The World Factbook |
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Afghanistan |
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Introduction |
Afghanistan |
Background: |
Ahmad Shah DURRANI unified the Pashtun tribes and founded Afghanistan in 1747. The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian empires until it won independence from notional British control in 1919. A brief experiment in democracy ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 Communist counter-coup. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support the tottering Afghan Communist regime, but withdrew 10 years later under relentless pressure by internationally supported anti-Communist mujahedin rebels. A civil war between mujahedin factions erupted following the 1992 fall of the Communist regime. The Taliban, a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement that emerged in 1994 to end the country's civil war and anarchy, seized Kabul in 1996 and most of the country outside of opposition Northern Alliance strongholds by 1998. Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, a US, Allied, and Northern Alliance military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Osama BIN LADIN. In late 2001, a conference in Bonn, Germany, established a process for political reconstruction that included the adoption of a new constitution and a presidential election in 2004, and National Assembly elections in 2005. On 7 December 2004, Hamid KARZAI became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan. The National Assembly was inaugurated on 19 December 2005. |
Geography |
Afghanistan |
Location: |
Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran |
Geographic coordinates: |
33 00 N, 65 00 E |
Map references: |
Asia |
Area: |
total: 647,500 sq km |
Area - comparative: |
slightly smaller than Texas |
Land boundaries: |
total: 5,529 km |
Coastline: |
0 km (landlocked) |
Maritime claims: |
none (landlocked) |
Climate: |
arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers |
Terrain: |
mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest |
Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: Amu Darya 258 m |
Natural resources: |
natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones |
Land use: |
arable land: 12.13% |
Irrigated land: |
27,200 sq km (2003) |
Natural hazards: |
damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding; droughts |
Environment - current issues: |
limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; soil degradation; overgrazing; deforestation (much of the remaining forests are being cut down for fuel and building materials); desertification; air and water pollution |
Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Marine
Dumping |
Geography - note: |
landlocked; the Hindu Kush mountains that run northeast to southwest divide the northern provinces from the rest of the country; the highest peaks are in the northern Vakhan (Wakhan Corridor) |
People |
Afghanistan |
Population: |
31,056,997 (July 2006 est.) |
Age structure: |
0-14 years: 44.6% (male 7,095,117/female
6,763,759) |
Median age: |
total: 17.6 years |
Population growth rate: |
2.67% (2006 est.) |
Birth rate: |
46.6 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Death rate: |
20.34 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Net migration rate: |
0.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Sex ratio: |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female |
Infant mortality rate: |
total: 160.23 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life expectancy at birth: |
total population: 43.34 years |
Total fertility rate: |
6.69 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: |
0.01% (2001 est.) |
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: |
NA |
HIV/AIDS - deaths: |
NA |
Major infectious diseases: |
degree of risk: high |
Nationality: |
noun: Afghan(s) |
Ethnic groups: |
Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, other 4% |
Religions: |
Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi'a Muslim 19%, other 1% |
Languages: |
Afghan Persian or Dari (official) 50%, Pashtu (official) 35%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism |
Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
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People - note: |
of the estimated 4 million refugees in October 2001, 2.3 million have returned |
Government |
Afghanistan |
Economy |
Afghanistan |
Communications |
Afghanistan |
Telephones - main lines in use: |
100,000 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular: |
1.2 million (2005) |
Telephone system: |
general assessment: very limited telephone and
telegraph service |
Radio broadcast stations: |
AM 21, FM 23, shortwave 1 (broadcasts in Pashtu, Afghan Persian (Dari), Urdu, and English) (2003) |
Radios: |
