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Lapis Lazuli Corridor
Lapis Lazuli is an international transit route opened in 2018 linking Afghanistan to Turkey via Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The name “ Lapis Lazuli” is derived from the historic route that Afghanistan's lapis lazuli and other semiprecious stones were exported along, over 2,000 years ago, to the Caucasus, Russia, the Balkans, Europe, and North Africa along the ancient Silk Road. The initiative will serve to reinforce the Afghan Government's Infrastructure and Connectivity Development, Energy, and Private Sector Development National Priority Programs. Currently, the transit project’s budget is estimated at $2 billion. History The name of the transport corridor comes from the color of mineral lapis lazuli, which was one of the main items of exports from Central Asia to the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa in ancient times. Negotiations over the establishment of this new corridor date back to 2012 and continued for five years due to a number of factors in the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lapis Lazuli Route
Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines,David Bomford and Ashok Roy, ''A Closer Look- Colour'' (2009), National Gallery Company, London, () in Shortugai, and in other mines in Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan. Lapis lazuli artifacts, dated to 7570 BC, have been found at Bhirrana, which is the oldest site of Indus Valley civilisation. Lapis was highly valued by the Indus Valley Civilisation (7570–1900 BC). Lapis beads have been found at Neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and as far away as Mauritania. It was used in the funeral mask of Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BC). By the end of the Middle Ages, lapis lazuli began to be exported to Europe, where it was ground into powder and made into ultramarine, the finest and most expensive of all blue pigments. Ultra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rate Of Return
In finance, return is a profit on an investment. It comprises any change in value of the investment, and/or cash flows (or securities, or other investments) which the investor receives from that investment, such as interest payments, coupons, cash dividends, stock dividends or the payoff from a derivative or structured product. It may be measured either in absolute terms (e.g., dollars) or as a percentage of the amount invested. The latter is also called the holding period return. A loss instead of a profit is described as a '' negative return'', assuming the amount invested is greater than zero. To compare returns over time periods of different lengths on an equal basis, it is useful to convert each return into a return over a period of time of a standard length. The result of the conversion is called the rate of return. Typically, the period of time is a year, in which case the rate of return is also called the annualized return, and the conversion process, described below ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poti, Georgia
Poti ( ka, ფოთი ; Mingrelian: ფუთი; Laz: ჶაში/Faşi or ფაში/Paşi) is a port city in Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near the site of the ancient Greek colony of Phasis and deriving its name from the same, the city has become a major port city and industrial center since the early 20th century. It is also home to a main naval base and the headquarters of the Georgian Navy. Etymology The name Poti is linked to Phasis, but the etymology is a matter of a scholarly dispute. "Phasis" () is first recorded in Hesiod's ''Theogony'' (c. 700 BC) as a name of the river, not a town. Since Erich Diehl, 1938, first suggested a non-Hellenic origin of the name and asserted that Phasis might have been a derivative of a local hydronym, several explanations have been proposed, linking the name to the Proto-Georgian-Zan ''*Poti'', Svan ''*Pasid'', and even to a Semitic word, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura (Caspian Sea), Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million people. Tbilisi was founded in the 5th century Anno Domini, AD by Vakhtang I of Iberia, and since then has served as the capital of various Georgian kingdoms and republics. Between 1801 and 1917, then part of the Russian Empire, Tiflis was the seat of the Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917), Caucasus Viceroyalty, governing both the North Caucasus, northern and the Transcaucasia, southern parts of the Caucasus. Because of its location on the crossroads between Europe and Asia, and its proximity to the lucrative Silk Road, throughout history Tbilisi was a point of contention among various global powers. The city's location to this day ensures its p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world and also the largest city in the world located below sea level. Baku lies on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, alongside the Bay of Baku. Baku's urban population was estimated at two million people as of 2009. Baku is the primate city of Azerbaijan—it is the sole metropolis in the country, and about 25% of all inhabitants of the country live in Baku's metropolitan area. Baku is divided into twelve administrative raions and 48 townships. Among these are the townships on the islands of the Baku Archipelago, and the town of Oil Rocks built on stilts in the Caspian Sea, away from Baku. The Inner City of Baku, along with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower, were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. The c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Türkmenbaşy, Turkmenistan
