Afghanistan

Region: South Asia

Official language: Dari, Pashto

Population: 40,121,552 (2024 est.)

Nationality: Afghan(s) (noun), Afghan (adjective)

Land area: 652,230 sq km (251,827 sq miles)

Capital: Kabul

National anthem: "Milli Surood" (National Anthem), by Abdul Bari Jahani/Babrak Wasa

National holiday: Independence Day, August 19 (1919)

Population growth: 2.22% (2024 est.)

Time zone: UTC +4.5

Flag: Under the 2021 Taliban government, the Afghan flag consists of the Shahada, an Islamic oath and one of the five pillars of Islam, in black lettering against a white background. This is also the flag of the Taliban itself.

Independence: August 19, 1919 (from UK control over Afghan foreign affairs)

Government type: Theocracy (note: the US does not officially recognize the Taliban government)

Suffrage: Formerly universal for those eighteen years of age, unclear under the Taliban government of 2021

Legal system: Formerly a mixed legal system of civil, customary, and Islamic law. The Taliban implemented its own interpretation of Islamic law upon their rise to power in 2021.

Afghanistan is a country in Central Asia, bordered by Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Its natural resources and location along ancient trade routes have made it an important crossroads for millennia. However, this has also made it a focal point of numerous wars and other conflicts throughout history. The modern state of Afghanistan emerged in the eighteenth century, but was embroiled in struggles between European imperial powers and dominated by Great Britain until winning independence in 1919. A series of coups in the 1970s set off another long period of turmoil, including invasion by the Soviet Union from 1979 to 1989, civil war, and takeover by the Islamic fundamentalist group the Taliban in 1996.

Afghanistan gained further international attention in the early twenty-first century due to its reputation as a haven for international terrorists, including al-Qaeda. This led to a 2001 United States–led invasion that toppled the Taliban regime and installed a democratic government. However, much of Afghanistan remained beyond the control of the central government and insurgent violence remained a serious challenge. In 2014 the US-led international coalition officially ended its military mission in Afghanistan, though a limited number of US troops remained. After the final withdrawal of US forces in 2021, the Taliban quickly regained control of the country. Such turmoil has kept Afghanistan one of the least developed nations in the world, with high poverty and numerous human rights concerns.

Note: unless otherwise indicated, statistical data in this article is sourced from the CIA World Factbook, as cited in the bibliography.

People and Culture

Population: The Afghan population is a complex ethnic composite, and issues of identity can be highly sensitive. Due to sociopolitical upheaval, reliable data about ethnicity is not available. The country's 2004 constitution recognized fourteen ethnic groups: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkman, Baluch, Pachaie, Nuristani, Aymaq, Arab, Qirghiz, Qizilbash, Gujur, and Brahwui. There are also many other smaller groups in the country. The Pashtuns live throughout the country, but the other ethnic groups generally live in specific regions.

The Pashtun people speak Pashto, an Indo-European language. The ethnic-Iranian Tajiks speak Dari (Afghan Persian), also an Indo-European language, which also serves as the country's lingua franca. Pashto and Dari are the country's two official languages, and both are written in a modified Arabic script. As many as thirty other languages are spoken by minorities, and many people are multilingual. Uzbeki, Turkmani, Pachaie, Nuristani, Balochi, and Pamiri also function as official languages in regions where they are spoken by a majority of people.

One of the few characteristics that unites these disparate peoples is conservative Islam. According to 2009 estimates, between 84.7 - 89.7 percent of the population are Sunni Muslim, and 10 to 15 percent are Shia Muslim. Hazaras and some Tajiks practice Shia Islam.

Decades of civil unrest and war have negatively affected the Afghan population. According to 2024 estimates, life expectancy at birth is 52.8 years for men and 56.1 for women. The country has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world, with more than 101.3 deaths per 1,000 live births. Before the initial toppling of the Taliban government in 2001, approximately 4 million refugees lived outside of Afghanistan; in 2016, more than 1.2 million people in Afghanistan were thought to be internally displaced according to Amnesty International, especially Pashtuns and Kuchis in the south and west due to drought and political instability. Afghanistan ranked 182nd out of 193 countries in on the 2024 United Nations Human Development Index, which measures quality-of-life indicators.

