Afghanistan–Turkmenistan border

[2] The border traverses a thinly populated area consisting mostly of desert and some hills, except for the easternmost section where the Amu Darya is paralleled by a road and railway on the Turkmen side.

[2] The easternmost section of the border (now forming part of the Afghan-Tajik boundary) was not finally delimited until 1893–95, with the Afghans agreeing to waive any claims to lands north the Amu Darya.

This agreement also stipulated the position of the land border in the section east of Lake Zorkul up to China, with a series of boundary pillars subsequently erected.

[2] In 1921 a Soviet-Afghan treaty was signed whereby Russia agreed "to hand over to Afghanistan the frontier districts which belonged to the latter in the last century, observing the principles of justice and self-determination of the population inhabiting the same."

[3] There have been a number of incidents in recent years connected to the ongoing conflict and instability in Afghanistan, prompting Turkmenistan to increase its military presence on the frontier.