KABUL – Afghanistan has been at the crossroads of history long before last week's devastating attacks in New York and Washington prompted the United States to threaten massive retaliation.

Nestling between Iran, the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia, it sits astride a key trade route that has proved irresistible to a succession of foreign armies.

Few have lasted for long, however.

The rugged terrain and fierce independent pride of the Afghan people have defeated all attempts at conquest in modern times, but centuries-old rivalry among tribes and clans has brought little unity or development.

Following are some facts and anecdotes about the country:

• Variations on the word "Afghan" date back to the 3rd century, but archeological evidence shows people lived in the area over 100,000 years ago.

• Alexander the Great conquered the hill tribes in what was then the Persian empire on his way to India several years before his death in 323 BC.

• The country then enjoyed around 500 years of relative peace and became a flourishing melting pot of race, culture and religion that was the envy of the region.

• Its cultural heart – founded on Buddhism – was centered on Bamiyan, where devotees carved two enormous statues of Buddha out of the limestone cliffs.

• The first Muslim armies arrived around 642, but Islam's grip was tenuous until the arrival of Genghis Khan in 1219. His Afghan experience was an unhappy one, however. His favourite grandson, Mutagen, was killed in a battle for Bamiyan, and Genghis Khan was so angry his army murdered the entire population of around 150,000 people and razed the city. He also attempted to destroy the statues.

• There followed a long period of instability with the weak swiftly overthrown and strong dynasties ruling until they ran out of steam. "Death by a thousand slices" was a popular way of despatching a rival.

• The British army tried twice to invade in the 19th century, the first attempt ending in ignominious disaster. Over 16,000 British and Indian troops and their camp followers were ambushed every step of their nine-day retreat from Kabul to India. Only one man made it out alive – a British army doctor who arrived on the back of an exhausted pony.

• The Soviet Union invaded on Christmas Day, 1979, ostensibly to protect its southern borders. Nine years later, they too retreated in disarray, the Afghan campaign precipitating the collapse of the Soviet Union.

• The vast majority of Afghanistan is now controlled by the Taliban movement, but the government is recognised by only three countries – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and neighbouring Pakistan. An opposition alliance holds a small northern redoubt.

• The Taliban espouse a purist form of Islam that has won them few friends in the world, including fellow-Muslim states. Women are barred from education, and television, music and other forms of entertainment are banned. They also succeeded where Genghis Khan failed, blowing up the Bamiyan statues earlier this year on the grounds they were un-Islamic.

• The population is around 20 million people, but nearly four million more live in refugee camps in Pakistan and Iran. Illiteracy is widespread and life expectancy for men is in the low 40s.

• The towering Hindu Kush mountains are the dominant geographical feature, reaching heights of up to 24,000 feet (7,300 metres) and stretching across the middle of the country.