The Hatush Mountains: Afghanistan's Majestic Range

Afghanistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia, with a landscape that is largely defined by its mountains. The country contains most of the Hindu Kush mountain range, which includes Afghanistan's highest peak, Mount Noshaq, at 7,492m (24,580 ft). The Hindu Kush mountains also extend into Pakistan and Tajikistan. The country's landscape is also characterised by dry deserts, and the majority of its land (over 50%) sits above 6,500 ft (2,000 m).

The Hindu Kush mountains

The Hindu Kush is the most important mountain range in Afghanistan and is considered a logical extension of the Himalayan Mountains. The range forms the western section of the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region (HKH) and divides Afghanistan into three distinct geographic regions: the central highlands, the northern plains, and the southwestern plateau. The central highlands include deep, narrow valleys and lofty mountains, with peaks rising above 21,000 feet (6,400 meters). The northern plains region, north of the central highlands, is a part of the much larger Central Asian Steppe and is intensively cultivated and densely populated. The southwestern plateau, south of the central highlands, is a region of high plateaus, sandy deserts, and semi-deserts, with an average elevation of about 3,000 feet (900 meters).

The Hindu Kush has numerous high snow-capped peaks, with the highest point being Tirich Mir or Terichmir at 7,708 meters (25,289 feet) in the Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The mountains diminish in height as they stretch westward, with heights of 3,500 to 4,000 meters (11,500 to 13,100 feet) near Kabul, and heights of 4,500 to 6,000 meters (14,800 to 19,700 feet) in the east. The range has several important passes, including the Salang Pass, the Khyber Pass, and the Shibar Pass.

The Hindu Kush is a significant center of Hinduism and Buddhism, with ancient monasteries and important trade networks. While the region has been predominantly Muslim for several centuries, certain portions, such as Kafiristan, only became Islamized relatively recently. The Hindu Kush has also been a passageway for invasions of the Indian subcontinent and continues to be important to contemporary warfare in Afghanistan.

The Hindu Kush is one of the great watersheds of Central Asia, forming part of the vast Alpine zone that stretches across Eurasia from east to west. It is one of the world's most important "water towers," being the source of ten of Asia's largest rivers. The range separates one major climate zone of Asia from another, resulting in significant climate variations. The eastern Hindu Kush experiences rainy or snowy summers and dry winters, while the central and western Hindu Kush border the Mediterranean climatic zone, with hot, dry summers and cold, wet or snowy winters.

The Hindu Kush is sparsely populated, and inhabitants subsist on livestock and crops throughout the year. The Kalash people, one of the main inhabitant groups, claim to be descendants of Alexander the Great and have their own distinctive laws, religion, and culture.

The Central Highlands

The climate in the Central Highlands is typically dry, with summer temperatures averaging around 80 degrees Fahrenheit and very cold winters. The soil in this region varies from desert-steppe to meadow-steppe types. The extreme winter climate can be life-threatening, with temperatures dipping as low as -30 degrees Celsius. The combination of hot summers and bitterly cold winters has drawn comparisons to the U.S. state of Wyoming.

The Northern Plains

The region begins the Central Asian steppe – grassy plains that reach all the way to Russia. It was relatively isolated from the rest of Afghanistan by the Hindu Kush until the Salang Tunnel was completed in the mid-1960s. Mazar-e Sharif is the major city of the region, along with Kunduz and Faizabad.

The Southwestern Plateau

Several large rivers cross the Southwestern Plateau, including the Helmand River and its major tributary, the Arghandāb. The Helmand River system, which rises in the Central Highlands section, passes through the centre of this area. It empties into the endorheic Sīstān basin through the Hāmūn-e Helmand system, a series of marshes and connecting lakes. In exceptionally wet years, it empties into the Gowd-e Zereh, an ephemeral brackish lake.

The Wakhan Corridor

The corridor is higher in the east than in the west, with the Wakhjir Pass in the east reaching an elevation of 4,923 metres and descending to about 3,037 metres at Ishkashim in the west. The Wakhjir River flows west from an ice cave on the Afghan side of the Wakhjir Pass, joining the Bozai Darya near the village of Bozai Gumbaz to form the Wakhan River. The Wakhan River then joins the Pamir River near Kala-i-Panj to form the Panj River, which flows out of the corridor at Ishkashim.

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