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7 Geography Position and Extent.—Afghanistan, that is, "the land of the Afghans", is an important inland country of Central Asia. It is roughly quadrilateral in shape, with a long narrow strip projecting eastward to the confines of Sinkiang (Chinese Turkestan). It lies completely in the North Temperate Zone between parallels 29° 30' and 38° 30' of north latitude, and 60° 30' and 75° of east longitude. The greatest length from east to west—from the Khyber to the Zulfikar Pass (extreme northwest)— is a little more than 600 miles; while its greatest breadth from north to south—from Kham-i-Ab, on the Oxus, to the Chagai Hills, in the extreme south on the Baluchistan border—is nearly 500 miles. The total area aggregates 270,000 square miles, with a population that may roughly be estimated at 12,000,000. Afghanistan at present is land-locked as a result of British appropriation in 1876 of the maritime province of Baluchistan, till then a feudatory of the Amirs of Afghanistan. A little later Quetta was also occupied and turned into a military station. This policy not only cut off Afghanistan's access to the sea, which is naturally a great obstacle to progress and trade; it went still further, and in the words of Amir Abdur Rehman Khan "it pointed a dagger at the heart of the country". Within the existing borders there are seven major provinces (Naib-ul- Hukumagi), viz., Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif, Kataghan, Nangrahar and Pactia; and six minor provinces (Hukumat-i-Ala)—Maimanah, Farah, Badakhshan, Girishk, Parwan and Ghazni. Boundaries: The boundaries of the country have under- gone tremendous changes during the last 150 years. At the be- ginning of the 19th century, the Durrani Empire, built by Ahmad Shah Durrani (1747—1773 A. D.), extended from Meshad to