Afghanistan Trivia
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50 free Afghanistan trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Afghanistan sits at the crossroads of Central and South Asia, landlocked, mountainous, and fought over by everyone from Alexander the Great to the Soviet Union, which is why it is called the graveyard of empires. This quiz covers the country from every angle: its six neighbours, Noshaq and the Hindu Kush, the Wakhan Corridor that touches China, and Kabul at nearly 1,800 metres. The history questions run from Bactria and the Silk Road lapis trade through the Ghurids' Minaret of Jam, the Timurid Renaissance in Herat, Ahmad Shah Durrani, the Durand Line, independence in 1919, the last king Zahir Shah, the Soviet-Afghan War and the Lion of Panjshir. Culture gets equal weight: Kabuli palaw, Nowruz, buzkashi, the national dance attan, Rumi of Balkh, war rugs, the karakul hat, the Afghan hound, the Kite Runner, the Afghan Girl photograph and the national cricket team formed in 2001. There are questions on the Bamiyan Buddhas, Band-e Amir's blue lakes and the Salang Tunnel too. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on Afghanistan, its cities, history and culture, so the dates, heights and names are reliable.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Afghanistan is landlocked and shares borders with how many countries?
Six
Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China.
Q 02Which mountain range dominates Afghanistan, separating the northern plains from the south-west?
The Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush runs some 800 km from the Pamirs in the north-east across central Afghanistan into Pakistan and is often described as the western extension of the Himalayas.
Q 03Afghanistan's highest point, Noshaq, rises to roughly what height?
7,492 m
Noshaq, on the Pakistani border in the Hindu Kush, reaches 7,492 m; the lowest point is just 258 m, on the bank of the Amu Darya in the north.
Q 04Afghanistan is roughly the size of which US state?
Texas
At about 652,000 sq km Afghanistan is slightly smaller than Texas (about 696,000 sq km) and slightly larger than France.
Q 05Afghanistan's longest land border, the Durand Line, is shared with which country?
Pakistan
The roughly 2,600 km Durand Line with Pakistan was agreed in 1893 between Abdur Rahman Khan and British India's Mortimer Durand, dividing Pashtun and Baloch lands.
Q 06The narrow Wakhan Corridor in the far north-east connects Afghanistan to which country?
China
The Wakhan Corridor ends at a short mountain border with China; it was carved out in the 1890s as a buffer so that Russian and British territory would never touch.
Q 07At about 5,900 feet above sea level, Kabul is one of the world's highest what?
Capital cities
Kabul, at about 1,790 m (5,900 ft), is among the world's highest capital cities; the city on the Kabul River is thought to be over 3,500 years old.
Q 08Which famous mountain pass links eastern Afghanistan with Peshawar in Pakistan?
Khyber Pass
The Khyber Pass crosses the Spin Ghar (Safed Koh) range from Torkham, on the Afghan border, down to Peshawar; invading armies from Babur's to Britain's marched through it.
Q 09Because so many invaders have failed to hold it, Afghanistan is popularly nicknamed what?
The graveyard of empires
The 'graveyard of empires' tag recalls the destruction of a British army retreating from Kabul in 1842 and the failed Soviet occupation of the 1980s.
Q 10Alexander reached Afghanistan in 330 BCE, the year after defeating Darius III at which battle?
Gaugamela
Gaugamela, fought on 1 October 331 BCE, broke Darius III's army; Alexander then pursued him east and entered Afghanistan in 330 BCE, founding Alexandria in Arachosia near modern Kandahar.
Q 11Which blue stone, mined in Badakhshan, did ancient Afghanistan trade along the Silk Road?
Lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli from the Sar-i Sang mines of Badakhshan reached Sumerian Ur and Tutankhamun's Egypt, and ground into ultramarine pigment it coloured Renaissance paintings.
Q 12The Buddhas of Bamiyan, destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001, were how tall at their largest?
55 m
The larger western Buddha stood 55 m, the eastern one 38 m; carbon dating puts them at around 570 and 618 CE, and the Taliban dynamited both in March 2001.
Q 13The Minaret of Jam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site built around 1190, was the work of which dynasty?
The Ghurids
The 65 m brick tower stands in a remote valley of Ghor Province and is on the danger list.
