The study of the formation of the Afghan state and the current circumstances of the Afghan state are of great interest to many researchers. This article attempts to uncover the factors influencing the formation of the Afghan state and its development as statehood. Apart from historical factors, including territorial and geographic, religious, ethno-tribal, at the current time, such factors as the military-political institutions and external influences require particular attention. It is important to highlight that the influence of historical factors has not lost its essence in the current life of the Afghan state; however in the modern world such factors has remained in the past. By studying the factors influencing the formation of the Afghan state, the author comes to the conclusion that, in the future, the impact of ethno-tribal and external factors will not weaken, on the contrary, it is anticipated, that in the future this influence might still grow.