About 26.9 percent of Afghanistan's total population lives in urban communities. The capital, Kabul, with 4.589 million people, is the most populous city (2023 estimate). Other major urban centers are Kandahar, Herat, and Mazar-e Sharif. The eastern part of the country is more densely populated, and the south is the least populous region. Some people in Afghanistan lead a nomadic lifestyle.

Indigenous People: The Afghan population has evolved over millennia of migrations from surrounding regions. Tensions have arisen between tribes or between subgroups within tribes. The struggles have been over access to natural resources as well as over political power. The Pashtuns have been the dominant group for several centuries and have often persecuted minorities, such as the Shia Hazaras.

Education: Afghanistan's education system faces significant challenges. During the country's civil war, which occurred between 1989 and 1996, much of its educational infrastructure was destroyed and many educated Afghans fled the country. The Taliban restricted education, especially for girls and women, after taking power in 1996.

Under the Western-backed government from 2004 to 2021, education was technically free and compulsory for both boys and girls, but in practice remained limited in many areas. The adult literacy rate was estimated at 52.1 percent for males in 2021, but only 22.6 percent for females. After the Taliban returned to power in 2021, women were forbidden from secondary education and primary education for girls consisted of programs based on the Taliban's interpretation of Islam. In a 2022 report, Amnesty International described the educational landscape in Afghanistan as a violation of human rights.

Institutions of higher education include Kabul University, Nangarhar University in Jalalabad, and Herat University. There are also technical and pedagogical institutes.

Health Care: Even before the decades of conflict in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, Afghanistan was one of the world's least developed countries. The country faces major challenges related to the availability of health care. Afghanistan's rudimentary medical infrastructure cannot cope with the serious health problems facing the population, including many preventable illnesses. Several nongovernmental organizations have focused on health issues in the country, but they face obstacles including Taliban resistance to outside influence and ongoing violence.

As a result, tuberculosis, dysentery, and malnutrition are common. In 2020, UNICEF declared that Afghanistan was one of only three countries in the world where polio was endemic. Other health problems include war-related injuries, inadequate obstetric care, a dearth of supplies and equipment, and a severe shortage of qualified medical personnel.

Food: Afghan cuisine, like much of its culture, is influenced by India and Iran. This is particularly true in its extensive use of spices. Chicken and lamb are the meats of choice. A flat bread known as "nan" accompanies every meal.

Typical dishes include qabeli plov, a rice dish with carrots and raisins, and kadu bouranee, a dish of pumpkin in yogurt sauce. Tea is the drink of choice. The partaking of food and tea has a ceremonial aspect among Afghan people.

Arts & Entertainment: Afghanistan's rich classical music tradition has been influenced by other Asian countries. Each region as unique musical traditions, though regional differences have faded over time. Ustad M. H. Sarahang and Ustad Naim Nazary are two respected modern singers in the classical tradition. The national instrument of Afghanistan is the rubab. Its four main strings are plucked, and the instrument can be played solo or in vocal and instrumental ensembles. Another popular string instrument is the dutar, which is often accompanied with different hand-played drums.

However, under the Taliban from 1996 to 2001 music was largely forbidden due to the group's fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. Music once again became a part of daily life and important ceremonies under the Western-backed government, but the Taliban's return to power in 2021 brought fears of a new crackdown.

In a country with low literacy rates, oral narratives are important. Many of these have ancient roots, but others have been modernized according to contemporary developments in Afghanistan. Of any single book, the Qur'an is the most important, but it is studied in the original Arabic rather than in one of the country's Indigenous languages. The national poet of Afghanistan, who wrote in Pashto in the seventeenth century, is Khushal Khan Khattak.

Afghanis have several sporting traditions. Buzkashi is a gamed played throughout Central Asia. It involves teams of horse riders who attempt to score a goal by moving a salt-filled goat carcass along the field. Kite-flying is also popular. Small or large and very colorful, the kites generally have two children to handle them. The object of the game is to cut the opponent's kite string with one's own.

Afghans excel at making durable, beautiful handcrafts. Flat or piled wool carpets made with natural fibers and dyes on a hand loom are the most famous. Other important crafts include pottery and tile-making, metal and leatherwork, and embroidery.