Q 21Zahir Shah, the last king, reigned from 1933 until he was deposed by his cousin in which year?
1973
In July 1973, while Zahir Shah was in Italy for medical treatment, his cousin Daoud Khan seized power and proclaimed a republic, ending 226 years of monarchy.
Q 22The Soviet-Afghan War ran from December 1979 until the Soviet withdrawal in which month?
February 1989
The last Soviet troops crossed the Friendship Bridge over the Amu Darya on 15 February 1989; the nine-year war is often called 'the Soviet Union's Vietnam'.
Q 23Ahmad Shah Massoud, the 'Lion of Panjshir', was assassinated by al-Qaeda on which date?
9 September 2001
Two al-Qaeda operatives posing as journalists killed Massoud with a bomb hidden in a camera on 9 September 2001, two days before the 9/11 attacks; the Tajik commander had held the Panjshir Valley against the Soviets and the Taliban.
Q 14Which 'Pearl of Khorasan' was the focus of the Timurid Renaissance under Shah Rukh?
Herat
Its Thursday poetry nights and Great Mosque continue the tradition.
Q 15The 13th-century mystic poet Rumi was born in which Afghan city?
Balkh
Rumi, called Balkhi, was born in 1207 in or near Balkh, then part of the Khwarazmian realm; his family fled west before the Mongol invasion and settled in Konya.
Q 16The world's earliest known use of oil painting was found where in Afghanistan?
In cave murals
Murals in the Bamiyan caves, painted around the 7th century with walnut and poppy-seed oils, are the earliest known oil paintings, predating European use by centuries.
Q 17The modern Afghan state is generally dated from which ruler's empire, founded in 1747?
Ahmad Shah Durrani
Ahmad Shah Durrani was crowned at Kandahar in 1747 and built an empire reaching Delhi; his Durrani state, not yet called Afghanistan, is the origin of the modern country.
Q 18Which Mughal founder captured Kabul in 1504 and made it his headquarters?
Babur
His garden tomb, the Bagh-e Babur, remains one of Kabul's landmarks.
Q 19Afghanistan served as a buffer state in the 19th-century 'Great Game' between which two empires?
Britain and Russia
Britain and Russia vied for influence across Central Asia; Emir Abdur Rahman Khan likened Afghanistan to a goat between two lions, or a grain of wheat between two millstones.
Q 20Afghanistan's Independence Day, 19 August, marks the treaty that ended which war in 1919?
The Third Anglo-Afghan War
The Third Anglo-Afghan War began when Emir Amanullah Khan invaded British India in May 1919; the Treaty of Rawalpindi that August gave Afghanistan control of its foreign affairs.
Q 24The Taliban returned to power in which year after capturing Kabul?
2021
The Taliban entered Kabul on 15 August 2021 as the US-backed government collapsed; they had first held most of the country from 1996 until the 2001 US-led invasion.
Q 25The Taliban's flag is a white field bearing what?
The Shahada
The white flag bears the Shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith, in black script; the republic's flag it replaced was a black, red and green tricolour with a mosque emblem.
Q 26What are Afghanistan's two official languages?
Dari and Pashto
Dari and Pashto have been co-official since the 1964 constitution; Dari, a variety of Persian, serves as the lingua franca, and bilingualism is common.
Q 27Which ethnic group is Afghanistan's largest, at roughly two-fifths of the population?
Pashtuns
Pashtuns make up roughly 40-42% of Afghans by most estimates, with Tajiks next at about 27% and Hazaras and Uzbeks around 9% each; no complete census has ever been held.
Q 28What is Afghanistan's currency?
The afghani
The afghani, introduced in 1923 to replace the Afghan rupee, is nominally divided into 100 puls, though no pul coins circulate.
Q 29Kabuli palaw, the national dish, is steamed rice with marinated meat, raisins and what?
Caramelised carrots
It is often garnished with almonds and pistachios; in Saudi Arabia it is called Bukhari rice.
Q 30Which ancient spring-equinox festival begins the year in Afghanistan's solar calendar?
Nowruz
Nowruz, on or about 21 March, opens the Solar Hijri year; Mazar-i-Sharif's Blue Mosque hosts the biggest celebrations, though the Taliban have discouraged the festival.