Participating Countries
Afghanistan
Positioned between the Middle East and the rest of Asia, Afghanistan stands at the crossroads of ancient trade and invasion routes. In the fourth century B.C. Alexander the Great crossed its rugged mountains. Centuries later, Persian, Arab, and Mongol conquerors came too. During the Middle Ages it was the hub of caravan trade between the East and the West. Today Afghanistan is emerging from years of warfare to take its place in the modern world.
Tajikistan
Tajikistan, once a republic of the former Soviet Union, is located north of Afghanistan and south of other Central Asian states such as Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The Tajiks claim a long and illustrious ancestry, from the ancient Sogdians--the merchants of the Silk Road--to important 8th-century Persian figures such as philosopher-scientist Avicenna and poet Rudaki. After the fall of the Soviet Union, a power struggle between various political, religious, and regional interests led to civil war from 1992-97. Despite centuries of political repression, poverty, and mountainous isolation, Tajikistan has emerged ready to build its own path to the future.
United States
The United States of America consists of 48 contiguous states that occupy the middle latitudes of North America, the state of Alaska at the northwestern extreme of North America, and the island state of Hawaii in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The variety in its physical environment, ranging from mountains to flat prairies and from Arctic to desert conditions, is a major distinguishing characteristic. The population of the United States is very diverse, due to immense and sustained global immigration. Probably no other country has a wider range of racial, ethnic, and cultural types than does the United States.