Türkmenbaşy ( Turkmen Cyrillic: Түркменбашы, Turkmen Arabic; توركمنباشی, also spelled Turkmenbashi, a back-formation of the Cyrillic Түркменбаши), formerly known as Krasnovodsk (russian: Красноводск), Kyzyl-Su, and Shagadam ( tk, Şagadam), is a city in Balkan Province in Turkmenistan, on the Türkmenbaşy Gulf of the Caspian Sea. It sits at an elevation of . The population (est 2004) was 86,800, mostly ethnic Turkmens but also Russian, Armenian and Azeri minorities. As the terminus of the Trans-Caspian Railway and site of a major seaport on the Caspian, it is an important transportation center. The city is also the site of Turkmenistan's largest oil refining complex. This city should not be confused with the similarly named town of Türkmenbaşy ( tk, Türkmenbaşy şäherçesi), formerly called Janga (russian: Джанга, Cyrillic tk, Җанга), also in Balkan Province, or the city of Saparmyrat Türkmenbaşy adyndaky in Daş ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia, south of the fertile plains of Southern Russia in Eastern Europe, and north of the mountainous Iranian Plateau of Western Asia. It covers a surface area of (excluding the highly saline lagoon of Garabogazköl to its east) and a volume of . It has a salinity of approximately 1.2% (12 g/L), about a third of the salinity of average seawater. It is bounded by Kazakhstan to the northeast, Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the southwest, Iran to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southeast. The sea stretches nearly from north to south, with an average width of . Its gross coverage is and the surface is about below sea level. Its main freshwater inflow, Europe's longest river, the Volga, enters at the shallow north end. Two deep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herat Province
Herat (Persian: ) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north-western part of the country. Together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the north-western region of Afghanistan. Its primary city and administrative capital is Herat City. The province of Herat is divided into about 17 districts and contains over 2,000 villages. It has a population of about 3,780,000, making it the second most populated province in Afghanistan behind Kabul Province. The population is multi-ethnic but largely Persian-speaking. Herat dates back to the Avestan times and was traditionally known for its wine. The city has a number of historic sites, including the Herat Citadel and the Musalla Complex. During the Middle Ages Herat became one of the important cities of Khorasan, as it was known as the Pearl of Khorasa The province of Herat shares a border with Iran in the west and Turkmenistan in the north, making it an important trading region. The Trans-Afg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torghundi
Torghundi, also spelled Turghundi or Towrgondi ( ps, تورغونډۍ, translit=Tōrghūnḍəi, tk, Torghundi), is a border town in northern Herat Province of Afghanistan. The town's main attraction is the Torghundi custom house and border checkpoint, which officially connects Afghanistan by road with Turkmenistan. Torghundi is the second checkpoint and border crossing between the two countries, with Aqina to the northeast being the other. Torghundi is connected by both a regular road and a 1520 mm gauge rail transport in Afghanistan, railroad with the neighboring town of Serhetabat in Turkmenistan. The city of Herat in Afghanistan is located about of driving distance south from Torghundi. The railroad at Torghundi was originally established in 1960 as a single track, and was upgraded in 2017. Torghundi has become the starting point of the Lapis Lazuli corridor, Lapis Lazuli trade corridor. Situated at an altitude of approximately in the Kushk District of Herat Province ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pajhwok Afghan News
, logo = , image = , image_size = , type = Independent news agency , headquarters = Kabul, Afghanistan , language = English, Dari, Pashto , founded = 2003 , founder = Danish Karokhel , owner = Danish Karokhel , motto = Reflecting the Truth , market_share = , license_area = , area = Afghanistan , erp = , key_people = Danish Karokhel , launch_date = March 2004 , digital = , analog = , servicename1 = , service1 = , servicename2 = , service2 = , servicename3 = , service3 = , servicename4 = , service4 = , callsigns = , callsign_meaning = , former_callsigns = , groups = , former_affiliations = , website = , footnotes = Pajhwok Afghan News ( ps, پژواک خبري اژانس) ( prs, آژانس خبرى پژواک) is Afghanistan's largest independent news agency with its headquarters in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herat
Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd Kōh'') in the fertile valley of the Hari River in the western part of the country. An ancient civilization on the Silk Road between the Middle East, Central and South Asia, it serves as a regional hub in the country's west. Herat dates back to Avestan times and was traditionally known for its wine. The city has a number of historic sites, including the Herat Citadel and the Musalla Complex. During the Middle Ages Herat became one of the important cities of Khorasan, as it was known as the ''Pearl of Khorasan''. After the conquest of Tamerlane, the city became an important center of intellectual and artistic life in the Islamic world. Under the rule of Shah Rukh the city served as the focal point of the Timurid Renaissance, whose glor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashraf Ghani
Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban. Born in Logar Province, Ghani went to the United States in the 1960s to study and later completed a bachelor's degree at the American University in Beirut. After receiving his PhD from Columbia University, he became a professor of anthropology at numerous institutions, mostly at Johns Hopkins University, before starting to work with the World Bank. He returned to Afghanistan in 2002 after the collapse of the Taliban government, serving as the finance minister in Hamid Karzai's cabinet—where he was credited for creating a new afghani currency and a tax system — until his resignation in December 2004 to become the dean of Kabul University. In 2005 he became a member of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, an independent initiative ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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