Holidays: The most important Afghan holidays are Islamic. The end of the holy month of fasting, Ramadan, is marked by Eid Al-Fatr. Eid Al-Adha commemorates Abraham's subservience to God and marks the beginning of the Hajj, the pilgrimage of the faithful to Mecca. Ashura commemorates the martyrdom of Hussein, Muhammad's grandson, and Mawleed Al-Nabi marks Muhammad's birthday. The pre-Islamic festival of Nawruz, on March 21, is a celebration of spring and a welcoming of the new year. On these holidays, people visit their family and friends, hold feasts, attend prayers, and often exchange gifts.

National holidays included Afghan Independence Day (August 19), marking the day that the country regained control of its foreign policy from Britain; and Remembrance Day for Martyrs and Disabled (May 4).

Environment and Geography

Topography: Afghanistan has mountainous terrain, roughly half above 2,000 meters (6,600 feet). Only in the northwest, west, and southwest border areas do desert and rocky plains predominate. The Registan Desert and the Turkistan Plains are two such areas. The terrain rises in a northeasterly direction, toward the country's highest mountains, found in a strip of land called the Wakhan Corridor.

Mountains cross the country from the northeast to the southwest. Smaller ranges branch out from this range, the Hindu Kush, which is the western portion of the Pamir Mountains and the Himalayas. The northeastern Nowshak is the highest peak at 7,485 meters (24,557 feet). Crossing the mountains is made possible by the passes which transect them, most famously the Salang Pass linking the north and the south, and the Khyber Pass leading into Pakistan.

Afghanistan is landlocked but has several river systems as well as a few lakes and marshes. The Amu Darya, the Hilmand, the Harirud, and the Kabul are the four major rivers. With its tributary, the Panj, the Amu Darya forms the country's northern border. The largest lakes are Lake Zarkol and Lake Shiveh in the northeast.

Natural Resources: Afghanistan is rich in natural resources, but the country's ongoing military conflicts and political upheaval have impeded any large-scale, regular exploitation. The most valuable are oil, natural gas, precious and semiprecious stones such as lapis lazuli and gold. It is estimated that Afghanistan has some 3.6 million barrels of unrefined petroleum. The country also has significant deposits of coal, copper, lead, zinc, iron, sulfur, and salt. Some of the rivers have been harnessed for hydroelectric power, but many stations and dams have been damaged.

Afghans generate a large amount of energy from firewood. This pattern has had serious effects on the environment, which is increasingly prone to erosion and salinization. Overgrazing and deforestation are also problems. Furthermore, Afghanistan millions of landmines and thousands of pieces of ordnance from past wars litter the landscape.

Plants & Animals: Plant life in Afghanistan ranges from the sparse to the verdant. The western deserts support little vegetation. The northern steppe is dry and treeless, and only hardy shrubs such as the camel thorn, mimosa, sagebrush, and wormwood thrive.

As the elevation increases, so does the vegetation. This is particularly true in areas affected by the rain patterns and warm weather from the Indian Ocean. Above 3,048 meters (10,000 feet), conifer forests are common, with fir and pine trees being prevalent. At lower elevations, cedar trees grow; and lower yet alder, ash, juniper, oak, pistachio, and walnut trees are common.

Animal distribution is similar. The foothills and mountains are home to large mammals such as bears, wolves, hyenas, gazelles, ibex, and wild sheep. Smaller mammals include hedgehogs and mongooses.

Populations of many animals are in decline. The snow leopard, the Asiatic black bear, and a variety of bats are listed as threatened. Among the common birds are vultures, pheasant, ducks, and flamingoes.

Climate: Afghanistan's climate varies as extremely as its terrain. In the mountains of the northeast, a subarctic climate prevails. The summers are dry and the winters cold; glaciers and year-round snow are common. January temperatures can fall to -15° Celsius (5° Fahrenheit) at the highest elevations, whereas summer temperatures usually range between 0° and 26° Celsius (32° and 78° Fahrenheit).

Precipitation, mostly in the form of snow, measures more than 1,000 millimeters (40 inches) each year. Further south along the border with Pakistan, summer winds from the Indian Ocean moderate the temperature in the mountain valleys.

