Country Profile 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, touching off a long and destructive war. The USSR withdrew in 1989 under relentless pressure by internationally supported anti-Communist mujahedin rebels. Subsequently, a series of civil wars saw Kabul finally fall in 1996 to the Taliban, a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement that emerged in 1994 to end the country's civil war and anarchy. Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, a US, Allied, and anti-Taliban Northern Alliance military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Osama BIN LADIN. The UN-sponsored Bonn Conference in 2001 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. Disputes
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Population and Demographics
Afghanistan has a population of 32,738,376 (July 2008 est.) .
| Capital | Kabul |
| Main urban areas | Herat, Kandahar |
| Ethnic groups | Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, other 4% |
| Languages spoken | Pashtu 35%, Afghan Persian (Dari) 50%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism |
| Population age 0-14: 44.6% (m 7,474,394/f 7,121,145) |  | | |
| 0-14 | 15-64 | 65+ | |
| Gender ratios At birth: 1.05 m/f , 0-14: 1.05 m/f , 15-64: 1.05 m/f , 65+: 0.94 m/f | |||
Changing Population (Life expectancy, births, deaths and fertility)
The population growth rate for Afghanistan is 2.626% (2008 est.) (world growth rate at 2006 is 1.14%). The country also saw migration of 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.). The median age of the country is total: 17.6 years male: 17.6 years female: 17.6 years (2008 est.).
Note: on the graphs, world figures are represented by a red bar, figures for Afghanistan are illustrated with a green bar.
| Life Expectancy: | Total population: 44.21 years Male: 44.04 years Female: 44.39 years (2008 est.) |  [44.21] [64.77][Male:, m] [63.16, m][, f][66.47, f] |
| Fertility: | 6.58 children born/woman (2008 est.) | [6.58][2.59] |
| Births: | 45.82 births/1,000 population (2008 est.) | [45.82][20.05] |
| Deaths: | 19.56 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.) | [19.56][8.67] |
| Infants: | Total: 154.67 deaths/1,000 live births Male: 158.88 deaths/1,000 live births Female: 150.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.) | [154.67][48.87][158.88, m][50.98, m][150.24, f][46.65, f] |
Country Outline Map
Geographic Data Afghanistan is located in Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran, in the timezone GMT 4.5. The country has boundaries of 5,529 - China 76, Iran 936, Pakistan 2,430, Tajikistan 1,206, Turkmenistan 744, Uzbekistan 137 (km), and a coastline of 0 (km). Major urban areas: Kabul, Herat, Kandahar.
Elevations
Lowest point: Amu Darya 258 m
Highest point: Nowshak 7,485 m
Physical Features
Mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest. Hindu-Kush mountains (7,000 m), Herat Valley
Hazards
Damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding; droughts
Climate
Arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers
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% permanent crops: 0.21% other: 87.66% (2005)
Renewable Water Resources
65 cu km (1997)
Fresh Water Withdrawal
total: 23.26 cu km/yr (2%/0%/98%) per capita: 779 cu m/yr (2000)
Environmental 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
Afghanistan’s economy is recovering from decades of conflict. The economy has improved significantly since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 largely because of the infusion of international assistance, the recovery of the agricultural sector, and service sector growth. Real GDP growth exceeded 7% in 2007.
Despite the progress of the past few years, Afghanistan is extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid, agriculture, and trade with neighboring countries. Much of the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs. Criminality, insecurity, and the Afghan Government’s inability to extend rule of law to all parts of the country pose challenges to future economic growth.
It will probably take the remainder of the decade and continuing donor aid and attention to significantly raise Afghanistan’s living standards from its current level, among the lowest in the world. International pledges made by more than 60 countries and international financial institutions at the Berlin Donors Conference for Afghan reconstruction in March 2004 reached $8.9 billion for 2004-09.
While the international community remains committed to Afghanistan’s development, pledging over $24 billion at three donors’ conferences since 2002, Kabul will need to overcome a number of challenges. Expanding poppy cultivation and a growing opium trade generate roughly $4 billion in illicit economic activity and looms as one of Kabul’s most serious policy concerns. Other long-term challenges include: budget sustainability, job creation, corruption, government capacity, and rebuilding war torn infrastructure.
Debt and Aid
Debt: $8 billion in bilateral debt, mostly to Russia; Afghanistan has $500 million in debt to Multilateral Development Banks (2004)
Aid Given: N/A
Aid Received: $2.775 billion (2005)
Labour Force
Number in labour force: 15 million (2004 est.)
Sectors: agriculture: 80% industry: 10% services: 10% (2004 est.)
Unemployment: 40% (2005 est.)
GDP Facts and Figures
Currency: afghani (AFA)
GDP: $35 billion (2007 est.)
GDP Per Capita: $1,000 (2007 est.)
GDP Real Growth: 12.4% (2007 est.)
GDP Composition: agriculture: 38% industry: 24% services: 38% note: data exclude opium production (2005 est.)
Production Growth Rate: NA%
Industries, Land Use and Resource Consumption
Industries: small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, coal, copper
Land use: arable land: 12.13% permanent crops: 0.21% other: 87.66% (2005)
Exports: opium, fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems
Electricity Consumption: 801.4 million kWh (2005)
Natural Gas Consumption: 19.18 million cu m (2005 est.)
Oil Consumption: 5,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
A selection of key transport and communications information for Afghanistan
Number of main telephone lines
280,000 (2005)
Mobile (cellular) phones
2.52 million (2006)
Radio stations
AM 21, FM 5, shortwave 1 (broadcasts in Pashto, Dari (Afghan Persian), Urdu, and English) (2006)
Television stations
at least 7 (1 government-run central television station in Kabul and regional stations in 6 of the 34 provinces) (2006)
Internet users
535,000 (2006)
Country internet code
.af
Railways
None
Highways
total: 34,789 km paved: 8,231 km unpaved: 26,558 km (2003)
Waterways
1,200 km (chiefly Amu Darya, which handles vessels up to 500 DWT) (2005)
Pipelines
gas 387 km (2004)
Ports and harbours
Kheyrabad, Shir Khan
Airports
46 (2007)
Heliports
9 (2007)
