Afghanistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia, covering an area of 647,500 sq.km. It is bounded to the west by Iran, to the south and the east by Pakistan, to the north by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and to the north east by the Peoples Republic of China. The geography of Afghanistan is dominated by mountains. The Hindu Kush sweeps down from the north east through the central regions of the country and flattens out into the deserts of the southwest plateau. On either side of the mountains, to the north and to the east, the land is more fertile, and it is in these areas that most agricultural activity takes place.