167,000 (1999) |
Television broadcast stations: |
at least 10 (one government-run central television station in Kabul and regional stations in nine of the 34 provinces; the regional stations operate on a reduced schedule; also, in 1997, there was a station in Mazar-e-Sharif reaching four northern Afghanistan provinces) (1998) |
Televisions: |
100,000 (1999) |
Internet country code: |
.af |
Internet hosts: |
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Internet Service Providers (ISPs): |
1 (2000) |
Internet users: |
30,000 (2005) |
Communications - note: |
in March 2003, 'af' was established as Afghanistan's domain name; Internet access is growing through Internet cafes as well as public "telekiosks" in Kabul (2002) |
Transportation |
Afghanistan |
Airports: |
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Airports - with paved runways: |
total: 11 |
Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 35 |
Heliports: |
9 (2006) |
Pipelines: |
gas 466 km (2006) |
Roadways: |
total: 34,789 km |
Waterways: |
1,200 km (chiefly Amu Darya, which handles vessels up to 500 DWT) (2005) |
Ports and terminals: |
Kheyrabad, Shir Khan |
Military |
Afghanistan |
Military branches: |
Afghan National Army (includes Afghan Air Force) (2006) |
Military service age and obligation: |
22 years of age; inductees are contracted into service for a 4-year term (2005) |
Manpower available for military service: |
males age 22-49: 4,952,812 |
Manpower fit for military service: |
males age 22-49: 2,662,946 |
Manpower reaching military service age annually: |
males age 18-49: 275,362 |
Military expenditures - dollar figure: |
$122.4 million (2005 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: |
1.7% (2005 est.) |
Transnational Issues |
Afghanistan |
Disputes - international: |
most Afghan refugees in Pakistan have been repatriated, but thousands still remain in Iran, many at their own choosing; Coalition and Pakistani forces continue to patrol remote tribal areas to control the borders and stem organized terrorist and other illegal cross-border activities; regular meetings between Pakistani and Coalition allies aim to resolve periodic claims of boundary encroachments; regional conflicts over water-sharing arrangements with Amu Darya and Helmand River states |
Refugees and internally displaced persons: |
IDPs: 200,000-300,000 (mostly Pashtuns and Kuchis displaced in south and west due to drought and instability) (2005) |
Illicit drugs: |
world's largest producer of opium; cultivation dropped 48% to 107,400 hectares in 2005; better weather and lack of widespread disease returned opium yields to normal levels, meaning potential opium production declined by only 10% to 4,475 metric tons; if the entire poppy crop were processed, it is estimated that 526 metric tons of heroin could be processed; source of hashish; many narcotics-processing labs throughout the country; drug trade source of instability and some antigovernment groups profit from the trade; 80-90% of the heroin consumed in Europe comes from Afghan opium; vulnerable to narcotics money laundering through informal financial networks |
This page was last updated on 19 December, 2006
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Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments
Last Updated: 9/19/2006
Afghanistan
President |
Hamid KARZAI |
Vice President |
Ahmad Zia MASOOD |
Vice President |
Abdul Karim KHALILI |
Min. of Agriculture |
Obaidullah RAMIN |
Min. of Border & Tribal Affairs |
Mohammad Karim BRAHAWI |
Min. of Commerce |
Mohammad Amin FARHANG |
Min. of Communications |
Amirzai SANGIN |
Min. of Counternarcotics |
Habibullah QADERI |
Min. of Defense |
Abdul Rahim WARDAK |
Min. of Economy |
Mohammad Jalil SHAMS |
Min. of Education |
Mohammad Hanif ATMAR |
Min. of Energy, Water, & Power |
Ismail KHAN |
Min. of Finance |
Anwar Ul-Haq AHADY |
Min. of Foreign Affairs |
Rangin Dadfar SPANTA |
Min. of Hajj & Islamic Affairs |
Niamatullah SHAHRANI |
Min. of Health |
Sayed Mohammad Amin FATEMI |
Min. of Higher Education |
Mohammad Azam DADFAR |
Min. of Interior |
Moqbal ZARAR |
Min. of Justice |
Mohammad Sarwar DANESH |
Min. of Martyrs, Disabled, & Social Affairs |
Nur Mohammad QARQIN |
Min. of Mines & Industries |
Ibrahim ADEL |
Min. of Public Works |
Surab Ali SAFARI |
Min. of Refugees |
Akbar AKBAR |
Min. of Rural Development |
Ehsan ZIA |
Min. of Transportation |
Niamatullah Ehsan JAWID |
Min. of Urban Development |
Yousef PASHTUN |
Min. of Women's Affairs |
Hasan Bano GHAZANFAR |
Min. of Youth & Culture |
Abdul Karim KHURAM |
Chair, Human Rights Commission |
Sima SAMAR |
Chief Justice, Supreme Court |
Abdul AZIMI |
National Security Adviser |
Zalmay RASSOUL |
Governor, Central Bank |
Nurollah DELAWARI |
Ambassador to the US |
Said Tayeb JAWAD |
Permanent Representative to the UN, New York |
Ravan A.G. FARHADI |