The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which occupies a mountainous region of Southwest Asia, has an area of 251,773 sq. mi. (652,090 sq. km.) and a population of 25.59 million. Presently about a fifth of the total population reside mostly in Pakistan in exile as refugees. Capital: Kabul. It is bordered by Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the Peoples Republic of China?s Sinkiang Province. Agriculture and herding are the principle industries; textile mills and cement factories are recent additions to the industrial sector. Cotton, wool, fruits, nuts, sheepskin coats and hand-woven carpets are exported but foreign trade has been sporadic since 1979. ,Because of its strategic position astride the ancient land route to India, Afghanistan ? formerly known as Aryana and Khorasan ? was conquered by Darius I, Alexander the Great, various Scythian tribes, the Arabs, the Turks, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, the Mughais, the Persians, and in more recent times by Great Britain.,, ,It was a powerful empire under the Kushans, Hephthalites, Ghanavids and Ghorids. The land of Afghanistan, Land of the Afghans, came into use in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to describe the realm of the Afghan kings. Previously this mountainous region was the eastern-most frontier of the Iranian world, with strong cultural influences from the Turks and Mongols to the north and India to the south.,, ,The first Afghan king, Ahmad Shah Abdali, founder of the Durrani dynasty, established his rule at Qandahar in 1747. He conquered large territories in India and eastern Iran, which were lost by his grandson Zaman Shah. A new family, the Barakzays, drove the Durrani king out of Kabul in 1819, but the Durranis were not eliminated completely until 1880. In 1929 a commoner, Baccha-i-Saqao, Son of the Water-Carrier, drove King Amanullah from the throne and ruled as Habibullah Ghazi for less than a year before he was defeated by Muhammad Nadir Shah The last king, Muhammad Zahir Shah, became constitutional, though still autocratic, monarch in 1964. In 1973 a coup d?etat displaced him and created the Republic of Afghanistan under Nur Muhammad Taraqi in 1978. Mounting resistance and violence let the Soviet invasion of late 1979 and the installation of Barbak Kamal as prime minister. A brutal civil war ensued, even after Soviet forces withdrew in 1989 and Kamal?s government was defeated in 1992. On Sept. 26, 1996 Taliban (students of religion) forces captured Kabul and set up a government under Mohammad Rabbani. Afghanistan was declared a complete Islamic state under Sharia law.,, Rulers:,,, ,Amanullah, SH1298-1307/1919-1929AD,, ,Habibullah Ghazi (rebel, known as Baccha-i-Saqao) SH1347-1348/1929AD,, ,Muhammad Nadir Shah, SH1310-1312/1929-1933AD,, ,Muhammad Zahir Shah, SH1312-1352/1933-1973AD,, Monetary System:,,, ,1 Rupee = 100 Paise to 1925,, ,1 Rupees = 10 Afghani, 1925-,, ,1 Afghani = 100 Pul,, ,1 Amani = 20 Afghani,,