Afghanistan is positioned in the Middle East, a recognized geographical region of southwestern Asia, and is situated in both the northern and eastern hemispheres. Afghanistan is bordered by the countries of China, Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
famine - a severe shortage of food (as through crop failure) resulting in violent hunger and starvation and death. calamity, catastrophe, tragedy, disaster, cataclysm - an event resulting in great loss and misfortune; the whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity; the earthquake was a disaster.
Terrible periods of famine, or great hunger, were common during the Middle Ages. Farmers knew that just one or two years of bad harvests could mean starvation for an entire family. People had little understanding of hygiene, so the people frequently faced widespread disease.