These same warm winds can reach the central and southern steppe, bringing rain and humidity to the arid region. It is otherwise hot during the day and cold at night, especially in the western deserts. Less than 100 millimeters (4 inches) of rain falls annually in the driest areas.

Seasonal winds sometimes bring severe dust storms to the steppe, and long droughts are common. Moreover, sudden rainstorms can cause the flooding of streams and riverbeds. In the mountains, particularly in the Hindu Kush, frequent seismic activity occurs.

Economy

Statistics regarding the Afghan economy are unreliable, but by many estimates the country's economic situation improved after the US-led 2001 invasion, largely because of the billions of dollars in international aid—including more than $83 billion pledged by foreign governments between 2003 and 2016, and an additional $3.8 billion in annual development aid pledged for 2017 through 2020 at a Brussels conference in 2016. However, economic projections were uncertain after the fall of the government in 2021. Afghanistan's gross domestic product (GDP, purchasing power parity) was estimated at $60.803 billion in 2021, or $1,500 per capita, though these figures do not account for two of the most significant sources of revenue: the illicit cultivation of opium and the sale of illegal arms. The largely uneducated labor force was thought to number 8.921 million people and unemployment was 14.39 percent (2023 estimates).

Industry: Industry accounted for an estimated 16.1 percent of the GDP in 2022 (excluding opium production) and occupied 18.48 percent of the labor force in 2020. Much of the industrial sector was devastated by the decades of conflict, and remaining operations were mostly small in scale. Furniture, fertilizer, soap, shoes, bricks, cement, textiles, and handcrafts—most importantly carpets—are all produced in Afghanistan. The exploitation of natural resources is also increasing.

Agriculture: Agriculture accounted for an estimated 33.7 percent of the GDP in 2022 (excluding opium production) and occupied about 46.59 percent of the Afghan labor force in 2022. The amount of arable land is small, and irrigation is necessary for much of it. Crops include wheat, corn, cotton, nuts, and various fruits and vegetables.

The most valuable agricultural product in Afghanistan is opium, derived from the widely cultivated opium poppy. Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of opium, although production has fluctuated due to various factors. For instance, production increased after the Taliban first took power in 1996, but the group officially banned poppy cultivation in 2000, leading to a brief sharp decline. According to the United Nations' annual Afghanistan Opium Survey, the nation’s production of opium increased again after the Taliban was deposed in 2001, reaching as high as 9,000 metric tons in 2017. The US-backed Afghan government and international coalition forces attempted to curb production, as the proceeds of the nation's drug trade were known to support the Taliban and other anti-government militants. However, these efforts were largely unsuccessful, especially because local farmers typically cannot earn equivalent profits by growing legal crops. The impact of the Taliban's 2021 return to power on opium production was unclear; according to the UN, cultivation and trade initially increased, but in April 2022 the Taliban officially banned all opium poppy production and narcotics production.

Many Afghans depend on a combination of farming and animal husbandry for survival. A seminomadic lifestyle is common among some Afghans, with large flocks seasonally transferred between lowland and highland pastures. Sheep are the most common animal, followed by goats. The animals are important sources of meat, wool, and hides. Camels and horses are used for transportation of people and goods.

Tourism: In the 1960s and early 1970s, Afghanistan was a major stop for tourists traveling overland between Europe and India. Today, with the advent of the Taliban, terrorism, unexploded landmines, a devastated infrastructure, and a population in crisis, tourism is virtually nonexistent.

Many of the country's major attractions have been devastated, some by warfare, others directly by the Taliban. The Kabul Museum was damaged by rocket fire and then looted, reducing its once important collection of Asian antiquities by two-thirds. In 2001, the Taliban destroyed the ancient, world-renowned Buddhist statues in the town of Bamiyan, which had been carved into a cliffside. A few mosques, such as the Great Mosque of Herat, and some archaeological sites have survived.

