Afghanistan
_Afghanistan.jpg)
See regional map VIII
Geography
Total area: 647,500 km²; land area: 647,500 km²
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Texas
Land boundaries: 5,826 km total; China 76 km, Iran 936 km, Pakistan 2,430 km, USSR 2,384 km
Coastline: none—landlocked
Maritime claims: none—landlocked
Disputes: Pashtun question with Pakistan; Baloch question with Iran and Pakistan; periodic disputes with Iran over Helmand water rights; insurgency with Iranian and Pakistani involvement; traditional tribal rivalries
Climate: arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers
Terrain: mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest
Natural resources: natural gas, crude oil, coal, copper, talc, barites, sulphur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones
Land use: 12% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 46% meadows and pastures; 3% forest and woodland; 39% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; soil degradation, desertification, overgrazing, deforestation, pollution
Note: landlocked
People
Population: 15,862,293 (July 1990), growth rate 7.7% (1990)
Birth rate: 44 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 18 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 51 migrants/1,000 population (1990); note—there are flows across the border in both directions, but data are fragmentary and unreliable
Infant mortality rate: 154 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 47 years male, 46 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 6.4 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun Afghan(s); adjective Afghan
Ethnic divisions: 50% Pashtun, 25% Tajik, 9% Uzbek, 12-15% Hazara; minor ethnic groups include Chahar Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, and others
Religion: 74% Sunni Muslim, 15% Shi'a Muslim, 11% other
Language: 50% Pashtu, 35% Afghan Persian (Dari), 22% Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen), 4% thirty minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai); much bilingualism
Literacy: 12%
Labor force: 4,980,000; 67.8% agriculture and animal husbandry, 10.2% industry, 6.3% construction, 5.0% commerce, 10.7% services and other (1980 est.)
Organized labor: some small government-controlled unions
Government
Long-form name: Republic of Afghanistan
Type: authoritarian
Capital: Kabul
Administrative divisions: 30 provinces (velayat, singular—velāyat); Badakhshān, Bādghīs, Baghlān, Balkh, Bāmīān, Farāh, Fāryāb, Ghaznī, Ghowr, Helmand, Herāt, Jowzjān, Kābol, Kandahār, Kāpīsā, Konar, Kondoz, Laghmān, Lowgar, Nangarhār, Nīmrūz, Orūzgān, Paktīā, Paktīkā, Parvān, Samanḡan, Sar-e Pol, Takhār, Vardak, Zābol; note—there may be a new province of Nūrestān (Nuristan)
Independence: 19 August 1919 (from UK)
Constitution: adopted 30 November 1987
Legal system: has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Anniversary of the Saur Revolution, 27 April (1978)
Executive branch: president, four vice presidents, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly (Meli Shura) consists of an upper house or Senate (Sena) and a lower house or House of Representatives (Wolasi Jirgah)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government—President (Mohammad) NAJI-BULLAH (Ahmadzai) (since 30 November 1987); Chairman of the Council of Ministers Executive Committee Soltan Ali KESHTMAND (since 21 February 1989)
Political parties and leaders: only party—the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) has two factions—the Parchami faction has been in power since December 1979 and members of the deposed Khalqi faction continue to hold some important posts mostly in the military and Ministry of Interior; nonparty figures hold some posts
Suffrage: universal, male ages 15-50
Elections: Senate—last held NA April 1988 (next to be held April 1991); results—PDPA is the only party; seats—(192 total, 115 elected) PDPA 115;
House of Representatives last held NA April 1988 (next to be held April 1993); results—PDPA is the only party; seats—(234 total) PDPA 184, 50 seats reserved for opposition
Communists: the PDPA claims 200,000 members (1988)
Other political or pressure groups: the military and other branches of internal security have been rebuilt by the USSR; insurgency continues throughout the country; widespread anti-Soviet and anti-regime sentiment and opposition on religious and political grounds
Member of: ADB, CCC, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB—Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, ITU, NAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO, WSG; suspended from OIC in January 1980
Diplomatic representation: Minister-Counselor, Chargé d'Affaires MIAGOL; Chancery at 2341 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 234-3770 or 3771; US—Chargé d'Affaires (vacant); Embassy at Ansari Wat, Wazir Akbar Khan Mina, Kabul; telephone 62230 through 62235 or 62436; note—US Embassy in Kabul was closed in January 1989
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green with the national coat of arms superimposed on the hoist side of the black and red bands; similar to the flag of Malawi which is shorter and bears a radiant, rising, red sun centered in the black band
Economy
Overview: Fundamentally, Afghanistan is an extremely poor, landlocked country, highly dependent on farming (wheat especially) and livestock raising (sheep and goats). Economic considerations, however, have played second fiddle to political and military upheavals, including the nine-year Soviet military occupation (ended 15 February 1989) and the continuing bloody civil war. Over the past decade, one-third of the population has fled the country, with Pakistan sheltering some 3 million
refugees and Iran perhaps 2 million.
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