a mountainous country in central Asia.

The high risk profile of a country's economic and political environment will further worsen further a generally very bad payment record.

central Asian nation invaded by the United States in late 2001 in alleged retaliation for the 9/11/01 attack.

A land locked Central Asian country bordering Iran, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan. A tribal society with a traditionally weak central government.

Afghānistān, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Persian: جمهوری اسلامی افغانستان), is a landlocked country located in the heart of Asia and is variously designated within Central and/or South Asia as well as the Middle East.National Geographic - Afghanistan Profilehttp://www3.nationalgeographic.com/places/countries/country_afghanistan.html LINK (accessed 20 January 2006)CIA Factbook - Afghanistanhttps://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/af.html#Geo LINK (accessed 20 January 2006)Middle East Institute - Afghanistanhttp://www.mideasti.org/countries/countries.php?name=afghanistan LINK (accessed 20 January 2006) It has religious, ethno-linguistic, and geographic links with most of its neighbours. It is largely bordered by Pakistan in the south and east,Part of the region bordering Pakistan falls in the disputed Kashmir region which is claimed by India Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and the People's Republic of China in the far northeast. The name Afghanistan means the "Land of Afghans".