Government

Afghanistan has been subject to several forms of rule in the twentieth century. It won freedom from Great Britain in 1919 after the Third Anglo-Afghan War, and the Kingdom of Afghanistan was officially formed in 1926. In 1973, more than two hundred years of monarchy were ended by a coup, and a short-lived republic was proclaimed. Another coup in 1978 established a communist state, but the nation was wracked by power struggles. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support communist rule and fought against Islamic Afghan forces known as mujahideen (including some funded by the US, as part of a Cold War proxy conflict with the Soviets) for a decade. The Soviets withdrew, defeated, in 1989. Widespread civil unrest and fighting between rival militias followed.

The Pakistan-backed Taliban took control of Kabul in 1996, instituting a strict Islamic fundamentalist style of rule. They remained in power until 2001. In the wake of the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, a US-led international coalition toppled the Taliban government. US and NATO forces were engaged in combat missions in the country from 2001 to 2014, and support missions thereafter. Although tenuous democratic reforms were instituted, critics argued that in the years following the fall of the Taliban regime, the continued focus on the conflict in Iraq by the United States and its allies allowed the Taliban to regroup and regain strength. The country began to experience an increased number of suicide bombings, as the Taliban reconstituted itself using profits from Afghanistan's opium crops.

The 2004 constitution declared Afghanistan an Islamic republic, but also safeguarded freedom of worship as well as minority languages and gender equality. Power was vested in a president, elected by popular vote to a five-year term, with a two-term limit. Two vice-presidents were similarly elected. The country's first presidential election was held in late 2004. Amid ongoing tensions between political and ethnic factions, a new role of chief executive officer was established following the 2014 presidential election.

The bicameral legislature was called the National Assembly. The Wolesi Jirga (House of the People), had 249 seats filled for five-year terms by popular vote. The Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders) had 102 seats. These seats were filled by several methods, and the elders serve term of varying lengths. As needed, the Loya Jirga ("grand council") could convene to discuss certain issues. A traditional council, it was composed of political and tribal members from all across Afghan society and ethnic groups.

The judiciary was composed of a Supreme Court (Stera Mahkama) with nine justices. They were appointed by the president to ten-year terms, pending the approval of the National Assembly. There were also high courts and appeal courts below this level.

Afghanistan has thirty-four provinces which are divided into districts and subdistricts. Under the Western-backed system, the central government appointed a governor to each province.

The Taliban maintained an insurgency against the US-backed Afghan government, and by the late 2010s had steadily regained strength and influence throughout much of the country. In early 2020 the US government finalized an agreement with the Taliban (without involvement of the Afghan government) that the insurgent group would make counter-terrorism commitments and, in return, international forces would completely withdraw from Afghanistan. As a result, the last US troops were withdrawn in August 2021, despite rapidly escalating Taliban attacks against the Afghan government. The Taliban then almost immediately seized control of Kabul and soon retook control of most of the country.

The Taliban suspended the 2004 constitution and reinstated its Islamic fundamentalist theocracy, though it was not officially recognized by the international community. The group's leader served as head of government, while an "acting prime minister" and three deputy prime ministers were announced in late 2021. No legislative branch was immediately announced. A Supreme Court and extensive system of provincial, religious, and specialty courts were implemented. All political parties were banned by the authoritarian regime.

Interesting Facts

• Around 320 BCE, Alexander the Great invaded the land now known as Afghanistan on his way to conquer India.
• The Kharka Sharif shrine in Kandahar holds a cloak that some believe was worn by Muhammad.
• The Minaret of Jam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Afghanistan, is situated in the remote Shahrak District, Ghor Province, beside the Hari River, and is extremely difficult to reach.

Bibliography

"Afghanistan: Death in Slow Motion: Women and Girls under Taliban Rule." Amnesty International, 27 Jul. 2022, www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa11/5685/2022/en/. Accessed 24 Aug. 2022.

"Afghanistan." The World Bank, 2022, data.worldbank.org/country/afghanistan. Accessed 24 Aug. 2022.

"Afghanistan." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 19 Oct. 2023, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/afghanistan/. Accessed 16 Dec. 2024.

Afghanistan Opium Survey 2021. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2022, www.unodc.org/documents/crop-monitoring/Afghanistan/Afghanistan‗Opium‗Survey‗2021.pdf. Accessed 2 Nov. 2023.

"Human Development Insights." Human Development Reports, United Nations Development Programme, hdr.undp.org/data-center/country-insights#/ranks. Accessed 16 Dec. 2024.