An Introduction to Afghanistan Compiled by: Kelly Bredemeyer

The Flag of Afghanistan On the coat of arms are 2 Muslim inscriptions written in Arabic: “God is Great” “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah.”

What Kind of Government Does Afghanistan Have?

The Government Afghanistan does not have a functioning central government. It is ruled by factions. 90% of the country is ruled by the Taliban. The United Nations, however, does not recognize the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan. The capital city is Kabul. There are presently 30 Afghan provinces. The Constitution of 1964 is no longer in use.

What Religions do the Citizens of Afghanistan Practice?

Religion Ninety-nine percent of Afghanistan’s population is Muslim. Photo: Blue Mosque Ninety-nine percent of Afghanistan’s population is Muslim.

What are the People Like?

The People The people of Afghanistan are called Afghan(s). Afghanistan’s population is 27,000,000. The people of Afghanistan have a life expectancy of only 45 years. Many ethnic groups make up the Afghan population. The largest is the Pashtun (38%) followed in size by the Tajik (25%).

The People

The Language Because of the presence of different ethnic groups in Afghanistan, several different languages are spoken. 50% of the people can speak “Dari.” 35% of the people can speak “Pashtu.” 11% of the people can speak one of the “Turkic” languages. Additionally there are another 30 minor languages spoken. There is a high level of bilingualism among the population.

Is Afghanistan’s Geography Like Ours?

The Geography Afghanistan is about the size of Texas. Its 647,500 square miles are landlocked. It is located in Southern Asia. It shares borders with Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Iran, and China.

The Geography The terrain is mostly rugged mountains, but there are plains in the north and southwest portions of the country. The climate is arid-semiarid. The winters are cold and the summers are hot.

The Geography Afghanistan suffers from damaging earthquakes (an earthquake killed 5,000 people in Takhar Province, in 1998) and from flooding and droughts. Photo: Takhar Province after 1998 earthquake

What Kind of Economy Do the Afghans Have?

The Economy Afghanistan is a poor country with few modern conveniences. It depends on farming and livestock raising (sheep and goats). Due to war and drought during the past 20 years, there has been a large loss of labor and capital, and the disruption of trade and transport of goods has had serious effects on the lives of many Afghans.

Exports Afghanistan’s main export has been the opium extracted from the poppy plants grown over much of the country. The Taliban has recently put a ban on the cultivation of poppies. Because poppy farmers have little else to fall back on, many now have to face devastating poverty.

Exports Exports which are still legal: wheat fruits nuts wool mutton karakul pelts

Do the Afghan People Have a History Like Ours?

The History 18th Century: The creation of Afghanistan. 19th Century: The Barakzai Dynasty. 1919: Independence from British control. 1973: A coup overthrows the King. 1979: Invasion by Russian troops. 1996: The Taliban take power.

18th and 19th Centuries Today’s Afghanistan was created in the early18th century by Ahmad Shah Durrani, an Afghan general of Persian Emperor Nadir Shah Afshar. In the early 19th century, the British imposed a protectorate. During this period the Barakzai Dynasty took the place of the Durrani. In 1919, Afghanistan gained independence from British control.

1933 - 1973 King Zahir Shar (pictured left) sat on the Kobul throne for forty years. A coup d’etat led by his cousin in 1973 ended his reign. He has been living in Rome, Italy since.

1979 - 1988 The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan with 80,000 men in December, 1979, in an attempt to impose control for its puppet Afghan government. After losing tens-of- thousands of soldiers, the defeated Soviets retreated in 1988. 1,000,000 Afghans lost their lives in the fight against the Soviet Union.

1996 - Present The Islamic fundamentalist movement known as the Taliban began to take political and physical control of the country in 1994. With its takeover of Kobul in 1996, the Taliban became the self-proclaimed government of Afghanistan, although it is not recognized as such by the United Nations.

What is Afghanistan Like Today?

Afghanistan Today After more than twenty years of civil war, Afghanistan’s economy and infrastructure lie in ruin.

Afghanistan Today The civil war which Afghanistan has been fighting continues as the Taliban supporters face the forces of the Northern Alliance.

Afghanistan Today During the many years of fighting, millions of land mines were buried in Afghanistan’s countryside. Many of the unexploded mines are now injuring adults and children when they accidentally trip the wires. International agencies are trying to help the Afghans de-mine the land.

Afghanistan Today The Taliban has been ridding the country of all non-Islamic relics. Two sandstone statues of Buddha had stood carved in the side of a cliff in Bamiyan since around the Third Century. They were built to 175’ and 120’ in height.

Afghanistan Today But on March 3, 2001, the Taliban used rockets and mortars to destroy the statues in a campaign to rid the country of “un-Islamic” and idolatrous representations of the human form.

Afghanistan Today Women no longer have as many rights as they once did. The Taliban does not allow women or girls to study, work in most jobs, or vote. Women have to be completely covered when walking in public and should be accompanied by a male from their family.

www. Sites to Visit For Afghan Culture: For links to other sites: www.afghan-network.net/Culture/ For links to other sites: www.aboutafghanistan.com/ For facts and figures: www.countrywatch.com/ www.cia.gov/ For up-to-date news articles: http://news.bbc.co.uk For geographical information: www.geographic.org

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