route for Russia, France, and America, and fruits, carpets, wool, and coats exported to British India. A considerable amount of trade between Persia, Turkestan, Afghanistan, and India is still carried on by nomadic Afghans known as Powindas, who descend into India by the Gomal Pass, cross the Oxus to Bokhara, and go to Persia by Meshed.